Reasoning, the Future of Education!

Reasoning, whether inductive or deductive, can be one of the most critical skills a student can learn. Reasoning is the foundation of solving mathematical theorems, analyzing literature, or even planning your next play in a football game. Even beyond the world of education, the majority of people use reasoning skills on a daily basis in their careers. And yet, our system of education places little to no emphasis on reasoning. Most students are not even exposed to any sort of critical thinking courses until they are in college. Our young students are becoming mindless computers, programmed with information ready to be regurgitated. It is absolutely essential that we begin educating our students in critical thinking as young as we possibly can.

With a continued approach of standardized, multiple choice testing and memorization of definitions and formulas, students are losing their ability to think critically and analyze for themselves. It would appear we are a generation brought up for game shows, programmed with relatively useless facts for shot at chance. But the question is, without the ability to properly think and reason what happens when we are faced with real conflict? Are our kid’s really prepared to handle it?

Granted not all of our kid’s will grow up to become world leaders, and deal with conflicts of the magnitude that the President deals with, but we will all face trials and tribulations that will test us and make large impacts in our lives. No business owner, mother, father, sales representative, lawyer, plumber, doctor, or for that matter any professional will ever tell you they do not have to think, strategize, analyze, or reason in their lives; professionally or personally. So the question is, how do we teach young children to think critically?

While many children are not taught reasoning skills in primary schools, the truth is they do gain knowledge in day to day life. Life in it’s self can be the greatest way to learn to think, analyze, and reason. As long as a child is shown how to look at life’s experiences and shown how to overcome conflict, they are learning how to think critically. Students are also given access to great resources by companies such as The Critical Thinking Co.. If teachers at primary school levels could learn to utilize such things as puzzles, team projects, and problem solving activities, I am certain we will see a dramatic improvement in our young students academic performance.

By not providing our children with the proper education and knowledge, we are failing them. Reasoning can greatly improve a students educational experience as well as give them great experience for their future careers. We need to start educating our children in reasoning skills in primary school to obtain its full benefits for our future leaders.