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Due to the nature of the school curriculum, more able students are rarely challenged until they reach higher levels of the system. They do not find it difficult to memorise information or completely master basic processes. Their natural ability to think is not really tested. An adroit mind wants problems to solve and challenging concepts to understand. It is very important for such a mind to learn the tools for approaching more difficult problems, so that they thrive and flourish later on in their intellectual careers.

The critical thinking process requires deep, structured thought, even for seemingly simple problems. Through Socratic questioning (an iterative process of refining an argument down to its core), a problem can be distilled and opened up, revealing many facets and levels from which a child can learn and expand their awareness of the world. It can be applied to myriad topics, making all manner of material fertile ground for the development of thinking skills.

Looking at the critical thinking process, it is with questioning that it all begins. It is of the highest importance to ask good questions. Having an understanding of the right questions to ask enables the enquirer to elicit more useful information. For instance, open ended questions divulge richer information than closed ended questions such as the type which give a yes/no answer, or which can be answered with a piece of factual information.

The data gathered from these questions then needs to be sorted, linked and formatted in a coherent way. Reasoning skills then give the student the tools for coming to a conclusion based on the data. The process up to this point becomes very important when a student is writing essays or formulating arguments, as the logical framework gives them confidence to express their opinions and explain themselves.

Once an argument has been presented, either made by the student themselves, or by someone else, the conclusions can be evaluated. This requires a student to make value judgements. The process of Socratic questioning and logical reasoning gives the student a framework for determining how a conclusion fits within their own values. To some extent, this requires experience of the world to develop a coherent and mature set of values, however it is important for the student to be continually developing this faculty. The sense of self-determination gives confidence and self- esteem which feeds back in a positive loop to the thinking process.

Creative thinking complements reasoning and problem solving, as students are encouraged to use their imagination to seek out innovative responses and solutions beyond what is proposed, obvious or expected. This iterative process is strengthened through the use of trial and error. This obviously involves �error�, so students are taught to understand that it is OK to be wrong, indeed it is a good thing, as it is a signpost denoting an opportunity for improvement and is, indeed, an essential part of learning.

The critical thinking process should be encouraged at all times. A child can be asked open ended questions, getting them to think about any information that is given to them whilst watching TV or listening to conversations of adults or in something that they have read or heard from anywhere. The key is to prompt the above process, asking questions that get a child to access their own knowledge and develop their ideas, rather than simply asking questions that test the extent of that knowledge. They should understand that there isn�t necessarily a �correct� answer and that the important thing is to form an opinion through a reasoned process.

Once the habit of questioning has been formed by the child, it is a process that they can go through on their own, whilst at school or outside of school, transforming even seemingly mundane topics into an opportunity to satisfy a mind that craves challenge.

�Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture.� � Francis Bacon (1605)

Great post! I completely agree. We are very lucky to have a magnet school that begins the IB curriculum in 1st grade. One of the important basic concepts of the curriculum is to teach children to be critical thinkers and not just memorizers of information. Students are taught to think outside the box and to be "risk takers". Thank you for reminding me how rare it is to have a school that encourages this process.

You're right, but what are you suggesting. People IRL COMPLAIN when someone "keeps digging, and digging, and digging.".

quote:
"Due to the nature of the school curriculum, more able students are rarely challenged until they reach higher levels of the system. They do not find it difficult to memorise information or completely master basic processes."
Yeah.

Not that I'm even concerned with troubling the teachers with a student who thinks too much or getting a reputation for it at the school. Anarchy and Excellence!
I was going to ask about your cirriculum since it looked like a values statement and decided to click on your link instead. Oxford, huh?! Nice. Ru developing along the lines of epgy. Go on, tell. Anyway I haven't signed my kid up for anything yet. What are you doing? What grades are you serving? Tell me about u.

can someone suggest good resources / books for critical thinking for 4-5 yr olds
thanks

This publisher puts out some good materials, and so does Prufrock Press:
http://www.criticalthinking.com

I was recently reading about the virtues of narration, dictation, and copywork with narration being the retelling of a tale in your own words, dictation being creative storytelling, and copywork as itself. I asked here about a good early intro to the art of the debate (being the contrarian mother of a similar child) and was answered that a good grasp of grammar was the key to being understood and by extention the key to a good debate. I did buy one of those critical thinking workbooks and the first story in it began with Mrs. A. being afraid to fly and ended with her enjoying the flight so much that she was sad the flight was over. The questions challenged the children to synthesize this sequential change happening throughout the story, whereas another workbook we have for the same grade level ask more cut and dry facts such as "list three people who were in the race.". And, "what was the name of the race?"

One of the best ways to learn critical thinking skills is to learn to argue. This is a short friendly article that explains the idea.
http://www.figarospeech.com/teach-a-kid-to-argue/

Thanks Ptp.

Hi La Texican,

Sorry this is a late reply - we basically run online tutorials for ages 8-14. Our courses do not serve any particular curriculum, but we aim to improve critical thinking, critical analysis, intellectual confidence, divergent thinking, communication, and independent learning. We want to give kids the tools that they need to thrive rather than facts and processes that may change or become unnecessary in a fast-changing world.

The courses are all tutorial-based, so we have a tutor(s) and a group of able students, whose main tool is discussion. Much of the learning is led by the students themselves, with careful marshalling from the tutors.

So we run these short courses around 6 times a year that give young students these tools and send them back to school (it's usually in school holidays) with renewed enthusiasm for learning.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know

Ptp-this article on teaching argument skills is excellent. We've been doing a few of these things because DS is a natural negotiator and problem solver. We've tried to support his solutions when appropriate. I'm going to use some of the strategies myself, amnd teach them to DS. Thanks!