Critical thinking for children and young people in the classroom

Critical thinking is traditionally associated with more advanced stages of education, in the later years of secondary school and in higher education. However, the foundations of critical thinking can be developed in working with young children from a very early stage in their schooling, to develop the necessary habits. This is the most easily managed by getting children to respond to first hand evidence. We have a great deal of evidence about ways of life in different parts of the world and at different periods of history, which we can use to motivate children’s curiosity and to develop their skills of critical thinking.