120 Frameworks for Thinking

dispositions they called for the development of effective and equitable materials, pedagogies and assessment tools capable of cultivating and extending critical thinking beyond the narrow instructional setting to encourage the application of such ‘habits of mind’ to personal and civic life. Authors of critical thinking frameworks believe that critical thinking is improved by reflection and metacognition, but tend not to specify different kinds of objective (e.g. global or specific, short-term or long-term).

Divisions within the family of frameworks in this chapter are located around issues of how meaningful it is to talk in terms of skills or processes as mental operations when they are only observed through different tasks requiring thinking and the role of subject knowledge in thinking. Bailin identifies two kinds of approaches to critical thinking: the descriptive (psychological) approach that focuses on skills, processes and procedures and the normative (philosophical) approach that focuses on critical practices (Bailin, 1998). Whilst the frameworks included in this family span psychological and philosophical approaches to understanding thinking, authors (with the exception of de Bono) take a philosophical stance on critical thinking, viewing it as a normative endeavour located within public traditions of enquiry; so it is the quality of the thinking and not the processes employed that distinguish it from uncritical thinking.

Time sequence of the productive-thinking frameworks

Altshuller’s TRIZ Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (1956)

There are four main steps: problem definition; problem-solving tool selection; generating solutions; evaluating solutions. A specific problem is an instance of a generic problem, which is solved when the appropriate generic solution is returned to a specific solution.

Allen, Feezel and Kauffie’s taxonomy of critical abilities related to the evaluation of verbal arguments (1967)

Twelve abilities are involved in the recognition, analysis and evaluation of arguments. Truth claims depend on testimony and reasons. People should not be misled by rhetoric or the misuse of language.

De Bono’s lateral and parallel thinking tools (1976 / 85)

The tools are designed to broaden the natural flow of thinking and redirect it away from well-worn and predictable channels. The programmes provide a framework which can be used deliberately in everyday life and in the classroom to enable innovative thinking and cross-situational problem-solving.

Halpern’s reviews of critical thinking skills and dispositions (1984)

Halpern’s skill categories are: memory; thought and language; deductive reasoning; argument analysis; hypothesis testing; likelihood and uncertainty; decision-making; problem-solving; and creative thinking. She also lists six relevant dispositions.

Baron’s model of the good thinker (1985)

The most important components of the model are the three conscious search processes: for goals; for possibilities; and for evidence. Good thinking and the dispositions underlying it are to some extent teachable. Glatthorn and Baron (1991) later identify nine common types of thinking.

Ennis’ taxonomy of critical thinking dispositions and abilities (1987)

For Ennis the basic areas of critical thinking are clarity, basis, inference and interaction. In 1998 he lists 12 relevant dispositions and 15 abilities.

Lipman’s modes of thinking and four main varieties of cognitive skill (1991/95)

Judgment and reasoning can be strengthened through critical, creative and caring thinking (caring added in 1995). In education the four major varieties of higher-order thinking relate to: enquiry; reasoning (preserving truth); information-organising; and translation (preserving meaning).

Paul’s model of critical thinking (1993)

The model has four parts: elements of reasoning; standards of critical thinking; intellectual abilities; and intellectual traits. The first three