CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
WHAT ARE CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS ?
Critical thinking skills are important for solving problems, developing solutions, and creating ideas for training your providers.
As monitors you need to have the ability to analyze information from an unbiased observation and point of view. When using critical thinking skills you need to organize all the facts, data, and other information. This will help you to define exactly what the problem is and develop an effective solution.
For example: You may be asked to help a provider with a dispute with a parent. You use critical thinking skills to understand and identify what the problem is, and then develop an action plan to resolve the problem.
DEVELOP CRITICAL THINKING SKILL
Use the following skills to develop your critical thinking
OBSERVATION
As a Monitor you need to be able to accurately record what you observe during a visit. The observation should not include your personal views or feelings, only what you see or hear.
For example: Your documentation would not say, “Provider was very angry because I found her overenrolled and yelled…..” You cannot observe WHY the provider was angry. You only record what you see. “The provider raised her voice and said….”
If you draw a conclusion, you must be able to back it up with and objective observation.
For example: If you have in your notes that a provider’s food preparation area was unsanitary, you must have in your notes what you saw that backs up that conclusion. Your observation would not be made due to your personal opinion but on what you actual observed on your home visit.
There is much to be said for a Monitor's instincts. There may be times when feel uncomfortable or concerned about a home, based only on your years of experience and instinct instead of on what you observed. It is important that you do not put any conclusions in writing until you have documentation to substantiate your feelings. However, DO NOT ignore your instincts. Talk to your supervisor about your concerns. You may need to conduct an extra visit or bring another Monitor with you.
DETERMINE PROBLEM
Gather all your notes, interviews, observations to determine what the problem is.
Ask questions to make sure you have accurate information . Your critical thinking skills are important in putting together and analyzing all the information you have gathered. Examine your information objectively. After you have analyzed all your information and have determined the problem, you can then look for the solution.