Critical thinking as wisdom: Its concept and way of development

Abstract

This review paper has two parts. First, the relationship between critical thinking concepts and certain wisdom theories were examined. The wisdom theories were the implicit theory of wisdom (Sternberg, 1985b), the reflective judgement model (Kitchener and King, 1981), and the balance theory of wisdom (Sternberg, 1998). The second wave of critical thinking concepts and wisdom theories have many overlaps. This overlap is called “critical thinking as wisdom.” In the second part of this paper, critical thinking practices in the context of Japanese primary/secondary education were categorized. Based on these practices, six categories were identified: skill developing, evaluating/judging, repolishing, multiple viewpoints, questioning, and criterion examining. Second, the problem of how wisdom can be developed in school was discussed.