Addressing social polarization through critical thinking: Theoretical application in the “Living Well With Difference” course in secondary schools in England
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引用次数: 1
Abstract
Responding to international calls for critical thinking programs to address social polarisations and extremism through education, this article examines the cognitive and socio-psychological foundations of a critical thinking programme for secondary schools in England called “Living Well With Difference” (LWWD). The aim of LWWD is to develop critical thinking about issues of social polarisation, prejudice and any kind of extreme thinking. These issues often involve the interaction of emotion and thinking, which is understood using a dual systems framework, illustrated with examples of course methodology and content. The learning process aims to promote more cognitively flexible, complex and integrated thinking, measured by integrative complexity, and is supported by meta-awareness to enable emotion management. The aim is for participants to engage with difficult social issues through structured group activities, while becoming aware of social, emotional, textual, visual and rhetorical influences to increase Media Information Literacy, as a foundation for engaging with differing perspectives in order to reduce barriers between groups in society.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Social and Political Psychology (JSPP) is a peer-reviewed open-access journal (without author fees), published online. It publishes articles at the intersection of social and political psychology that substantially advance the understanding of social problems, their reduction, and the promotion of social justice. It also welcomes work that focuses on socio-political issues from related fields of psychology (e.g., peace psychology, community psychology, cultural psychology, environmental psychology, media psychology, economic psychology) and encourages submissions with interdisciplinary perspectives. JSPP is comprehensive and integrative in its approach. It publishes high-quality work from different epistemological, methodological, theoretical, and cultural perspectives and from different regions across the globe. It provides a forum for innovation, questioning of assumptions, and controversy and debate. JSPP aims to give creative impetuses for academic scholarship and for applications in education, policymaking, professional practice, and advocacy and social action. It intends to transcend the methodological and meta-theoretical divisions and paradigm clashes that characterize the field of social and political psychology, and to counterbalance the current overreliance on the hypothetico-deductive model of science, quantitative methodology, and individualistic explanations by also publishing work following alternative traditions (e.g., qualitative and mixed-methods research, participatory action research, critical psychology, social representations, narrative, and discursive approaches). Because it is published online, JSPP can avoid a bias against research that requires more space to be presented adequately.