Critical Thinking and my Practice

My practice (both a tertiary educator and social practitioner) is informed by critical thinking. The following clip gives an overview of my understanding of 'critical thinking'.

In my practice context, critical thinking takes the form of critical consciousness. This is the ability to curiously inquire why certain structures and interventions exist and acquire skills for social change. This process is comprehensively summarized in this conversation with Paulo Freire. 

Change is therefore initiated and carried out by the people who should benefit from the changes. Critical thinking, within social practice, enables me to interrogate, for instance, how identity is often shaped by dominant ideologies and discourses. Social construction is a related theory.

The following statement describes why critical thinking is important for social work practice (a field within social practice).

Social workers help people from all walks of life and come across people or populations with experiences, ideas and opinions that often vary from their own. To formulate a treatment plan or intervention for working with a client, you need to first consider the beliefs, thoughts or experiences that underlie your client's actions without making a snap judgment. What seems crazy or irrational to you at first may in fact be better understood in the context of the biopsychosocial factors that play a role in your client's life. Critical thinking helps you objectively examine these factors, consider their importance and impact on your course of action, while simultaneously maintaining professional detachment and a non-biased attitude.

Critical thinking is also important in social practice courses for the following reasons outlined in this article on ‘Teaching Critical Thinking in Social Work Practice’. These include:

• The ability to understand social work theories.
• The ability to divide a theory into its components (assumptions, concepts, propositions, hypotheses, etc.).
• The ability to assess the practice implications of a theory.
• The ability to develop and apply criteria for evaluating a theory.
• The ability to identify common errors in reasoning

Primarily, critical thinking skills is essential to good decision making and engagement, the foundation of (social) just practice. Social justice is an important value in my field of practice - and I reflect on it in my next post....