How Argumentative Writing Stifles Open-Mindedness

Autor/in	Southworth, James
Titel	How Argumentative Writing Stifles Open-Mindedness
Quelle	In: Arts and Humanities in Higher Education: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 20 (2021) 2, S.207-227 (21 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Southworth, James)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1474-0222
DOI	10.1177/1474022220903426
Schlagwörter	Persuasive Discourse; Writing (Composition); Student Attitudes; Critical Thinking; College Students; Bias; Educational Philosophy; Inquiry + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Persuasion; Persuasive Kommunikation; Schreibübung; Schülerverhalten; Kritisches Denken; Collegestudent; Bildungsphilosophie; Erziehungsphilosophie
Abstract	A longstanding assumption within higher education is that there is a clear link between argumentative writing and critical thinking. In this paper, I challenge this assumption. I argue that argumentative writing genres of persuasion, inquiry, and consensus fail to target students' open-mindedness, which is an important aspect of critical thinking. In particular, argumentative writing genres do not challenge students to confront key cognitive biases, namely confirmation bias and motivated reasoning, when engaging in moral, political, and/or social questions. The motivation to conduct a balanced selection of evidence as well as an unbiased interpretation of evidence is overshadowed by the motivation to preserve one's prior beliefs. The structure of argumentative writing genres thereby stifles open-mindedness and can even nurture dogmatism. As a result, in our goal to develop students' critical thinking skills through argumentative writing, we may be doing more harm than good. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01