What are the defining traits of the disciplined mind?
The disciplined mind is a mind truly educated, a mind with intellectual dispositions or cultivated tendencies that go beyond basic intellectual skills. For example, the disciplined mind has knowledge of its ignorance, questions its own beliefs, is aware of the need to entertain alternative viewpoints, holds itself to the same intellectual standards it expects of others, is willing to do intellectual work, is confident that reason is the best way to determine what to believe, and thinks for itself. As critical thinkers, these traits of mind are our ultimate goal. They are developed gradually, through daily practice in using the tools of thinking. They are also interrelated. As we develop one of these dispositions, or virtues, the others develop as well. 7) Most students study to pass multiple choice tests; How can we get them to evaluate an author’s reasoning? The best way to get students to learn at a deep rather than a superficial level is to structure the course so that they have no
