VIRTUAL New Schools of Thought

Abstract

Critical thinking is one of the abilities that are more required in today’s labor market, is more declared in official university documents, and is more important in personal life. This presentation aims to disclose the qualitative results of a mixed study that explored the state of the art of teaching critical thinking in Chilean universities. It sought to determine whether and how critical thinking is taught as a subject. A statistical-descriptive review allowed the recognition of the universities and careers that teach the course independently. The qualitative phase comprised a documentary analysis of the programs and syllabi, plus semi-structured interviews with faculty and departmental authorities—a thematic analysis allowed for identifying patterns and differences across datasets. Additionally, these methods helped assess how critical thinking has been taught in Chilean universities, what is declared in different higher education contexts, what is done in practice, what challenges persist, and what areas need further research. One of the most important findings is the need for more consensus on the concept of critical thinking and, consequently, on how to teach it. Based on the literature review and documentary analysis, we follow a definition of critical thinking that brings together theory and practical action. This concept considers that every human action is always in a concrete ethical context. To think critically is to be able to act consequently, too.