Organizational and Pedagogical Conditions for the Development of Critical Thinking Skills among Russian University Students

Abstract

Labor market trends estimation shows that there is an increasing number of professions in which universal competencies are valued, including critical thinking. This paper presents a theoretical framework, which makes it possible to assess the organizational and pedagogical conditions for the development of critical thinking, and analyzes these conditions in Russian universities. To collect data, we used the method of semi-structured interviews with teachers (18 people), with representatives of the administration (10 people) of Russian universities, and with one of the authors of Federal State Standards for Higher Education (current version). The results show that today in Russia, despite the requirements of the standards, not all universities have conditions for the development of critical thinking among all students. Three types of universities can be distinguished: 1) universities that create conditions for the development of critical thinking among all students; 2) universities whose conditions allow to develop critical thinking only for individual students; 3) universities that do not create conditions for the development of students’ critical thinking at all.