Consensus Statements Concerning Structure and Focus of QEP
CONSENSUS STATEMENT ON THE INTEGRATION OF THINKING CRITICALLY AND ACTING JUSTLY
Loyola University’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) theme of “Thinking Critically, Acting Justly” explicitly links critical thinking and acting justly as integrated activities, each enhancing the other. The QEP Team seeks initiatives for Loyola’s Quality Enhancement Plan that focus on the role of critical thinking in the fostering of social justice and the role of acting justly in encouraging critical thinking. Thus, critical thinking may lead to acting justly, and acting justly may spur critical thinking. To facilitate the formation of initiatives, the QEP Team offers the following descriptions of critical thinking and acting justly.
CONSENSUS STATEMENT REGARDING CRITICAL THINKING AND THE IDEAL CRITICAL THINKER
“We understand critical thinking [CT] to be purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based. CT is essential as a tool of inquiry. As such, CT is a liberating force in education and a powerful resource in one's personal and civic life. While not synonymous with good thinking, CT is a pervasive and self-rectifying human phenomenon. The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed, trustful of reason, open-minded, flexible, fair-minded in evaluation, honest in facing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing to reconsider, clear about issues, orderly in complex matters, diligent in seeking relevant information, reasonable in the selection of criteria, focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking results which are as precise as the subject and the circumstances of inquiry permit. Thus, educating good critical thinkers means working toward this ideal. It combines developing CT skills with nurturing those dispositions which consistently yield useful insights and which are the basis of a rational and democratic society.”
[The QEP Team accepts the above paragraph defining critical thinking as explained in the executive summary of Critical Thinking: A Statement of Expert Consensus for the Purposes of Educational Assessment and Instruction (“The Delphi Report”) published in 1990 by the American Philosophical Association: http://www.insightassessment.com/pdf_files/DEXadobe.PDF ]
CONSENSUS STATEMENT REGARDING ACTING JUSTLY
Loyola University New Orleans as a Jesuit and Catholic institution of higher education is dedicated to preparing students to lead meaningful lives by providing an academically rigorous, values-based education geared toward the creation of a more just world. Justice within this context is based upon a rich tradition of Catholic social thought. This tradition, with its positive regard for the dignity of the human person and its concern with the common good, calls for critical thought and reflection on those actions and structures in society that systematically exclude or disadvantage any group in a way that deprives them of basic rights and needs. This tradition also explicitly recognizes our individual and collective responsibility both to understand and work toward social change as we pursue the service of faith and the promotion of justice.
[This description was drawn from a number of Jesuit documents, especially the decrees of General Congregations 32 and 34 and Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach's address "The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice in Jesuit Higher Education," at Santa Clara University on October 6, 2000. For more information, please see the QEP web site.]
CONSENSUS STATEMENT ON THE STRUCTURE OF LOYOLA UNIVERSITY’S QUALITY ENHANCEMENT PLAN
The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) on “Thinking Critically, Acting Justly” includes efforts to enhance student learning through existing programs (such as service learning and student leadership) and innovative initiatives proposed by programs or individuals. The mission of Jesuit higher education informs the QEP. Therefore, all initiatives take this mission as their foundation and build upon Loyola’s efforts over the last century to realize it. Education about this mission is the first task of implementing the QEP. The QEP Team has identified five ongoing areas of importance to the success of the QEP: (1) The Jesuit Vision of Education, (2) Supporting Faculty/Staff Development in Implementing the QEP, (3) Service Learning, (4) Student Leadership, and (5) First-Year Experiences. These areas will be addressed and assessed through individual five-year plans as part of the Loyola QEP. To foster innovative initiatives, a series of opportunities to examine aspects of Loyola’s QEP theme will be offered to the university community during the 2005-2006 school year. Five annual rounds of support for innovative initiatives will be funded, beginning with initiatives commencing in 2006
