“What Does Critical Thinking Mean to You?” A Narrative Inquiry of Graduate Students’ Perceptions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v16i4.5459Keywords:
Canada, critical thinking, Iran, international students, narrative inquiryAbstract
Critical thinking is an important part of higher education in Canada, and many education systems worldwide, but not all cultural contexts. Critical thinking enables students to expand their perspectives and better navigate important personal and professional decisions. This narrative inquiry compares Canadian and Iranian international graduate students’ perceptions of critical thinking. Through conversations with eight participants, deep and complex transcultural understandings of critical thinking were unearthed. Findings indicate that while Canadian participants can articulate informed viewpoints about critical thinking, some Iranian participants require further knowledge to construct their critical thinking conceptualizations. Results suggest that Canadian higher education needs to consider international students’ limited background knowledge of critical thinking and must provide more opportunities to develop critical thinking skills. This study offers insights for higher education policymakers, curriculum developers, and practitioners to consider international and intercultural perspectives to facilitate critical thinking in both international and domestic students.
References
Adams, N. E. (2015). Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning objectives. Journal of the Medical Library Association,103(3), 152-153. https://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.103.3.010.
Armstrong, P. (2010). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/.
Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE) (2024). 1,040,985 international students in Canada at all levels of study at the end of 2023. https://cbie.ca/infographic/.
Chaisuwan, C., Kelly, K., Kelman, G. B., & Continelli, T. (2021). Relationship between cultural value and critical thinking dispositions and their difference among Nursing Students in Thailand and United States. Pacific Rim International Journal of Nursing Research, 25(2), 199-212.
Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. Jossey-Bass.
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). Pearson Education.
Creswell, J. W., & Guetterman, T. C. (2019). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (6th ed.). Pearson Education. https://10.1046/j.1365-2648.2003.02805.x.
Dam, H., Chan, J., & Wayland, S. (2018). Missed opportunity: International students in Canada face barriers to permanent residence. International Migration & Integration, 19, 891-903. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-018-0576-y.
Dehkhoda Dictionary. (n.d). انتقاد. In Dehkhoda Lexicon Institute & International Center for Persian Studies. https://dehkhoda.ut.ac.ir/en/dictionary/46820/%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AF.
Dewey, J. (1910). How we think. Heath Publishing.
Duffin, E. (2021). International students in the US 2003–2021. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/237681/international-students-in-the-us/.
Egege, S., & Kutieleh, S. (2004). Critical thinking: teaching foreign notions to foreign students. International Education Journal, 4(4), 75-85.
Eghbali, A., Salehi, A., Ghaedi, Y., & Mahmoudnia, A. (2021). A reflection on the basic features of emancipatory classroom components in higher education. Quarterly Journal of Research and Planning in Higher Education, 27(1), 27-50.
Elliott, J. (2005). Using narrative in social research: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Sage.
Ennis, R. H. (1985). A logical basis for measuring critical thinking skills. Educational Leadership, 43(2), 44-48.
Ennis, R. H. (1993). Critical thinking assessment. Theory Into Practice. 32(3), 179-186. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405849309543594.
Etherington, K. (2006). Reflexivity: using our ‘selves’ in narrative research. In: S. Trahar (Ed.), Narrative Research on Learning: comparative and international perspectives (pp. 77-92). Symposium Books.
Fahim, M., & Bagheri, M. B. (2012). Fostering critical thinking through Socrates’ questioning in Iranian language institutes. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 3(6), 1122-1127. https://doi:10.4304/jltr.3.6.1122-1127.
Fahim, M., & Shakouri Masouleh, N. (2012). Critical thinking in higher education: A pedagogical look. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(7), 1370-1375. https://10.4304/tpls.2.7.1370-1375.
Fella, E. V., & Lukianovaa, N. A. (2015). British Universities: International students’ alleged lack of critical thinking. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 215, 2-8. . https://10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.565.
Ferkany, M. A. (2019). The Moral Limits of Open‐Mindedness. Educational Theory, 69(4), 403-419. https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.12377
Fillion, N. (2020). Developing core competencies with the ethics bowl: Perspectives from British Columbia. Detours: Social Science Education Research Journal, 1(1), 1-10. https://detoursjournal.org/index.php/detours/article/view/13.
Forehand, M. (2010). Bloom Taxonomy. Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and Technology, 1-10.
Gibson, W., & Brown, A. (2009). Working with qualitative data. Sage.
Hajhosseini, M., Zandi, S., Hosseini Shabanan, S., & Madani, Y. (2016). Critical thinking and social interaction in active learning: A conceptual analysis of class discussion from Iranian students’ perspective. Cogent Education, 3(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1175051.
Hashemi, A. S., Naderi, E., Shariatmadari, A., Seif Naraghi, M., & Mehrabi, M. (2010). Science production in Iranian educational system the use of critical thinking. International Journal of Instruction 3(1), 61-76.
Hayhoe, R. (2000). Redeeming Modernity. Comparative Education Review, 44(2), 423-488.
Higher Education Statistics Agency (2022). Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2020/21. HESA. https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/25-01-2022/sb262-higher-education-student-statistics.
Howe, E. R. (2010). A comparative ethnographic narrative approach to studying teacher acculturation. In: V. L. Masemann & S. Majhanovich (Eds.), Papers in Memory of David N. Wilson: Clamouring for a Better World (pp. 121–136). Sense Publishers.
Howe, E. R. (2022). Teacher Acculturation: Stories of pathways to teaching. Brill. https://brill.com/view/title/61351?rskey=02H0u5&result=2.
Howe, E. R., & Cope Watson, G. (2021). Finding our way through a pandemic: Teaching in alternate modes of delivery. Frontiers in Education, 6. 661513. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.661513.
Howe, E. R., Ramirez, G., & Walton, P. (2023). Experiences of International Students at a Canadian University: Barriers and Supports. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 15(2), 115-133. https://10.32674/jcihe.v15i2.4819.
Hymel, S., Low, A., Starosta, L., Gill, R., & Schonert-Reichl, K. (2017). Promoting mental well-being through social-emotional learning in schools: Examples from British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 36(4), 97-107. https://10.7870/cjcmh-2017-029.
Islamiyah, M., & Sholakhuddin Al Fajri, M. (2020). Investigating Indonesian master’s students’ perception of critical thinking in academic writing in a British University. The Qualitative Report, 25(12), 4402-4422.
Jovchelovitch, S., & Bauer, M. W. (2000). Narrative interviewing. London: LSE Research Online. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/2633.
Kim, H. S., Ko, D. (2007). Culture and self-expression. In: Sedikides. C., & Spencer, S. J. (Eds.), The Self (pp. 326–342). Psychology Press.
Lewis, A., & Smith, D. (1993). Defining higher order thinking. Theory Into Practice, 32(3), 131-137. https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.tru.ca/stable/1476693.
Maxwell, J. A. (2012). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (Vol. 41). Sage.
Martirosyan, N. M., Hwang, E., & Wanjohi, R. (2015). Impact of English proficiency on academic performance of international students. Journal of International Students, 5(1), 60-71. https://10.32674/jis.v5i1.443.
McGrath, J. P. (2003). The relationship of critical thinking skills and critical thinking dispositions of baccalaureate nursing students. Leading Global Nursing Reacher, 43(6), 569-577. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2003.02755.x
Merriam, S. B. (1995). What can you tell from an N of 1: Issues of validity and reliability in qualitative research. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 4, 50-60.
Ministry of Education in British Columbia. (n.d.). Critical thinking. https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies/critical_thinking
OECD. (2022). Education at a Glance 2022: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/3197152b-en.
Ojaghi Shirmard, F. (2023). Canadian and Iranian graduate students’ conceptions of critical thinking: A comparative study. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 14 (5A), 46–51. https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v14i5A.4779.
Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. (n.d.). Criticism. In Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries.com. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/criticism.
Salehi Abari, M., & Nikdoosti, M. (2021). Comparison of “Will” concept in education and jurisprudence and possible challenges in the educational system of Iran and England. Iranian Journal of Comparative Education, 4(2), 1209-1226. https://doi.org/10.22034/IJCE.2021.245541.1207
Scriven, M., & Paul, R. (1987). Defining critical thinking. The Critical Thinking Community: Foundation for Critical Thinking. http://www.criticalthinking.org/aboutCT/define_critical_thinking.cfm.
Shahnazari, F. (1992). Modernization of education: a comparison of Japan and Iran. Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, International University of Japan, Japan.
Sharifian, F. (2013). Globalisation and developing metacultural competence in learning English as an international language. Multilingual Education, 3(7), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/2191-5059-3-7.
Song, X. (2016). “Critical thinking” and pedagogical implications for higher education. East Asia, 33, 25-40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-015-9250-6.
Sternberg, R. J. (1986). Critical thinking: Its nature, measurement, and improvement. National Institute of Education. http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED272882.pdf.
Tiwari, A., Avery, A., & Lai, P. (2003). Critical thinking disposition of Hong Kong Chinese and Australian nursing students. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 44(3), 298-307. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2003.02805.x.
Tsui, L. (2003). Fostering critical thinking through effective pedagogy: Evidence from four institutional case studies. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(6), 740-763. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1558404.
Wright, I. (2002). Challenging Students with the Tools of Critical Thinking. The Social Studies, 93(6), 257-261. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377990209600175.
Zare, P., & Othman, M. (2013). Classroom debate as a systematic teaching/learning approach. World Applied Sciences Journal, 28(11), 1506-1513.
Zhong, W. & Cheng, M. (2021). Developing critical thinking: experiences of Chinese international students in a post-1992 University in England. Chinese Education &Society, 54(3), 95-106. https://doi.org/10.1080/10611932.2021.1958294.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The findings, interpretations, conclusions, and views expressed in Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education (JCIHE) are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to CIES, HESIG, or the sponsoring universities of the Editorial Staff. These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. Readers are free to copy, display, and distribute articles that appear in JCIHE as long as the work is attributed to the author(s) and JCIHE, it is distributed for non-commercial purposes only, and no alteration or transformation is made in the work. All other uses must be approved by the author(s) or JCIHE. By submitting a manuscript, authors agree to transfer without charge the following rights to JCIHE upon acceptance of the manuscript: first worldwide serial publication rights and the right for JCIHE to grant permissions as its editors judge appropriate for the redistribution of the article, its abstract, and metadata associated with the article in professional indexing and reference services.
