The best way to develop a mind that thinks critically is through writing. (Anonymous)

Writing  is critical thinking in its simplest form because, when you write, you draw from what you know (your experiences), seek relevant information (ask questions and research), and develop new concepts.

Good writing is also based on the universal intellectual values of clarify, accuracy, relevance and consistency, skills that are needed more than ever in the 21st century business world. Through the Critical Thinking through Writing programme, participants develop and practise critical thinking in conjunction with becoming better professional writers.

Skills developed

  • Paraphrasing: expressing the text, sentence by sentence, in your own words
  • Explicating: stating the main point in one sentence and elaborating on this point, using examples and analogies/metaphors to clarity and explain.
  • Analysing: identifying the purpose, main question, most significant information, basic conclusion, assumptions, concepts and points of view contained in the text.
  • Synthesising: taking what you have summarised and analysed and connecting to your own experience, creating a new whole that reflects your newly acquired knowledge and insights.
  • Evaluating: checking for clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, logic etc.

What is involved?

The course consists of six half-day classroom modules and consolidation assignments that reinforce the learning. Our Writing Practice programme provides ongoing support via email and/or Skype. We review, prompt and suggest. You learn at your own pace and practise on real-life examples from your work, growing your writing skills effortlessly over time.

Week Topic
1 Critical reading To read critically, you have to think critically. A critical thinker is able to distinguish fact from opinion, reason logically and systematically, use evidence to make an argument, evaluate evidence to decide on persuasiveness or coherence of someone else’s argument and ask questions..
2 Summarising Having understood how to read critically, you need to be able to identify the main ideas and describe those ideas in your own words. Summarising helps you understand and remember information you read and is a vital skill in today’s workplace where you are bombarded with so much information.
3 Pre-writing The next stage is to generate ideas, based on your reading and your existing knowledge, that are appropriate for the purpose and reader of your document. This module introduces the tools of free writing and clustering, and the concepts of purpose and audience.
4 Organising Ideas are useless if your readers don’t understand them. This module expands on the concepts of purpose and audience and looks at three ways of organising your ideas and information logically: argument, outline and inverted pyramid.
5 Powerful paragraphs
 It is now time to flesh out the bones of your structure by understanding how to write logical, well-developed paragraphs. The focus is on creating a coherent flow, using transitions and writing effective topic sentences.
6 Consolidation This module brings everything together and focuses on the importance of peer learning, through critiquing each other’s work.

For more information, please contact info@writetothepoint.co.za