Critical Thinking: Environmental Education and It's Importance in a School Setting

Learning critical thinking is an important milestone in any student's educational journey, but not a lot of these students know how to apply it. It is recommended that an interdisciplinary approach be taken in the teaching of critical thinking as it allows multiple fields to converge and combine in order to make a single effective solution. Critical thinking with a multidisciplinary approach is a major catalyst in the expansion of a student's thinking.

Environmental education makes good use of critical thinking as evidenced by the examples provided by the Huffington Post. Their first example is the use of critical thinking to understand climate change. Since climate change is an interdisciplinary problem including ecology, biochemistry, and social science, among others, it seems as though multidisciplinary critical thinking is the most viable solution to solving this drawn out problem.

Problems relating to land relationships can also be efficiently solved by the use of one's critical thinking prowess. Again, an interdisciplinary approach should be taken since relationships to land include questions of cultural and historical studies. Problems regarding land relationships could also present questions of natural science as it deals with ecosystems and landmasses.

In the last example provided, they attempt to solve issues of connecting to the environment via the use of critical thinking. "This exercise provided students with the opportunity to be creative, but also helped them to recall their own experiences living, dwelling, and recreating with the environment. The stories the groups shared to the class at the end of the period were rice with diverse nuances and a deeper appreciation for the environment in which we live," says Nicholas Emmons.

The teaching of critical thinking skills has major implications towards K-12 education. In fact, it critical thinking is already being effectively used in educational institutions such as Ladywood High School in Michigan, according to reports from USA Today.