Evaluative thinking: SAMEA webinar

In this webinar on evaluative thinking, Thomas Schwandt explores two perspectives on the topic.

The first perspective considers evaluative thinking to be a form of critical thinking involving reflection, questioning assumptions, and continuous learning. This view emphasises skills and dispositions associated with critical thinking: Skills such as the ability to interpret, make inferences and analyse, and dispositions such as inquisitiveness, open-mindedness, and prudence in making judgements.

The second perspective views evaluative thinking as a unique logic of evaluation or evaluative reasoning, involving a four-step logic: establishing criteria, setting standards of performance, gathering data, and synthesizing information. Evaluative reasoning combines matters of fact and value to arrive at evaluative conclusions.

The webinar also touches on the collective and social nature of evaluative thinking and potential tensions between critical thinking and indigenous knowledge systems.