Critical Thinking
Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments.
“Social workers are knowledgeable about the principles of logic, scientific inquiry, and reasoned discernment. They use critical thinking augmented by creativity and curiosity. Critical thinking also requires the synthesis and communication of relevant information.”– CSWE (2008)
Practice Behaviors
a. Demonstrate autonomous application of critical thinking to diverse complex professional scenarios.
Learning evidenced by:
- Discussing the importance of critical thinking and having a committment to lifelong learning in this paper.
- Creating and analyzing complex clinical scenarios in order to complete five-axis DSM assessments, simulating clinical practice.
- Journaling on the implementation of emerging therapeutic techniques and skills of critical thinking in my social work practice.
b. Demonstrate advanced oral and written communication skills in critical decision-making contexts.
Learning evidenced by:
- Taking Group Meeting Minutes during student cohort task group meetings.
- Drafting professional research reports such as this report on International Service Learning.
- Creating professional visuals for presentation such as this Powerpoint for Interdisciplinary Crisis Work.
- Ensuring prompt and thorough communication with clients and their probation/parole officers and critically evaluating all written communication prior to submission into client records to ensure the highest degree of professionalism. I talk about this in Journal 18 and Journal 19.