Developing critical thinking and academic writing

Whilst both tutors and students felt critical thinking skills were developed during the master’s degree, there was some confusion over exactly what this meant. Harvey defines critical thinking as:

[…] being able to develop opinions and be able to justify them, to be able to think about knowledge as a process not as some ‘thing’ they tentatively approach and selectively appropriate. A critical approach ultimately requires students to self-assess, to be able to decide what is good quality work and to be confident when they have achieved it (Harvey, 2000, p. 13)

In this sense critical thinking is not only an approach towards understanding past literature, but will also allow individuals to achieve to the best of their abilities. Master’s study aims to create independent academic thinkers who are capable of critically evaluating issues and research (Scott et al., 2013; Institution B, course prospectus). These abilities would appear to come under the term ‘critical thinking’ as it is discussed by Harvey. Some participants felt that this skill was not required during undergraduate study and struggled to understand how to think critically. Previous to master’s study many of the participants had experience of gathering literature together within an essay, but now they were required to go further by critiquing and evaluating the authors’ arguments. Although many showed a natural curiosity and tendency to question they were uncertain how to apply these skills within academia:

I would always naturally question everything but […], I didn’t really get my head around quite what that meant in writing (Jodie, phase 1)

Individuals faced uncertainty about ‘what it is I’m meant to be picking out’ (Amy, phase 1). The difficulty of questioning others’ research can be heightened for certain international students for whom questioning others is not the cultural norm. This generally contrasts with the approach in the UK in which students are expected to be critical rather than simply accepting what they are told (Zhou, Jindal-Snape, Topping, & Todman, 2008). One tutor felt that because of this ‘teaching and encouraging critique is one of the biggest things that I find myself having to do’ (Musicology tutor, institution A). Critical thinking was a skill which presented difficulties for the students and the tutors within the master’s degrees.

Chloe lacked the confidence in critical thinking as she was new to the field of study and assumed that others were more knowledgeable than her:

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What right do I have to criticise these very intelligent people who are, you know, have all these degrees, are very established in their field and, you know, I’m just a master’s student […] I feel like I’m not really worthy to criticise their work or, you know, are my ideas really that important or am I even interpreting this correctly (Chloe, phase 2) Chloe did not describe herself as academic and was studying in order to enhance her professional practice as a teacher. The lack of academic identity appears to have been detrimental as it led to her feeling unconfident when critiquing others’ work whom she assumed to be more academically capable. During periods of transition many are forced to renegotiate their identities as they socialise into new environments with different

expectations (Ibarra, 1999) which can lead to uncertainty regarding abilities (Christie et al., 2008). The period of transition is therefore likely to be challenging for those who lack a strong positive academic identity. These results suggest the importance of supporting students to feel more academically capable in order to encourage the development of a more critical approach.

Those who did develop a critical approach became more competent academics and improved their writing style. Samantha began to question her own writing and everything she read more deeply. She described her reaction to comments from her supervisor:

the first piece of criticism that [supervisor name] gave me was erm, this is sketchy and not wholly convincing, so because of that I started thinking, okay if I say this I have to say this to back it up or else it will sound fluffy, yeh so I started thinking a lot more about things. (Samantha, phase 2)

After receiving this feedback Samantha restructured her writing approach and became more critical. The increase in self-criticism eventually led to Samantha developing a more

advanced writing style and receiving higher marks in her assignments. As highlighted by Samantha, feedback from tutors is an important tool for helping students to develop their academic work further than may otherwise have been likely (Burt & Mills, 2006). Feedback can also encourage students to question the practices and values held by themselves and others in order to support the development of critical reflection (Burnard, 2006). However, it is important that individuals have a strong academic identity and self-efficacy in order to feel able to try out new critical thinking skills.

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I think I take a bit more of a measured approach to things, erm and I’m definitely more willing to listen and I think when I was younger if I disagreed with something I used to instantly say why I disagreed with it. Whereas now I’m a bit more willing to listen to perhaps someone else’s point of view and go away and consider it for a while (Tom, phase 3)

After developing critical thinking skills during the master’s degree Tom felt more able to approach non-academic situations with the same type of analytical, measured approach which allowed him to be more contemplative and open-minded to different viewpoints. It is exactly this open-minded approach which is valued within the private and public sector as having the potential to stimulate innovation and change (Smith, 2010).