Learning to think properly (Part 2)

In my previous post, Learning to think properly, I ended on a question of how our system of education could be changed to give people the appropriate critical thinking skills necessary for their future lives. As briefly mentioned in the comments following on from that post, I believe a significant part of the problem is the typical structure of many exams taken by students as they go through school, which largely involve repetition of material covered in the classroom. Here I will identify some possible alternative methods of assessment and explain how a different approach in the classroom could prepare students not only for their exams, but for the countless other situations awaiting them in life in which the wider range of skills involved will be exercised.

Learning to think properly

Education is a tricky topic- in reality there is no perfect approach which will get the maximum out of everyone as they are growing up, short of giving every child his or her own personal tutor. Unfeasible even in infinitely better economic climates than that in which we find ourselves today, we are left to look for a compromise- more or less successful with most of the people most of the time, rather than all the people all the time.