Developing Critical Thinking in Youngsters

Deception. It has been a part of our world since a serpent spoke in the Garden of Eden. Mankind was deceived there, but it took very little time for humanity to pick up the habit themselves and to begin deceiving each other. This modern era in which we find ourselves is likely no more or less deceitful than the ages that have come before, but we are uniquely positioned to be more exposed to falsehoods and misleading narratives than our ancestors.

Digital technology has allowed for unprecedented access to a spread of information, both good and bad. Facts, interpretations, worldviews, narratives, opinions, misunderstandings, lies… They surround many of us as part of our daily lives. Even those of us who hold technology at an arm’s length cannot escape the flood of information as it filters through our friends, family, church, and business contacts. There is a need, now more than ever before, for the ability to sort through the information and discern what is truthful, what is not, and to evaluate that which falls in the gray area between.

That ability to sort through information and judge its value is commonly referred to as “Critical Thinking.” As a teacher in this age of information saturation, I have become convinced that the skills of critical thinking are of utmost importance for our young people. They must be equipped to walk in this world “as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.”

The alternative is to perpetually maintain a gatekeeper, always carefully filtering the outside information that gets through to the young minds. This can work for small children (and, it should be noted, is a very good plan for young minds) but it becomes more and more difficult as they mature and grow into adolescents on the verge of adulthood.

How does one go about developing critical thinking skills in others? I believe that it can be done through developing good conflict skills and humility.

As Anabaptists, many of us instinctively recoil from conflict, and feel that there is something incongruous about the phrase “good conflict,” but bear with me as I make my case. When people disagree, there may be bad conflict. There may be harsh words exchanged, feelings hurt, it might even descend into violence. But there may also be good conflict, where both sides feel heard and either one person persuades the other, or they come to a reasonable compromise.

It is this second type of interaction, the “good conflict” that builds the critical thinking skills that our young people need to develop. It is through healthy argumentation that one learns how to build persuasive arguments, how to look for and call out the logical flaws in another’s argument, and how to argue a point without getting distracted.

Good conflict is not a naturally occurring skill set for many people. Just look at smaller children! They tend to express disagreement through volume, force, emotional appeals (like tears) or a combination. As they age, they tend to learn that those methods are not acceptable, but they might not replace them with good skills unless they are given opportunities to practice. And that is why we should give teenagers opportunities to express their disagreement in the home and classroom.

The father of one of my former students was fantastic at this. He had very strict rules for his children around curfew, both during the week and on weekends. But he was open to making exceptions IF his children were able to make a compelling argument, and so they learned to make compelling arguments. He did not allow it to become chaotic or disrespectful, he just listened carefully, asked questions, and allowed them to change his mind if it was a reasonable argument. A system like that is a valuable addition to a parenting strategy or a classroom management system (although written arguments are a better policy for teachers to keep it from eating up valuable class time).

A side benefit of incorporating good conflict into your teenager’s life is that losing arguments (as they invariably will at times) is also good for developing humility, another key component of critical thinking. Without humility, pride and arrogance begin to warp and twist the world we see. Things that are of little value become exaggerated in our minds, while towering truths can be reduced to footnotes.

Humility about self allows us to put things back into their proper perspective, to place less value in ourselves, our importance, our abilities, our experiences, our intuition. This is an important part of critical thinking, because without humility we trust ourselves too much, believe that we have it all figured out, and close ourselves off from the truth and the people who can correct our misunderstandings.

How do we help our teenagers develop humility? We must simultaneously model it and give them opportunities to grow it in themselves, and the best tool at our disposal for both of those purposes is community.

Being a part of a larger fellowship means listening to others, recognizing the giftings of others, recognizing the authority of others over you, and many other humbling experiences. Let your children see the way you work with others in your church or business, the way that you listen to them and respect them, and the ways that you are corrected by others when you are in the wrong. Find ways to encourage your child to develop community bonds themselves, both with the other youths and with those of older generations. The local church and the local Christian school (if you have one) are great focal points for modeling and developing the relationships that build personal humility.

Humility about ourselves is important for thinking critically, but we should also have humility on behalf of humanity. The human race is a grand one, capable of producing magnificent structures, wonderful works of creative genius, intricate and fascinating mechanisms. But it is also broken.

The reality of the sin-cursed world and its impact upon mankind cannot be forgotten, especially when evaluating man-made arguments or teachings. When a politician proclaims his ability to save this country, when an institution explains that they have the answer to this social problem, when a religious group proclaims that they know the truth of this doctrinal debate, it is helpful to remember that they are all human, and therefore imperfect. Their humanity should make us skeptical, for no matter what truth they may wish to convince us of, they are still susceptible to the many faults that humanity has contended with since the fall.

The good way to develop humility for humanity in young people is to expose them to history. Make books available in your home or classroom. Avoid the type of history books that are written to glorify a single nation or movement, for they tend to hide faults. Instead, look for books that seek to tell what really happened, the messy parts as well as the good (while also avoiding those books that seek to glorify or elevate the horrors of history).

One of the best books for recognizing the depths of human failing is the Bible, especially the history of the Israelites. Again and again, there are stories of men who experienced God and did great works through faith but also were flawed. Moses acts out of anger, Gideon requires repeated assurances, Solomon turns to idols, David commits adultery, and Israel as a group turns away from God again and again and again.

Allow those themes to come up in devotions and Bible studies and be willing to discuss them with the teenagers in your care. If possible, try to find parallels to the current events of the world or local community where people are showing their tendency towards imperfection. All these activities will help to develop a proper humility on behalf of humanity.

The armor of God laid out in Ephesians 6 is a compelling metaphor. Truth, whether interpreted as a belt or loincloth, is a central feature to this classic passage about godly principles. Let us therefore invest in equipping the next generation with the critical thinking skills, the ability to disagree, and the humility that they need to seek out truth, even in an age where it is so hard to find.