Clearly this procedure is limited. Discussions in this style give a collective
but not an individual sense of what students know. Students’ reflections re-
veal only what they think about thinking, not how they perform in real situa-
tions. Nonetheless, much of interest emerged. The discussions revealed what
knowledge students have about when thinking becomes challenging, which is
relevant to sensitivity. The discussions exposed the repertoire of strategies
students possess around truth and other areas of thinking, which is relevant
to their ability. Finally, the discussions led students to recount what motiva-
tional factors made thinking more or less worthwhile, relevant to inclination.
Students’ Thinking About Truth
In general, students’ reflections on truth proved much more advanced than
one might anticipate. Although they did not use sophisticated terminology,
they brought forward many basic and sometimes nuanced dilemmas of seek-
ing truth.
Students showed an awareness that the truth is often ambiguous and must
be investigated. Across all ages, students indicated that information can not
be equally trusted from all sources. Fourth graders and eighth graders alike
noted that books, news accounts, and the conversations of peers may not al-
ways be true—“It’s not always easy to know the truth about things someone
tells you or what you read in the newspaper.” However, younger students
more readily accepted truth from expert sources they knew personally, such
as peers or parents. Older students showed more awareness of multiple per-
spectives and the need to synthesize. Furthermore, older students saw that is-
sues of truth go beyond mere facts, including the challenge of self-knowledge
(“It’s hard to know the truth about your own opinion and feelings some-
times”), ethical issues (“It can be hard to know the truth about what is right
and wrong in a situation”), larger epistemic issues (“Scientific theories like
the Big Bang can be hard to know the truth about”), and issues of faith (“It’s
hard to know things about God”).
Pondering what is worth thinking about, younger students focused on the
importance of the truth to them personally at that moment. If there were no
immediate consequences for them, they often signaled that it was not a strong
priority. Not surprisingly, older students recognized the impact of the truth
on others and distinguished between personal relevance and larger societal
relevance. Addressing the latter, students evaluated worth based on their
ability to contribute to the truth. Knowing the truth about chemical weapons
in Iraq might be very important, but it was not worth their time personally.
Besides potential to contribute, students also identified curiosity as a motiva-
tion. Although they might not need to know whether cola drinks break down
tooth enamel, it might be fun to find out, particularly if the investment in
finding out was not too taxing.
- WHEN IS GOOD THINKING? 371