Critical Mess April 2022

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OVERVIEW

OF TOPICS

AND OUTCOMES

WE ALL LOVE CRITICAL THINKING!

so… WHY DON’T

WE TEACH IT? WHY DID WE

nEVER LEARN

and… IT?

MISSION STATEMENT

PLAY VIDEO

OUTCOMES

Critical Mess will empower you to…
● Identify common thought distortions, biases and fallacies.
● Refine your reaction and reflection skills.
● Think more clearly, calmly and accurately.
● Assist your learners with their social and psychological issues.
● Practise resilience and enjoy improved mental health through

exposure therapy and CBT techniques.
● Instil a more positive, helpful and mature attitude in your

learners.

DELIVERY

● 12 one hour classroom sessions
● Thinking outside the class - applying learning to real life
● Evaluative journalling
● Emphasis on embodied learning - living the concepts
● Moral, logical and practical experiments.

THE 12 SESSIONS

1. Introduction to Critical Thinking
2. Confirmation Bias and Naive Realism
3. Negativity Bias and Availability

Heuristic
4. Attribution Errors and Blame
5. Groupthink
6. The Self: System 1 and 2 Thinking
7. The Scientific Method
8. Logic and Arguments
9. The Behaviour of Numbers
10. Anxiety Toolkit
11. Safety and Certainty
12. Heroes and Villains

THE WEBSITE Each session is complemented by its
CHECK OUT MY DEMO own companion web page with a
WEBSITE HERE wealth of supporting materials and
links to deeper learning.

GOOGLE CLASSROOM

Each session is administered via

a dedicated Google Classroom

already populated with session

specific activities and

assignments.

PILOTS AND TRIALS

I have road-tested Critical Mess over the last three years
with my Y2 cohort and many staff CPD sessions.
Click below for some testimonials...

CHECK OUT LEARNER FEEDBACK HERE

CRITICAL COMFORT

The testimonials offered some
excellent insights into how I should
modify the content of my sessions.
Here’s my response to a learner’s
request for clarity on the handling
of contentious topics.

PLAY VIDEO

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Critical Mess is committed to these core values:

● Free and open inquiry.
● Viewpoint diversity.
● Free speech and all-inclusive dialogue.
● The promotion of Enlightenment (British) values.
● Emphasis on compassionate justice with social responsibility.
● Elimination of intolerance in all directions.
● A non-judgemental forum for contrasting visions of the world.

● HOW TO THINK, NOT WHAT TO THINK

EMPLOYMENT EDGE

In his book Head, Hand Heart, Economist David
Goodhart predicts a colossal skills gap in the next 10
years because young people have been corralled into
completely academic disciplines at the expense of
technical training. The real skills gap will be evident in
the soft skills he describes as “heart” which comprise
critical thinking, resilience and maturity.
We are in a prime position at the College to fulfil this
trifecta as we already deploy great academic and
technical training and with Critical Mess we will provide
the learners invaluable strategies to survive the tough
grown-up world.

David Goodhart

Economist, Policy Exchange,
Financial Times

ULTIMATE AIMS OF CRITICAL MESS

● I want to produce employable, reasonable, capable learners
who can seamlessly transition into the worlds of work or
university as indispensable young adults.

● The skills and knowledge will benefit them personally,
psychologically and socially.

● As a CPD, Critical Mess aims to empower faculty in how to
best shepherd an increasingly anxious and polarised cohort.

● And, of course, save the world.

Mark Smiles, April 2022