16 The ladder of good thinking
The ladder of good thinking
David Hawkins and his team1 have developed a ladder of critical thinking. The ladder helps us to understand the stages and styles of thinking development. Their work comes from clinical research. We think that clinical research is a very useful context to use to understand critical thinking. In many ways it is, like yours, a context where lives and safety are among the main concerns.
Select the buttons on the Critical Thinking Ladder below and read the descriptions of the stages:
Insert ladder image and script
| Stages of Critical Thinking Development | |||||
| Accomplished Thinkers | |||||
| Intellectual skills and virtues have become second nature in our lives | |||||
| Advanced Thinkers | |||||
| We are committed to lifelong practice and are beginning to internalize intellectual virtues | |||||
| Practicing Thinkers | |||||
| We regularly practice and advance accordingly | |||||
| Beginning Thinkers | |||||
| We try to improve but without regular practice | |||||
| Challenged Thinkers | |||||
| We are faced problems in with significant problems in our thinking | |||||
| Reflective Thinkers | |||||
| Reflective |
In your roles you will be most focused on Stages Four, Five and Six. The information provided below explains these three stages further:
Your turn:
Now you have read this example take a moment to identify someone in your life who demonstrates these characteristics and operates at this level of thinking
Advanced thinkers have good habits of thought that work for them and they are appreciating the benefits. They actively analyse, assess and critique their own thinking in most areas of their lives. They have insight and understanding of problems at deeper levels of thought. They think and reason well across many areas of their lives. They need to focus on being able to achieve consistently at high levels in most situations and most of the time.
They are self-aware and they work to be to be fair-minded. They look out for bias in their thinking or if they change their reasoning according to context. They quickly correct their thinking and seek to be intellectually fair. They have a developed understanding of the relationships between thoughts, desires, emotional needs and feelings. They are aware of the need for careful monitoring of their thoughts.
Your turn:
Now you have read this example take a moment to identify someone in your life who demonstrates these characteristics and operates at this level of thinking.
Reflection activity
Take 5 minutes to reflect on your observations of each of these critical thinking stages. What is it like to work with each of these thinkers?
How do you interact with these thinkers?
How does your level of understanding and ‘buy in’ change as you work with different types of thinkers, if at all?
Be sure to note your thoughts in your Reflective Journal.
References
- Hawkins, D., Elder, L., & Paul, R. (2019). The Thinker’s Guide to Clinical Reasoning: Based on Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools. Rowman & Littlefield.
