The 1st European Summit for Critical Thinking Education was organized by the CRITHINKEDU – ‘Critical Thinking across the European Higher Education Curricula’ ERASMUS+ project in cooperation with the Foundation for Critical Thinking (USA). The meeting gathered higher education researchers and educators, deans, student support agencies, policymakers, and employers eager to invest in critical thinking education. During the summit the main outputs of the CRITHINKEDU project were presented and the participants were challenged to take a stance for the future of critical thinking in Higher Education in Europe by signing the manifesto for critical thinking education. For more information click here.
Instrument of evaluation of the impact
This is a summary of the results of a short online questionnaire to which 58 of the 215 participants from 33 countries responded (some of them representing important organizations, as OECD or UNESCO). The questionnaire consisted of two rating questions and three open questions. The results of the rating questions are presented in two graphs. The open questions were coded and summarized.
Results
Rating questions
This is a summary of the results of a short online questionnaire to which 58 of the 215 participants from 33 countries responded (some of them representing important organizations, as OECD or UNESCO). The questionnaire consisted of two rating questions and three open questions. The results of the rating questions are presented in two graphs. The open questions were coded and summarized.
The summit was built around the manifesto on critical thinking education, which was presented after the opening session and discussed during the 19 master encounters. The majority of the respondents (79.4%) found that the manifesto was well explained during the summit (Graph 1).
Graph 1: Was the manifesto well explained during the summit?
The summit was intended to give participants new ideas concerning critical thinking educational development. The majority of the respondents (68,9%) indicated that they went home with new ideas (Graph 2).
Graph 2: Do you go home with new ideas about critical thinking and ways to develop it?
Open questions
Out of 52 of the respondents who answered to the question “What did you like about the summit?”, half appreciated both the “inspiring” and “interesting” master encounters and the plenary sessions with the keynote speakers, in particular the one “Critical Thinking: Avoiding the pitfalls and glimpsing the possibilities”. Also, a great number of them (38,5%) indicated that they enjoyed the summit. Not only because it had helped them learn more about Critical Thinking thanks to the possibility of meeting and exchanging ideas with interesting people with a diversity of experiences and backgrounds within the filed. But also, because they felt that participants were motivated, engaged and committed with the topic. The following statements are illustrative of the participants’ opinions:
- “Excellent opportunity to meet important authors in research on critical thinking and (I appreciated) the scientific heterogeneity in the working groups” (Participant 7);
- “Nice to see so many people engaged in this subject and the fact that the EU academic community has started thinking about it as a concept that needs special attention” (Participant 20).
Some respondents (10%) also mentioned the practical organisation, the location and the free registration fee as assets of the summit.
Out of 46 respondents to the question “If we would do a second summit, what should be in it?” the majority (65,2%) suggested to organize activities with more time and practical focus, presenting more concrete educational strategies, empirical research with applied tools, innovative and interactive approaches, or even enlarge the scope of the summit to other specific-related topics. The following statements are illustrative of the participants’ opinions:
- “Workshops of good practices, more interactive activities that engage participants and even lead to production of material or short curricula” (Participant 14);
- “More help getting to know each other, longer sessions, several days, more interaction (less lectures) and exchange, more outreach, more questions from panels to attendees” (Participant 32);
- “Critical thinking in citizenship education, or even other important skills of life such as entrepreneurial skills, technical skills, communication, debates on major issues of humankind” (Participant 41);
- “More practical. Also, address the institutional changes that are needed. Makes no sense to discuss these lofty ideas if we are not prepared nor have the support to implement them” (Participant 12).
Some respondents (8,7%) indicated that they would like to have a follow up of the manifesto. The possibility to participate for free, to network and to hear interesting keynotes were also considered as important features to keep in a second summit. Other respondents (8,7%), indicated that they would love a similar version of the first summit.
Finally, to the question “Do you have other comments?”, only 26 participants answered. The majority of those (69,2%) expressed their appreciation and thankfulness in relation to the organization of the summit:
- “It was worth attending the summit. New ideas, well organized academic event. Leuven is a beautiful town. I was impressed by both the summit and the venue. Congratulations! Thanks” (Participant 2).
Some suggestions for improvement were expressed by around 38,8% of the respondents regarding the quality of some master encounters and keynotes. They also expressed frustration about the impossibility to attend all the parallel sessions:
- “The parallel sessions (as they were) limited the possibility to get to know more of the content. It would have been nicer to offer recordings or create other possibilities so that participants could have max benefits from the event” (Participant 17);
- “The quality of the slides in some parallel sessions was substandard (…). It would be good to ensure that all sessions are extremely practical and provide participants with tools” (Participant 21).
Conclusion
The results indicated that the summit reached its goals, by having clearly explained the manifesto to the participants and by giving them new ideas about critical thinking and ways to develop it in educational settings. An important outcome is the fact that the manifesto was signed by 335 people, some of them representing organizations like OECD or UNESCO, committed with critical thinking education. The most appreciated aspects were the keynote sessions and the master encounters, which provided participants with opportunities to exchange ideas and to learn from the diverse and heterogeneous experience of their peers. However, and even if participants expressed their will to participate in a second summit and to follow-up the manifesto, a next summit should be organised having in mind more time and practical focus for the activities, not only empowering participants with interactive and concrete tools/examples applied to the educational context and supported on empirical research, but also fostering the sharing of experiences and the network between them.