Abstract

In this article, we offer a critical realist conception of curriculum that aims to cultivate critical thinking (CT) and liberate students from egocentric rationality. We first examine egocentric rationality as a problem emerging from the technicist paradigm of cultivating CT in higher education, exemplified by issues arising from the pedagogical activity of debate. We then examine existing approaches to cultivating CT, focusing on the extent to which their goals and conceptions of CT could liberate students from egocentric rationality. Drawing on Roy Bhaskar’s stratified conception of being and principle of immanent critique, we offer a critical realist conception of curriculum, explaining its definition of CT as the capacity for self-critique. We shall illustrate, in the context of an undergraduate debate course, how such capacity can be developed in order to liberate students from egocentric rationality. Curriculum is thus a critical praxis, a created space where student’s CT develops in a way that is intrinsically entwined with their being and becoming. This article extends the philosophical basis for integrating CT with curriculum and offers pedagogical implications.

摘要

在本文中，我们提出了批判现实主义的课程理念，旨在培养批判性思维（CT）并将学生从自我中心的理性中解放出来。我们首先将自我中心理性视为在高等教育中培养 CT 的技术范式中出现的一个问题，以辩论教学活动中出现的问题为例。然后，我们研究了培养 CT 的现有方法，重点关注他们的 CT 目标和概念在多大程度上可以将学生从自我中心的理性中解放出来。借鉴罗伊·巴斯卡（Roy Bhaskar）的分层存在概念和内在批判原则，我们提出了批判现实主义的课程概念，并将其对 CT 的定义解释为自我批判的能力。我们将在本科辩论课程的背景下说明，如何培养这种能力，以将学生从自我中心的理性中解放出来。因此，课程是一种关键的实践，是一个创造的空间，学生的CT以一种与他们的存在和发展本质上交织在一起的方式发展。本文扩展了 CT 与课程整合的哲学基础，并提供了教学意义。