In the Federal State Educational Standard, critical thinking is defined as a meta-subject competence, a universal educational action [12, p. 34], in addition, it is called a universal and key competence of modern educational standards in many countries of the world, as well as a “flexible” or “soft” skill (soft skill) [11, p. 34]. According to the classifier developed within the framework of the international project of the OECD Center for Educational Research and Innovation [6], this key competence includes auxiliary skills: explore, imagine, do, reflect, which are implemented as follows:
Explore Identify and challenge conventional ideas and solutions
Imagine Seeing a question from different perspectives
Do Explain product strengths and weaknesses, solutions, theories based on logic, ethics and aesthetics
Reflect Evaluate the chosen solution / position, comparing with other possible options
The need for the formation and development of critical thinking among students is due to the processes that take place in the modern world. These include the rapid pace of development of science, technological progress, rapid changes affecting almost all areas of human life, a huge amount of information available. It becomes more and more difficult for a person to navigate in the information noise, to separate truth from falsehood, to single out in the information flow what is really of value, and is not an extra ballast.
Since the 80s of the XX century in the USA, and in Europe since the 90s, one of the main goals of education has been the development of critical thinking (D. Halpern, S. Plaus, G. Vollmer, D. Kluster, etc.) [10 , 13]. In Russia, the first works on the technologies for the formation of critical thinking appeared a little later, and the controversy on the topic of how to more accurately define critical thinking, what elements to single out in it and, most importantly, how to form and develop it (L. S. Vygotsky, I. Zagashev, S. Zair-Bek, I. P. Volkov, T. Noel-Tsigulskaya, E. I.) [2, 3, 4, 5].
In various pedagogical reference books we find the following definitions of critical thinking:
“thinking directed at identifying flaws in the judgments of others. Critical thinking is the quality of thinking that allows for a rigorous assessment of the results of mental activity, to find strengths and weaknesses in them, to prove the truth of the put forward provisions” [8, p. 115];
“rational, reflective thinking directed at deciding what to believe or what action to take. With this understanding, critical thinking includes both abilities (skills) and predispositions (inclinations)" [8, p. 115];
“the ability to analyze information from the standpoint of logic, the ability to make informed judgments, decisions and apply the results to both standard and non-standard situations, questions and problems. This process is characterized by openness to new ideas” [8, p. 115];
“critical thinking is the ability to rigorously evaluate the results of mental activity in order to reject incorrect judgments, conclusions and decisions (the ability to abandon the actions initiated if they contradict the requirements of the task)” [8, p. 115].
As can be seen from the above definitions, the main characteristics of critical thinking are rationality, reasoning and reflection. However, there is no consensus on the concept itself - critical thinking or critical thinking, just as such a component as flexibility is not noted in all definitions.
The founder of the idea of developing critical thinking is the American psychologist D. Halpern [13]. In his study "Psychology of Critical Thinking", the author defines critical thinking as creative. In this work, the essence of critical thinking is revealed from the point of view of developing the ability and skills of a person to solve problems. According to S. Plaus [10], a person's critical thinking is directly related to the ability to evaluate and make a rational decision, that is, the right decision.
The term "critical thinking" L. S. Vygotsky defines as a type of human intellectual activity, characterized by a high level of perception and understanding, objectivity of the approach to the information field. With a large flow of information, a person should be able to think rationally, single out only important material, and comprehend it independently [4].
I. Zagashev and S. Zair-Bek [5] believe that a person with developed critical thinking has a variety of ways to interpret and evaluate information, is able to highlight contradictions, give arguments in defense of his point of view, relying not only on logic, but also on opinion interlocutor. In addition, according to I. P. Volkov, an integral component of critical thinking is creative activity [3]. T. Noel-Tsigulskaya defines critical thinking not as negative, aimed at finding flaws, but as thinking open to new productive ideas and explanations of incomprehensible wow [9]. Bogdanova S.Yu. and Kaverina O.A. based in their research on the following characteristics of critical thinking: independence, objectivity, reasoning, openness and discussion [1].
Thus, having studied the ideas of foreign and domestic scientists regarding the interpretation of critical thinking, we come to the conclusion that this type of thinking is a type of human intellectual activity, the purpose of which is to understand and comprehend the information received. The main characteristics of critical thinking are rationality, reasoning, reflexivity, openness and flexibility, as well as creativity. Its key components include purposefulness and controllability of thought, logic, validity of opinion, self-regulation through the inclusion of cognitive skills in the work, the involvement of all types of mental operations necessary when working with constantly incoming information (analysis and synthesis, abstraction and generalization, concretization and interpretation , grade).
All of the above, of course, correlates with auxiliary skills (research, imagine, do, reflect), which make up the universal competence, UK-1 (systemic and critical thinking), which involves the ability to search, critically analyze and synthesize information, apply a systematic approach to solve the assigned tasks. The documents of the Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Professional Education (Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Professional Education) note the need for the development and formation of critical thinking of students of higher educational institutions, which implies the skills of goal-setting, interpretation of information from the point of view of the student, a high level of reflective activity. The Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Professional Education, which is also used in military educational institutions, is aimed at training competent officers who are capable and ready for independent professional activity for their official purpose immediately after completing their studies at military universities.
Some scientists (Poroshin V.V., Evstigneeva I.A., Koptseva N.P., Sitnikova A.A., Kolesnik M.A.) [2, 7] agree that abilities are important for critical thinking (that is something that is already inherent in a person by nature), but skills are also required (what can be formed), without which the functioning of critical thinking is impossible. Thus, the implementation of the Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Professional Education in the educational process of a military university provides a practical orientation in the training of future officers, while maintaining the fundamental nature of the higher military school. The development and formation of critical thinking as one of the key competencies will allow military specialists to think in a balanced, logical and productive way, to find what they need in a rapidly growing amount of information, comprehend and apply the information received, and resist the negative information and psychological impact of external factors. Such meaningful work with information, which involves critical analysis, helps to prepare future military specialists for further practical activities.
References
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