Note to the Second Edition

The questions raised, and most of the ideas and opinions expressed, in this book, were first developed, presented, and discussed at a workshop that Jan Sobocan organized through the Faculty of Education at The University of Western Ontario. In the current “high stakes” climate for testing — in which critical thinking and testing are central topics on the educational agenda — she brought together philosophers, teachers, critical thinking and education scholars, testing experts, and government representatives.

The goal was to discuss how well we teach and test critical thinking; how and if we should develop critical thinking curriculum (which includes tests for it); and what might be done to establish tests and testing programs that reliably reflect the standards that critical thinking requires.

The essays in this collection first appeared in an earlier anthology with the same title, which was published by THE ALTHOUSE PRESS at Western University. The Press closed its operation in 2015 and the rights to the manuscript reverted to the editors (Jan Sobocan and Leo Groarke). This WSIA digital edition of the book adds a new introduction and aims to make available a selection of essays that were included in the first volume but are no longer readily available to those interested in critical thinking and argumentation. Beyond the new introduction, minor (but not major) changes have been made to the content of the 1st edition.