18
Martin Davies and Ronald Barnett
new. It adds the dimension of
action
to the mix. This is represented by the
addition of the social-cultural axis (the “X” axis) of critical thinking shown in
figure 0.3, and here depicted as “critical doing.”
However, there is more to it than action. Unlike the views of critical think-
ing as adumbrated by proponents of the critical thinking movement (CTM),
for the criticality theorists the
ethical
dimension is also important to critical
thinking. Ethical decisions are, of course, usually (if not always) accompanied
by ethical
actions.
This is represented by the
critical virtue
axis below. Note in
the diagram that the CTM, with few exceptions, does not include the action
and morality dimension.
Critical thinking as critical pedagogy
Critical pedagogy is defined as the use of higher education to overcome and
unlearn the social conditions that restrict and limit human freedom. According
Critical DOING
The “criticality” movement
Critical actions
Critical character (personality/
abilities/dispositions)
Critical rationality
(argumentation/skills)
Sociocultural axis of criticality (“outer” focus)
Individual axis of criticality ("inner" focus)
The critical thinking
movement
Critical virtue
(morality/virtue)
Critical
THINKING
Figure 0.3
Axis diagram: The critical thinking and “criticality” movements (Davies
2015).
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