critical thinking for kids

critical thinking for kids

Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Children

1. Introduction

An essential question is how to develop critical thinking skills in children? The age of onset and the duration for which the critical thinking skill is to be taught is not clear. Whose responsibility is to teach the skill and what environments are conducive to teaching it? These questions are essential to developing a strategy for teaching critical thinking in any subject matter. This guide answers these questions and provides a general strategy for teaching critical thinking. The information is intended for elementary and secondary school teachers.

The importance of critical thinking in our fast-paced, technologically advanced, rapidly changing world is obvious. We are bombarded with information on a daily basis, thus it is crucial that information is understood and not merely memorized. Critical thinking provides the tools for this process of self-evaluation. Good critical thinking is the foundation of science and democracy. Science requires the critical use of reason in experimentation and theory confirmation. The proper function of a democracy rests on the citizens’ ability to make sound decisions.

Critical thinking is an important set of skills that enables people to think rationally, think creatively, and evaluate information thoroughly. It is not a set of skills that, once mastered, an individual is free from errors in judgment and can cease to think critically. The concept of critical thinking itself is quite ambiguous, with no clear definition. Its unclear definition is in part due to the broad nature of the skill. Critical thinking entails understanding the nature of the problem or question rather than jumping to an answer. It involves being open-minded and considering other plausible alternatives. It also involves being reflective and aware of the barriers or limitations that can hinder thoughtful decision making. Some would describe critical thinking as thinking about thinking, though the information in this guide goes quite a bit deeper.

2. Benefits of Critical Thinking for Kids

By examining the previously mentioned motivating factors that lead to critical thinking, we can see a direct correlation to the problem-solving capacities of children. Critical thinking teaches children to solve problems in a number of unique ways. This is an important skill in that it will prevent the child from making decisions based on habit, without considering alternatives and possible outcomes. The aim is to equip the child with viable decision-making methods which will see them through various situations in life. It is all about taking the decision-making process and breaking it down and examining the choices with a view on the best possible outcomes. Children also learn from making decisions and seeing the outcomes of those decisions in action. This provides a valuable lesson on the consequences of actions. In today’s fast-paced society where the act of decision making can be rushed or seen as irrelevant to the people involved, critical thinking can provide a clear point of difference in a person’s decision-making abilities.

As a motivation for engaging in the learning process, the child should be able to recognise the value of applying critical thinking skills to an experience in order to make it more personally meaningful and relevant. Generally, transfer critical thinking skills to other subjects.

In providing our children with opportunities to engage in activities that require or develop critical thinking, we are providing them with the chance to think for themselves, to be in control of their own learning and the learning that they take from an experience. Children will also be able to apply what has been learned in one situation to learning encountered in other situations. More specifically, what are the benefits of critical thinking? How do these apply to learning experiences that enable the development of critical thinking?

3. Strategies for Teaching Critical Thinking

(a) Provide opportunities for practicing critical thinking skills. This can be done through the use of dialogues in which the teacher questions the students about what they are doing and the reasons for their decisions. It is also done through the use of scenarios and simulated environments. An example of a computer simulated environment is to give the children a couple of positive integers and ask them to find the largest number and how they would do this. The program can then give them another set of numbers, repeating until the children understand that there needs to be a method to work out the largest number and that this method should work for any set of numbers. This activity is crucial in improving a child’s inference and decision-making skills. (b) Shows them how to question. To be effective, critical thinkers need to be able to question in a systematic manner. The teacher needs to explicitly teach students the concepts and vocabulary of questioning. This can be done through showing them a concept such as the redesign of the simple wooden coat hanger into a fashion item. The teacher is to engage the students in the types of questions that can be asked about this task and the formulation of a question web. The lesson would conclude with students working in small groups on varying tasks and developing questions about those tasks.

4. Incorporating Critical Thinking in Everyday Activities

In this section, after describing the basics of critical thinking, the discussion turns to specific ways of being critical in everyday life. Then the ‘Everyday Critical Thinking’ (ECT) activity is described. ECT is an educational consultancy designed to make a practical contribution to the development of critical, creative and caring thinking for adults and children. It offers programs and resources to schools, teachers, parents and individuals. A main emphasis of ECT is the importance of thinking skills for personal, academic and professional success. An ‘affordable thinking skills course for children’ is now available from ECT which is reported to develop thinking and academic skills. Although these resources are not free of charge, reportedly the best way to develop a habit of thinking, questioning and reasoning is amongst a resource or program specifically designed with this purpose. This suggests the importance of trying to involve children in activities that will promote critical thinking. Suggestions and activities from a range of sources will now be outlined below.

5. Conclusion

By now it should be clear that an important part of critical thinking involves being able to absorb, understand, and evaluate information that we hear or read. Throughout this essay, the importance of critical thinking and how it can be effectively taught have been explained. It is a valuable tool in the pursuit of knowledge and is highly useful in the rapidly changing world that we live in. It is important for educators to understand the ways in which to develop critical thinking so that they can best help their students to think critically. Students also need to understand the importance of critical thinking and choose to apply it in their daily lives. With a proper understanding of the skills involved in critical thinking and the many ways to apply the skills, students will have an opportunity to experience the rewards and self-satisfaction that come with critical thinking.