author: Andrii Khodorchuk
Urgency of the research. For students studying philosophical and theological disciplines, it is especially important to be able to ask the right questions during training, to challenge, question, to be able to go “against the tide” in time, if necessary. Having the skills of critical thinking allows you to be in demand, to see global trends in various fields and to comprehend them from a deeper comprehensive position, taking into account world experience and practice. The lack of critical thinking skills among students of theology and philosophy can lead to the loss of relevance and the need for such representatives on the world arena of history, philosophy, politics, etc.
Target setting. According to the results of the theoretical research, the article considered two problems: (1) the problem of inconsistency of high qualification requirements for students of philosophy and theology and (2) the problem of insufficient development of pedagogical approaches to the development of critical thinking during university training.
Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. Development of the critical thinking for the students of philosophy and divinity quite a bit times questions be under consideration in the scientific literature for a few last decades. In particular about weak preparedness of students to the critical thinking marked P. Begichev [1], and also N. Garrifulina [2]. Problem of effective development of the critical thinking of описуваои V. Gura [3], V. Lebedev [4], A. Baker [5], C. Birkenstein, R. Durst [6], R. Crane [7]. Various methods came into question and offered for development of the critical thinking in labours of such researchers as W. Desmond [8], K. Fisher [9], P. Florenk-sy [10], N. Murphy [13], A. Steen-Uthei, N. Foldnes [15].
The research objective. To consider and analyze the reasons for the absence of the critical thinking development for philosophy and divinity students. To offer possibilities variants of decision of problem.
The statement of basic materials. This issue is unique and characteristic for this category of students, and today it requires a thorough study and development of effective educational scenarios to solve the existing problem. The emphasis is placed on theology as a complex area of student training that includes various aspects of religious teaching and requires adherence to established church norms in the perception of religious issues. It is stated that theology is meant to be a tool to criticize the existing private traditions within the framework of church life from the point of view of general church or catholic traditions. It manifests itself in the form of orthodoxy, i.e., the religious norm. Due to the fact that orthodoxy does not cover the whole field of possible specific “cases” that require theological understanding, theology remains a living thought that operates on the border of the Church and the world. It is stated that theology creatively and critically comprehends any problem or topic based on the spiritual experience of life in the Church, which remains unchanged because it is the experience of meeting the eternal Divine reality.
Conclusions. The author argues that the existing reasons for the lack of development of critical thinking are due to long-standing established canons, which do not provide for critical thinking, revision and confrontation. It is substantiated that it is with students of philosophy and theology that extraordinary lectures, seminars and other types of educational classes should be conducted to develop critical thinking. In particular, the article provides specific examples of interaction between teacher and students in the course of educational activities for the development of critical thinking.
Keywords: pedagogy, philosophical comprehension, critical thinking, theology, psychology.
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