Cultural specificity of critical thinking in sub-Saharan Africa: a grounded theory study from Uganda / Especificidad cultural del pensamiento crítico en África subsahariana: un estudio de teoría fundamentada en Uganda

Abstract

In Africa, governments have declared critical thinking skills to be a major educational priority to increase global economic competitiveness and to promote economic, political and cultural independence. However, a variety of cultural factors may affect the very definition, purpose and manifestation of critical thinking. Considering the limited knowledge of the variables and constructs that characterize critical thinking in the sub-Saharan context, this research aimed to investigate how Ugandans define and conceptualize critical thinking, and compare the local understanding of the skill with the most renowned Western definitions. To achieve this aim, the authors implemented a grounded theory study to investigate the conceptual and operational definition and outcomes of critical thinking among 54 key informants in Uganda. The study highlights the uniqueness that characterizes critical thinking in a sub-Saharan country, where the communitarian way of living still plays a relevant role in the social and cognitive formation of the person.