What are the Barriers to Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking skills are essential for students at all levels of education.Critical thinking helps students to understand and analyze facts and information. It helps students to develop effective problem solving skills. It also allows students to make right decisions at the right time. 

This skill is not only useful in the field of education but also in others areas of life. But the question is, why do students lack critical thinking skills? There are many barriers which hinder students to develop these skills.

Barriers to critical thinking 

Following are the 8 common barriers to critical thinking:

1. Wrong assumptions 

Many students make wrong assumptions about concept . They accept information as it is. They don’t ask questions. They don’t seek clarification from their teachers and peers. Therefore wrong assumptions have a negative impact on students ability to think critically.

2. Personal Bias

Personal bias is a common barrier to critical thinking. When students are biased, they can’t think clearly about a topic and make decisions based on logic and facts. Overconfidence is the most common personal bias. It affects students’ decisions making skill.

3. Emotional barrier 

Negative emotions have a profound effect on students’ critical thinking. When emotions are strong, students can’t think objectively and  may fail to take right decisions. A recent study found that when students are emotional, their critical thinking abilities decrease.

4. Too much distractions 

Attention plays important role in developing the critical thinking skills in students. When students are given a task that requires them to think critically, they are often distracted by external stimuli. Therefore, they should work in distraction free environment.

5. Afraid to take decision

Decision making is a important part of critical thinking. But sometimes students afraid to take decisions. This may be due to the following reasons:

-Fear of failure.

- Fear of being wrong.

-Fear of being criticised and judged.

-Resistance to change.

6. Overload of information 

One of the barriers to critical thinking is the amount of information that students are bombarded with on a daily basis. With too much information, students may find it hard to figure out what information is important or what is not.

7. Environmental barrier 

There is also an effect of environment on students’ critical thinking. Sometimes students do not get conducive environment in school and home which in turn decreases their ability to think critically. There is lack of opportunities for students to practice critical thinking skills.

How to overcome barriers to critical thinking ?

Focus on the following points; these will help students to overcome the barriers to critical thinking skills:

1. Students can overcome these barriers by focusing on small steps and rewarding themselves for every successful action.

2. They should take decisions based on facts rather than emotions.

3. They should anayze information carefully.

4. Students can enhance their critical thinking by expanding their thinking and by engaging with the ideas of others.

5. Teachers should provide enough opportunities to students so that their critical thinking can be enhanced.

6. They should not rely on their own opinions and beliefs when thinking critically.

7. They should explore themselves to new ideas.

8. They should not be afraid of accepting new challenges and opportunities.

9. To overcome these barriers, they need to be open to learn new things and should try to tackle the problem with different ways of thinking.

Conclusion 

There are many barriers to critical thinking. These barriers can be cultural, psychological and environmental. These can exist inside and outside the classroom.

 However, these barriers can be overcome by proper education, practice and self reflection.