BLIND READING

“Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.” Conversations on Critical Thinking: Can Critical Thinking Find Its Way Forward as the Skill Set and Mindset of the Century?

Blind Reading is the collaborative work of Gabriela Mateescu, Tăietzel Ticălos, Alexandra Ivanciu and Marina Oprea which took place in front of the University in Bucharest. It is a performance that criticizes the Romanian education system because it maintains a traditional way of teaching and promotes only the reproduction of courses and books, without any encouragement of critical thinking. The exams only have one answer, the interpretation of the texts is universal, and most students learn for exams the text commentaries, without ever reading the books that they are based on.