AUTONOMY AND CRITICAL THINKING AS AIMS OF EDUCATION

Abstract

Having an aim is crucial to giving clear direction to people in life in general. An aim or goal will give someone energy and motivational power in his or her actions. Education similarly needs aims in its implementation since they will force educators to focus on the important goals of further education. Autonomy is one of the most important aims of education that we need to consider. Autonomy refers to the activity whereby one gives oneself his or her own laws. An autonomous person is someone who has the freedom to choose and to conduct his or her own life without interference from others. Because autonomy and critical thinking are closely connected and supported one another, I proposed critical thinking as a complimentary aim of education. Siegel characterizes the critical thinker as one who is appropriately moved by reasons and has a mastery of epistemic criteria such that reasons must meet a certain standard in order to be judged as adequate; that is, reasons that warrant beliefs, claims and actions. Critical thinking as a complimentary aim of education. Siegel characterizes the critical thinker as one who is appropriately moved by reasons and has a mastery of epistemic criteria such that reasons must meet a certain standard in order to be judged as adequate; that is, reasons that warrant beliefs, claims and actions. As a result of this paper, I would propose critical thinking and autonomy as primary educational aims in Indonesia that should be explicitly stated in the constitution of Indonesian national education.