The Significance of Critical Thinking
To think critically is to think on a more grand scale - it is the foundation of innovation and forward progress. This page is dedicated to exemplifying my critical thinking skill progression and how I have honed this skill to be useful in the professional world.
Two Critiques, Many Improvements
During my time at Bellevue College while I worked on my Associate’s degree, I wrote a paper critiquing former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and most connectivity providers for their attempt to disrupt net neutrality titled “Policy Critique on Net Neutrality”. Net neutrality is the premise of which internet users can use the whole of the internet. And while my passion for the keeping of net neutrality was fierce, my ability to create a very strong argument was less so. This paper will be contrasted to a more recent work of mine titled “American Education and Its Inefficiency for the Future of Labor with Special Consideration to Disadvantaged Groups”. This paper focuses on the history of education in the U.S., how it has evolved, and why it is insufficient and hinders modern and future labor. The contrast of these two papers will exemplify my improved critical thinking skills.
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An analogy is how the current cable tv packaging works – if one wants sports, they also need to pay for movies and other channels that many do not watch. Without net neutrality, internet access would be bundled like such – social media packages and researcher packages; so and so forth. Utilizing five strong sources for the five-page paper, I attempted to convince readers to contact legislators and appeal for the denial of the net neutrality strip. Giving pros and cons of different ways to help but with not much fluoresce, “The negative of calling is that the representative may not have time in their busy schedule to talk with the caller”. Another example of less-than-great analysis is, “Angry customers did later take class-action lawsuits against them for being in violation of their terms and conditions, but that is between the company and its users”. This sentence is looked back at with the want of more information on this – to critique it would be to say that it is not very well thought about analytically or critically.
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Comparatively so, a piece of work that exemplifies better critical thinking skills is a piece written on education in the U.S. I attempted to convince readers that education is in dire need of a reformation and perhaps upheaval in the name of preparing young Americans for the modern professional world and the future of labor. Exemplified critical thinking skills could be noted after a historical analysis of education in the U.S and its one reformation and the reasons for this reformation. It is afterwards noted, “despite the former success of this model, it is not in the best interest to the future of the nation and the future of the labor force that this model continues its use”. The paper focuses itself on why this is. It is a bold statement that is sure to spark many arguments in many different directions; however, the paper utilizes thirteen pages of writing and twenty-four reputable sources along with excellent analysis to convey the argument in a meaningful manner. To think critically is to challenge what one knows or what they were told – this way of thinking is imperative and I feel honored to have improved this skill to the extent that I have.
The Significance of Collaboration and Equity
In a globalized world, collaboration is imperative to near any form of success. Gathering ideas from simply one source would be to shoot oneself in the foot. In this case, I will explain my usage of team collaboration and I will note my works surrounding equity.
The importance of collaboration as well as diversity and equity within that collaboration is imperative and is necessary for the advancement of so many fields. If an ever-developing society wishes continued advancement, sticking to one mode would be unwise. Countless inventions made, discoveries found, and questions asked have been by teams from all sorts of different backgrounds. I hope to exemplify my commitment to diversity and equity while supplying an example of collaboration during my time at the University of Washington.
In Autumn of 2020, I had a class that focuses on historical colonialization in the tropics, most notably Southeast Asia. The midterm for this class was to create our own student-authored midterm. In almost a jeopardy style, the professor was to judge our knowledge of the material by us, the student, asking the questions. What worked great with this assignment was that, despite all of us knowing the material, there were aspects in the class that intrigued us more so than others. This was exemplified in the end as a way of reflecting on the assignment when I wrote, “Using the topics we individually knew best, we then separated to work on a short answer question each. We met back up on Wednesday … to [make it] look as if it were one cohesive piece”. No one was left out and everyone had an equal part, ensuring equity of ideas and equality of work amount given. We had all agreed that our preferred method of collaboration was to meet in person, but this class was held during the lockdown of the COVID-19 virus, so all our meetups and communications were done via the internet. It was not easy, as “At first, getting everyone’s information was a bit of a struggle” but “Once everything fell into place, the workflow was smooth, productive, and everyone contributed equally.” Despite the complications, collaboration is important nonetheless and possible even at distances. It just takes a bit of effort, which is crucial for any success.
The piece I’ve chosen to exemplify my commitment to equity is the research I have done on Kum-Kum Bhavnani, et. al.’s theory of the Women, Culture, and Development paradigm which focuses a holistic, lived-world approach to helping women of developing nations. The artifact I bring attention to is an assignment given in Spring of 2021 in a class titled “Women, Culture, and Development” given by Dr. Julie Shayne. In the paper, I analyze NGO Tostan and its presence in The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, and Senegal utilizing the Women, Culture, and Development paradigm. I analyze if Tostan is using it efficiently and if benefits are being seen. I did this because of my personal critiques of how women in the global south are seen and treated when advancement is the topic. My dedication to ensuring that everyone is treated equitably had made it so that I wanted to study Tostan’s success – that of which they found. The search for the “perfect” way to help people in developing nations is ongoing, but the Women, Culture, and Development paradigm is designed not to save these peoples, but to give them a boost so they can save their selves. So far, I’ve yet to find a better paradigm for bringing equity to developing nations but my focus on local equitability is nonwavering.
The two examples provided have offered ways that I view collaboration and equity both on the small, personal scale all the way up to transnational ideals. Further examples of collaboration are held and can be provided upon request.