The authority of personal knowledge in the development of critical thinking — a pedagogy of self-reflection

Drawing on Polanyi’s theory, this paper proposes a pedagogical approach that engages university students in three hierarchical levels of reflection in order that they develop ‘criticality’. The approach is demonstrated in the context of an undergraduate module on ‘Childhood’ in which students: first reflect on their personal theories and the ways these inform their perceptions and interpretations of the world; second are introduced to public theories and encouraged to examine their evidence base and applicability; and third, they are scaffolded in contrasting personal and public constructs and in dealing with dissonance.