Abstract

This paper challenges the assumption that critical thinking is uniquely a Western educational construct. In particular, it will be argued that two non-Western traditions—namely, those of classical Chinese and Islamic thought—contain evidence of the championing of critical thinking as understood by contemporary SoTL scholars. This paper concludes with a set of pedagogical implications that will be relevant to university tutors interested in designing or teaching modules that aim at the fostering of critical thinking.

Keywords: Critical thinking in the scholarship of teaching and learning, classical Chinese and Islamic thought, module design, higher education