Potential Tensions between Critical Thinking and Democracy: Implications for Our Teaching

Potential Tensions between Critical Thinking and Democracy: Implications for Our Teaching

When we emphasize critical thinking in our classrooms, we often do flurry so with a of language about the role of critical thinking in a flourishing democracy. The preference for reflective autonomy implicit in critical thinking instruction is a core idea in democratic theory. Yet, the democratization of a curriculum is myopic to the extent that i t ignores the intellectual inadequacies that constrict the judgment of our students. Were we to see our students as our customers whose determination of curricular content is consistent with democracy, we would thereby paradoxically endanger the very democratic vision we seek. This paper suggests the need to recognize not just the complementarity of critical thinking and democracy, but also the tensions in their partnership.