Title: Education - Critical Thinking Skills in Schools and Life
Headings: 
WHAT is Critical Thinking?
Critical = Evaluative
Characteristics of Critical Thinkers
Beneficial Uses of Critical Thinking
Knowledge + Creative Thinking + Critical Thinking → Productive Thinking .
WHY should we teach Critical Thinking?
Critical Thinking in Schools
HOW should we teach critical thinking?
LEARNING  Critical Thinking (outside school) — Educating Yourself
TEACHING Critical Thinking (in school) — Strategies & Activities
Teaching Strategies to help students improve their
Accurate Understanding and Respectful Attitudes
Causes and Effects of
Motivated Reasoning
WHAT is motivated reasoning?
WHY do people use motivated reasoning? — CAUSES
over-confidence by individuals and groups:
HOW does motivated reasoning affect critical thinking? — EFFECTS
by selecting their evidence:
by adjusting their logic:
by adjusting their values:
by adjusting their ethics:
Motivated Reasoning can be Intelligent Reasoning
Two Analogies — Lawyer-vs-Judge and Soldier-vs-Scout
Avoiding Postmodern Relativism
The Ethics of Critical Thinking

Content: In an essay that "takes  a Socratic approach to defining critical thinking and identifying its  value in one's personal, professional, educational, and civic life," Peter  Facione discusses “what and  why” in Critical  Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts and concludes with a consensus  statement (of experts in the field) about critical thinking and the ideal  critical thinker: We  understand critical thinking to be purposeful, self-regulatory judgment  which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference,  as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological,  criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment  is based. [ Since this includes almost all types of logical  reasoning,] CT is essential as a tool of inquiry. As such,  CT is a liberating force in education and a powerful resource in  one's personal and civic life. While not synonymous with good  thinking, CT is a pervasive and self-rectifying human phenomenon. The  ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed,  trustful of reason, open-minded, flexible, fair-minded in evaluation,  honest in facing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing  to reconsider, clear about issues, orderly in complex matters, diligent  in seeking relevant information, reasonable in the selection of  criteria, focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking results  which are as precise as the subject and the circumstances of inquiry  permit. Thus, educating good critical thinkers means working  toward this ideal. It combines developing CT skills with nurturing  those dispositions which consistently yield useful insights and  which are the basis of a rational and democratic society." { the ending-quotation is from "Delphi  Report" consensus statement, The Executive  Summary for Critical Thinking: