CT M2 A1 Discussion Significance of Context

Peer Discussions

Peer 1

Context and Critical Thinking

Teague Locke posted Mar 24, 2018 7:53 AM

Context has a large role to play in the way we perceive things and think about them. The various factors that build up this context are past experiences, commitment, peer group interactions, profession, and family. Each of these factors has the ability to induce errors and the accumulated source of error which affects our reasoning is not only built up of the errors of the present but also all the errors of the past.

            In a situation where I have to explain certain legal cases to my students there are various chances of these errors rising through their sense of judgement. A case had been presented to four of my students by me regarding a feud between two sons of the same mother but of different fathers. Within a moment’s notice all four of them chose to bring out various opinions regarding the case that they thought to be true. Soon enough the situation turned into a competition of whose case was right as they began citing various sources in favour of their judgements. None of them were however right.

            The first one claimed that the second son had rights over the property, the second one said he didn’t, the third one said he did but it was to be equally shared, and the last one said he had the right buy would not be able to sell it. None of them chose to review their judgements but rather spend all their efforts in proving themselves right. This was a classic case of accumulated errors. I had to tell them the correct methodology soon enough upon which they realized their mistakes and thanked me.

Peer 2

M2A1

Raymond Barnes posted Mar 24, 2018 11:28 AM

When making an argument, context is very important. Context can be defined as the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning (Merriam-Webster). Without context we cannot view things in the correct perspective to make a sound argument. Putting something into context can help to build and strengthen an argument or idea while the lack of it can destroy it completely. Looking at things from the wrong perspective can be like wearing seriously distorted lenses (Ruggiero).

            Working as a customer service representative, you will have to view things from the perspective of the people who call you. We have a quality department that listens to calls after they’re finished to ensure that everyone is doing their job correctly and following protocol. When the quality department hosts monthly meetings to improve procedures and customer satisfaction, we view things from the customers perspective. Every issue we discuss, every new idea for improvement, and every error that should be removed has to be viewed in the correct context. So monthly, we meet, and everyone puts their head together and share ideas to make the job easier for us and more effective for the customers.

            In the call center I work at, we use scripting to answer questions. You read a script, verbatim every time, to answer any questions that you may receive. Although it is very simple for us to read a script, this can cause a source of error, because sometimes the scripting doesn’t truly answer a question. From our perspective it works but from the customers perspective it fails sometimes. Our calls are graded based upon how we utilize scripting to relay information, so the quality department has orders from corporate to grade us in a certain way. This can distort their reasoning because they have guidelines to follow. Us, the customer service representatives, can also have errors in our judgement because we want our job to be easier, even though guidelines we follow were put into place for a reason. However, once everyone puts things into the correct context, thinking from the perspective of the customer, the representative, quality, and corporate, we collaborate, and our ideas come together to make things change and improve.

 

 

Context. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2018, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/context

Ruggiero, Vincent. (2014). Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking 9th Edition. New York, New York. McGraw-Hill.