Putting Critical Thinking Back Into Education
With Will Reusch
I had a really interesting conversation with Will Reusch about critical thinking and jiu jitsu. We delved into the purpose of critical thinking and its role in education, exploring both the dispositional and skillset facets of applied reasoning.
Will, a former high school teacher who now runs a private business focused on teaching critical thinking, shared his insights on the connection between critical thinking and realistic combat sports like jiu jitsu.
We discussed the state of our educational institutions and how they may have deviated from their intended purposes. Will explained his perspective on what true critical thinking entails, contrasting it with quotidian misconceptions. He also shared his aspirations and his specific plans to foster a more rational society by cultivating better critical thinkers.
It was invigorating to hear Will's views, especially his commitment to advancing critical thinking outside traditional educational settings. His passion for empowering individuals with robust analytical skills should be, in my opinion, a primary goal of every educator.
I think there is a huge need for Americans to learn analytical thinking skills. That's good that Will Reusch is providing educational opportunities that are no longer taught in most U.S. schools. The question is how to provide opportunities like this on a much larger scale.
Thank you both for this interview. As an independent, international educator for the last 50 years, Yes, you got that. I started teaching kindergarten and had my own preschool in 1973 in the tiny town of Cave Junction, Oregon. From the very beginning of my teaching career--and I have taught and am still teaching--I designed curriculum totally centered on the student at his/her different levels, age, their culture, sometimes religion, and their reality. Actually, they guide me to help them, learn about themselves, while I exercise their mental, and spiritual curiosity to explore their relationship with the world/cosmos.
When you notice a mind start working (even age 3) it is good to expose that child to the prerequisites of critical thinking . These are values, virtues, the natural world, a conscience and self-awareness.
A bit about me: After graduating with a Masters in Education degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a non-degree study in Buddhism at the Harvard Divinity School in 1987, I moved to Thailand to study Buddhism. I have been living here ever since. In my teaching and counseling over the years, I have developed both curriculum and a unique counseling method which encompasses both Buddhist psychology as well as psychological astrology, and fasting.
Well, I never know if my comments will be read and/or of interest.
Many Good Wishes to you and your wife from the island of Koh Samui