In the early 1990s, when I was in charge of Media Education at the Centre for Culture and Communication (C&C), Loyola College, I conducted media education workshops for teachers and students in schools. Although the term critical thinking was not widely used three decades ago, fostering participants’ ability to think critically was a central objective of these media education initiatives. Critical absenceToday, critical thinking is a widely emphasised educational goal, and the National Education Policy (NEP) highlights its importance. However, media education remains largely absent from the curricula of most educational institutions. As early as 1910, in How We Think, John Dewey used the term reflective thought interchangeably with critical thinking.

Source: The Hindu January 25, 2026 11:03 UTC