Critical thinking is the process of understanding clearly what we believe and why. Strong critical thinking enhances our decision making and collaborative problem-solving and can be a powerful tool for leaders in the fire service. VCOS is pleased to offer a new course to help build critical thinking skills.

As first responders, we often draw on training that helps us make quick decisions based on expert recognition of hazards and possible courses of action–especially on the fire ground and in emergency response situations. The VCOS Critical Thinking Academy adds a different skill set, helping participants learn how to act when it is valuable to reflect deliberately on courses of action and how to approach a range of interpersonal, organizational, administrative, and leadership tasks that benefit from reasoned choices. Critical thinking skills apply to challenges ranging from team building and setting policy at any level of responsibility, to managing resources and budgets, to community outreach and beyond.

Participants will learn how to:

• know when–and how–to step back to think clearly about difficult or recurring problems.
• know when to keep an open mind when facing challenges and when to begin proposing solutions.
• analyze problems to find good solutions more efficiently.
• better explain their ideas and decisions to others, supporting effective problem-solving and leadership communication.
• integrate their critical thinking skills into leadership behaviors.

To become a better critical thinker, we need to learn a few fundamental skills and practice them steadily over time, applying those skills to real-world tasks. The Critical Thinking Academy (CTA) introduces core critical thinking skills and provides supportive feedback to participants as they build new competencies and strengths.

• CTA is built around three in-person weekend learning sessions over six months with asynchronous learning activities between sessions.
• The CTA experience begins with instructor-guided exploration, seminar discussions, and small-group work. These are a foundation for students to complete an independent project during the course on a problem or challenge that is important to them or their department.

Requirements

• Participants should be members in good standing of a volunteer or combination fire department; volunteer and career personnel are welcome.
• There are no academic pre-requirements for student participation, though CTA is intended for people who have demonstrated good judgment and exhibit the potential to become successful decision-makers and leaders.
• Interested participants should complete this application, which includes an affirmation of support for their participation from their chief or department leadership.
• Participants must attend all three in-person sessions, which will be held over a full day on a Saturday and a half day on a Sunday.
• Participants also should plan to spend roughly 30 minutes a week practicing key skills (this can be done in the course of regular duties) and to spend several one- or two-hour periods between the CTA class meetings to work on their independent projects, including through check-ins with CTA faculty.
• Costs to participants in the pilot program include student transportation to class sessions and any lodging or incidental costs as needed. VCOS and Range Resources are pleased to support the instructional costs and to provide classroom accommodation and student breakfasts and lunches during in-person class sessions.