Progressive Teachers Network

Recent political activities have made it clear that people hold quite difference points of view on the same topic. Analysts have made it clear that no matter the evidence, people choose to believe what they believe. This behavior can in fact cause great disruption and no matter the evidence, the facts have been questioned.

Providing students with an introduction to a more skeptical approach to critical thinking can perhaps aid society in joining oppositional positions. Skepticism here is defined as a
methodological principle of inquiry that posits that knowledge is possible but only when supported by compelling evidence.

James Lett created a set of principles that we will use to analyze a story for children. These six tenets are useful when used together to begin this analysis. FiLCHeRS then is the acronym for these six tenets and creates a process that can guide educators in developing a sense of evidence mining for our students.

According to Lett, evidence requires reasoning.

• Falsifiability: This tenant states that it must be possible to conceive of evidence that proves the claim false such that if a claim is false, the evidence will prove that it is false; conversely, if the claim is true, the evidence will not disprove the claim
• Logic: According to Lett, “an argument is said to be valid if its conclusion follows unavoidably from its premises; it is sound if it is valid and if all the premises are true.
• Comprehensiveness: Lett states that “the evidence offered in support of any claim must be exhaustive—that is, all of the available evidence must be considered
• Honesty: Lett asserts that “the evidence offered in support of any claim must be evaluated without self-deception
• Replicability: Lett’s definition suggests that “if the evidence for any claim is based upon experimental result, or if the evidence offered in support of any claim could logically be explained as coincidental, then it is necessary for the evidence to be repeated in subsequent experiments or trials.
• Sufficiency: Lett suggests that “the evidence offered in support of any claim must be adequate to establish the truth of that claim.

In a middle grade novel, AWAY, by Megan Freeman (2025) an imminent yet unnamed danger forces people across Colorado to leave their homes. A group of kids including an aspiring filmmaker and a budding journalist find themselves in the same evacuation camp and as they cope with the aftermath of having their world upended, they grow curious about the mysterious threat. As they begin to investigate, they start to discover that there’s less truth and more cover-up to what they’re being told.

Most of the adults in the evacuation camp are following the story they are told. But this story is an excellent example of how using the FiLCHeRS steps the characters save themselves and the community.

This is an excellent story to use to test the process that Lett created.

Sources

• Lett, J. (Winter 1990) “‘A field guide to critical thinking.’” Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. 14;2.
• Anrnega, S. (December 2007) “An approach to critical thinking for health care professionals,” BCMJ, 49;10. Pgs 547-549.