The development of critical thinking skills in students is seen in this presentation as a significant and worthy objective of education, though the realization of this objective will be dependent upon many important factors. Among the factors cited here are, first, that recent major reform efforts have created no barriers to including critical thinking among educational objectives, but that attempts to realize these reforms through rules, regulations, and standards may be creating conditions that are detrimental to critical thinking. Second, many of today's teachers are not competent to teach in their subject areas, let alone to approach those subjects critically; moreover, economic and other conditions make it unlikely that great numbers of competent teachers will soon be entering the profession. Third, it is essential that critical thinking not become an end in itself; rather, it must be learned in the context of subject matter. Fourth, creative imagination should be considered a worthy educational goal along with critical thinking, since the two interact to produce insight and discovery. This transcript of a talk on these matters includes answers to several specific questions raised by listeners in response to comments in the main body of the address. (PGD)