Integrating Critical Thinking in the Curriculum of the Command and General Staff College

The Command and General Staff College endeavors to instill critical thinking as a skill practiced by its graduates. To this end the college has introduced the concept of critical thinking as a class within the core curriculum. Students must take a "critical thinking test" both before and after the block of core instruction, and numerous graphic training aids line the classroom walls in an attempt to reinforce these ideas. However, it remains questionable whether or not the concepts of critical thought, that are taught by the school, have made their way into the course work and class structure within the college. This thesis will contend that to create critical thinkers CGSC must incorporate the tenets of critical thinking throughout its curriculum and course design. Grading rubrics for papers and tests, exam questions written to steer answers in a certain "correct" direction all to a degree contradict the tenets of critical thought, yet exist within the course of study. Ideally, CGSC can stand as a seminal experience in the development of officers. An experience akin to that found in civilian graduate level education can be attained, but it will require a cultural revolution within the faculty to transition from a model based on training to a model based on education. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.