1. Start with a stimulating topic
• Critical thinking starts with curiosity.
• A relevant and engaging topic motivates pupils to ask questions and think beyond the superficial.
• They learn that learning starts with wonder and daring to ask questions.
2. Let children come up with questions
• Formulating questions themselves = practising critical thinking.
• Students learn:
o What makes a good question (open, investigable, relevant)
o How to guide their own thought process
• This promotes self-reflection, analysis and problem-oriented thinking.
3. Formulate hypotheses
• Predicting and substantiating stimulates logical reasoning.
• Pupils must:
o Make an assessment
o Substantiate that assessment with arguments
• This requires conscious thinking, reasoning and evaluation of knowledge.
4. Planning and conducting research
• Independent research strengthens critical thinking because pupils:
o Collect data
o Make observations
o Interpret results
• They learn to look critically: What do I really see? What does that mean?
5. Reflecting during and after the research
• Reflection is at the heart of critical thinking.
• By discussing together:
o What have we discovered?
o How do we know that?
o What does this mean for our hypothesis?
• Pupils learn to evaluate their own thought processes and draw conclusions based on evidence.
Role of the teacher
• Asks in-depth questions that challenge thinking.
• Does not provide answers, but guides the learning process.
• Creates a safe environment in which mistakes are allowed and thinking is central.