Dimensions of Critical Thinking
Dimensions of critical thinking
Coaches can use the critical thinking process and each of these dimensions, to help clients to think critically about issues and problems through effective questioning, for example:
Dimension | Coaching Questions to Encourage Critical Thinking |
Clarity | · Could the point or issue or argument have been expressed in another (better) way?
· Could you elaborate further on that point? · Could you give me an illustration? · Could you give me an example? |
Accuracy | · Can its accuracy be checked?
· How has the data been validated? · How could we find out if that is true? · What is the source of the data? |
Precision | · Is there sufficient data to explain what is meant?
· Could the data be more specific? · Could you give more details? · Could you be more specific? |
Relevance | · How is this point or issue or argument relevant to the needs or goals?
· How is that connected to the question? · How does that information relate to the issue? · What is the relationship of this data and the problem? |
Depth | · Is the sufficient depth of information?
· How does your answer address the complexities in the question? · How are you taking into account the problems in the question? · Is that dealing with the most significant factors? |
Breadth | · Are there issues that may have been omitted?
· What other perspectives need to considered? · Is there another way to look at this question? · What would this look like from a conservative standpoint? |
Dimension | Coaching Questions to Encourage Critical Thinking |
Logic | · Does this really make sense?
· How does this follow from what was said before? · But before you implied this and now you are saying that; how can both be true? |
Fairness | · How open-minded are you about this?
· Are you sure your view is impartial? · How sure are you that the decision is free of distortion, biases and preconceptions |
Critical Thinking and the Coach
Coaches can help clients to become more aware of the premises and biases on which their ideas and opinions are based. Having established these, it is possible to help them to explore and challenge these premises and biases, resulting in a shift in their thinking processes.
One way to facilitate this overall shift is to create situations or explore different scenarios requiring clients to move back and forth between observation and inference, facts and assumptions. One of the aims of coaching is to encourage clients to observe themselves and to critically analyse feedback and information. This requires clients to learn to be able to:
- Understand the difference between reliable and unreliable observations, feedback and information
- Seek sufficient, valid and objective feedback and information from multiple sources to underpin analysis
- Identify patterns or relationships in what has been observed or discovered
- Form opinions and make logical assumptions whilst keeping an open mind
- Create arguments and a business case based upon careful thought and robust analysis
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