Razor 2024 Workshop: Promoting Critical Thinking with Youth Work
Workshop Overview: Equipping Psychologists and Specialists with Critical Thinking skills for Impactful Youth Work
On June 5th, 2024, we held an informative workshop in the pleasant town of Kulautuva, Lithuania. The main goal of this event was to improve critical thinking and decision-making skills among psychologists and specialists working with youth. As a result, seventeen dedicated professionals came together to take part actively in the workshop. Throughout the session, participants tried new methods from the “Razor 2024” training program and also shared useful practices and experiences. Additionally, this team-oriented setting created a rich learning environment.
Key Activities and Learnings: Building a Foundation for Critical Thinking and Decision-Making
Our workshop focused on several crucial areas to improve critical thinking skills for effective youth work:
1. Thinking Errors and Heuristics
In the workshop, we explored Thinking Errors and Heuristics. This experience aimed to raise awareness among professionals about potential cognitive biases affecting their work with youth.
- Thinking Errors:
These are systematic distortions in reasoning that lead to incorrect conclusions. Some common examples include:- Confirmation Bias: Seeking information that confirms pre-existing beliefs.
- Availability Heuristic: Basing judgments on easily recalled information.
- Halo Effect: Generalizing one characteristic to influence overall perception.
- Heuristics:
On the other hand, heuristics are mental shortcuts for quick decisions. However, they can also cause judgment errors. Examples include:- Representativeness Heuristic: Judging probability based on mental prototypes.
- Anchoring Heuristic: Relying too heavily on initial information when deciding.
Awareness of these biases is crucial for psychologists and youth workers. Moreover, these errors can influence how they interpret young people’s behaviour. This may lead to inappropriate decisions or interventions. Therefore, the workshop activity aimed to sensitize participants to these potential biases. It encouraged them to reflect on their own thinking. Additionally, it helped develop strategies to mitigate the impact of these errors in their youth work.
2. Critical Thinking Frameworks
Critical Thinking Frameworks are tools or structures that help organize and guide the critical thinking process. In the context of the workshop, two practical examples were explored:
- Four Corners:
This methodology encourages discussion and movement by presenting students with a controversial statement or question. Each corner of the room represents a different opinion or answer, and students position themselves in the corner that best reflects their stance, stimulating debate and critical reflection. - Six Hats:
This method proposes six metaphorical “hats,” each representing a different thinking style (e.g., white hat for objective facts, red hat for emotions, etc.). By wearing one hat at a time, it encourages analyzing a situation from different perspectives, promoting a more comprehensive and objective evaluation.
These frameworks provide practical tools to teach critical thinking to young people, enabling them to analyze information, solve problems, communicate effectively, and develop independent thinking. In essence, cultivating critical thinking empowers young people to become active and informed participants in society.
3. Projective Methodologies
These techniques, utilizing ambiguous stimuli to uncover unconscious thoughts and feelings, are crucial for gaining a deeper understanding of personality and inner motivations. Therefore, by understanding these underlying factors, professionals can tailor their interventions and support to better address the specific needs and challenges faced by young people.
Some examples of projective methodologies include:
- Rorschach test: where participants interpret ambiguous inkblots, revealing aspects of their personality and inner world
- Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): where participants create stories based on ambiguous pictures, offering insights into their needs, motivations, and inner conflicts
- Family drawing: where participants draw their family, providing information about family dynamics and interpersonal relationships
- Sentence completion: where participants complete incomplete sentences, revealing their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes on various topics
These projective techniques, although requiring careful interpretation by qualified professionals, can provide valuable information not accessible through more direct methods. Additionally, they can provide particularly useful insights in youth work and the development of critical thinking.
Impact on Youth Work: Nurturing a Generation of Critical Thinkers
The applied methods and discussions during the workshop yielded significant benefits for psychologists and specialists in youth work:
- Increased awareness of personal beliefs and decision-making processes
- Expanded knowledge base with reliable sources for youth-oriented programs
- Enhanced strategies for promoting critical thinking among young people
- Improved techniques for guiding youth through complex decision-making scenarios
By equipping psychologists and youth work specialists with these critical thinking tools, we aim to foster a generation of young individuals capable of making well-informed decisions and approaching challenges with analytical mindsets.
Are you interested in further developing your critical thinking skills for youth work?
For more information about future workshops or to discuss implementing critical thinking strategies in your youth work, please contact us.
If you are interested in learning more about critical thinking, improve your knowledge with a guide which can be accessed below.
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