[embeddedradical]

If you teach critical thinking, the how of thinking, the how to approach problems, the whys of things known, then knowledge comes easy and remains accessible for life. If you teach many facts, then there is little progress of critical thinking. It's like data without a processor. Data is not so hard to find these days, how to process remains mysticism for many.

[btilly]

I know many people who are good at critical thinking. Every one that I have had this conversation with believes that you can't learn critical thinking without practice, and you can't practice critical thinking without learning lots of facts. Therefore you can't teach critical thinking without teaching many facts.

This does not, of course, imply that teaching facts teaches critical thinking. It doesn't. But it is a key part of the process.