Speculative ability, that is, critical thinking ability, is considered by the international community to be the core literacy necessary for talents in the 21st century. In the process of promoting critical thinking education, we found that parents are confused about critical thinking. Today’s children’s critical thinking science popularization responds to 7 key questions, hoping to solve the confusion of parents.
This article will answer some basic questions: What are the problems with children’s common ways of thinking? What exactly is critical thinking? Why develop children's critical thinking skills?
Will also answer the " how-to " question: What are the criteria for critical thinking skills? How do European and American countries do critical thinking education? How can we cultivate it?
It will also respond to the common misunderstanding of critical thinking: Does the test require critical thinking? With the ability to think critically, will children be out of gregariousness?
Selection and Reading Suggestions of critical thinking books
The above books are also suitable for teachers to use to teach critical thinking courses, preferably for students 15 years old and above. Due to the limited information, I focus on, there are currently not many books on critical thinking that are suitable for children under the age of 15.
It’s also important to stress that critical thinking skills are only one of three things to do well in a field. We also need extensive encyclopedic knowledge and extensive experience in that particular field.
Critical thinking skills may be enhanced through months of coursework, while encyclopedic knowledge requires years of active self-study.
As for extensive experience in a particular field, this is inherently unteachable and can only be achieved through years or even decades of accumulation. No one can become an expert in a field overnight.
I believe the below frequently asked question will give you a systematic understanding of critical thinking.
FAQ: Great Critical Thinking Books for Children and Teens
What's wrong with children's common way of thinking?
Students are constantly making judgments every day, and the quality of judgment determines their lives. When taking the test, you must judge how to answer, how to deal with others, how to solve problems when you encounter difficulties, what opinions are credible when you read, and how to choose a major, occupation, life partner, and lifestyle in the future.
Most students often rely on authority when making judgments—what do teachers, parents, textbooks, experts, and the media say?
Or blindly follow the crowd-what do classmates and friends do?
Or subject to emotions or desires-what is the best way to meet the mood of the moment?
On the surface, such children may get high scores by brushing questions or memorizing knowledge, and they can avoid conflicts with teachers or parents because of obedience.
But you need to look a little longer, after all, what children will have to deal with is the future of society.
College entrance examination reform trend more and more obvious, from the study of knowledge, into a comprehensive investigation of students' ability, literacy, knowledge and values, "and thinking ability is the focus of study, in the near future, will get high marks by brush title It is getting harder and harder, but students who can think and learn are more likely to stand out.
Social changes are also getting faster and faster. Globalization, technological development, material and spiritual conflicts, social polarization, and emergencies such as the epidemic all pose more and more challenges to individuals.
Classic books such as "
Influence" and "
Thinking, and Fast and Slow" use a large number of cases to prove that people often make wrong judgments because of these inefficient ways of thinking, leading to serious consequences, falling into financial crisis, self-deception, and authoritative design. The trap...
What students need to learn is the method of judging wisely.
This kind of judgment needs to be cultivated from an early age and can be formed through continuous practice, just like learning mathematics or language.
The long-term lack of independent thinking will make children develop inertia and inertia of thinking; for children who have grown up, it is difficult for them to grow up and suddenly become unique insights.
How do European and American countries do critical thinking education?
Critical thinking ability is generally regarded as the core literacy required of talents in the 21st century in the international community.
In the Common Core curriculum standards in the United States, all age groups have specific requirements for critical thinking skills and are integrated into the teaching of various subjects.
For example, 5th-grade students are required to understand deductive arguments, ask questions that explore causes and consequences, take the initiative to obtain information from different sources, identify the structure of the argument, and express logically and structured...
Compared with teaching in China, American students will receive more systematic training, get in touch with argumentative articles earlier, and pay more attention to analysis and expression.
How to judge a child's critical thinking ability?
Children with strong critical thinking must be able to do the four thinking stages :
Asking questions: Can accurately ask high-quality questions, hit the key points, and promote in-depth thinking;
Obtaining information: able to actively acquire and understand reliable and sufficient information, distinguish problematic information, and accurately refine key information;
Analysis and judgment: can distinguish facts and opinions, can identify and avoid all kinds of common thinking fallacies, can analyze in depth according to specific and complex topics and situations, respond to different opinions, conduct high-quality arguments, and form reliable and unique Insights;
Expressing information: Able to communicate in spoken and written language logically and clearly in structure.
We further refined the thinking ability corresponding to these four stages into more than 80 specific thinking ability points, and children of different ages should master the corresponding ability.
Will children with critical thinking skills be out of gregariousness?
Critical thinking is not blindly negative, the result of independent thinking may also be recognized and supported; it is also not disregarded emotional, emotions and rational interaction, factors to be considered are the judges; critical thinking than people do fine bars thorn, Also consider the occasion and way of expression.
There are three keywords for critical thinking :
The first is questioning. The question here is not to say that I am always picking others up bitterly, it is more of introspection. I always question my blind faith, intuition, impulse, and preconceptions, and recognize and acknowledge my limitations.
The second is pluralism. It is necessary to look at complex issues more comprehensively with an open mind, treat different perspectives equally, respect people who hold different views, come from different cultural backgrounds, and enjoy different identity labels.
The third is rationality. Abandon blind obedience to authority, the public, and tradition, identify and control your own emotions, adhere to the empirical spirit, and insist on seeking truth from facts.
Critical thinking pursues truth-seeking, knowledge-seeking, open, and fair thinking qualities, requiring people to be introspective, humble, and curious, and to maintain empathy and kindness towards others. This is more conducive to the establishment of interpersonal relationships.
How do cultivate students critical thinking?
There are two basic ideas: dark lines and open lines.
Dark lines refer to ways to encourage students to think deeply through questioning and supplement knowledge from different perspectives, but they do not directly teach specific thinking methods.
Training students' thinking ability through the dark line runs through the teaching of all ages, and it is especially the main method of training young children's thinking.
This requires teachers or parents to have a deep understanding of what is being taught, have strong questioning skills and information literacy, and be able to provide students with the necessary support.
Open lines refer to methods of teaching critical thinking clearly in instructional design, such as what is weighing argumentation, inductive argumentation, how to evaluate argumentation with three standards, and how to express it in a pyramid structure. This is more suitable for students above the fourth grade because at this time the child's abstract and logical thinking begins to develop rapidly.
Moreover, it is very necessary to teach thinking methods directly, which can quickly improve the quality of students' thinking and reduce unnecessary inefficient thinking. This requires teachers or parents to be proficient in critical thinking methods and be able to apply them flexibly in combination with different topics and teaching content.
Specifically, combining reading and writing, using open lines to train children's critical thinking ability and wise judgment ability is more effective. Some high-quality teaching in the world has been doing this.
Without deliberate training, children often only pay attention to the plot of the story when they read by themselves, and cannot understand the deep meaning behind the classic books; without reading and thinking as a basis, writing is easily emotionally empty and lacks insight.
For example, reading Mark Twain's famous book "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" can train critical thinking skills by evaluating characters and evaluating key events.
"What kind of person do you think Tom Sawyer is? What adjective would you use to describe him? Do you recognize something Tom Sawyer did? If it were you, what would you do?"
Evaluating people or events is a frequently appearing question in the exam, and should also be focused on when reading. It reflects the depth of students' understanding of people and things.
Learning to evaluate people or events better can also help children understand themselves and others more deeply, reflect on some practices of themselves and others, and establish a moral system that they believe in.
However, students often encounter some difficulties: putting the wrong label on the character just because of one or two things, forming a stereotype; not seeing the complexity and richness of the character; not knowing what criteria or principles should be used to evaluate one thing.
Combining critical thinking in reading and writing, students will learn to use high-quality inductive argumentation, see the laws of character behavior, and accurately grasp the character's characteristics;
- Learn the fallacy of over-generalization, and be wary of stereotypes of Tom Sawyer and other people in life;
- Learn to return to factual evidence, look at problems from different angles, and understand that people are complex and changeable;
- Learn to use high-quality trade-offs to demonstrate and evaluate one thing;
- Learn structured attribution to analyze the causes of Tom Sawyer’s character or the reason behind a problem in the book;
- Learn to present the argumentation process through writing ;
- Learn the pyramid structure to make oral expression and writing logical and clear;
How to become a critical-thinking person?
If you want to be a critical thinking person, or you want your child to have critical thinking, you can practice according to these steps.
Let children learn how to ask questions. If you encounter a problem, write down the problem in a notebook or paper. You may find that the problems are endless, so let them guide you!
Let children have a curiosity. Curiosity is the desire to learn and explore. It can come in handy in occupations such as explorers, detectives, scientists, artists, journalists, and teachers.
They need to learn by asking questions. Asking the right questions can reveal the core of things. Spending more time in the critical thinking phase can make the other steps more successful.
Let children learn how to collect evidence. Once you figure out what questions to ask, you should start collecting evidence so that you can learn more about the topics you are interested in.
You must have your favorite books, magazines, web pages, and blogs, and even know a librarian who can help you learn new projects, but you must also expand your search for answers and pay attention to evidence that may contradict you.
The steps of collecting evidence are: searching for information, establishing contact, and drawing conclusions from the contact. The process of collecting evidence is like completing a continuous puzzle. In the process of parent-child companionship, you can complete the steps of collecting evidence together.
Let children learn how to draw conclusions. At this point, you have basically completed the process of critical thinking, and in the process of drawing conclusions, there are still very important points: review the original problem, review the evidence and what you have learned, and consider your values. It is not easy to think independently. Sometimes it is too tiring. It is also a good thing to let the brain rest.
Critical thinking is not only about finding answers or drawing conclusions but also about learning and growth. Practicing independent thinking in real life.
Conclusion of the Great Critical Thinking Books for Children and Teens
Thinking determines the choice, and choice determines life. To change, we must start with speculation.
May every child, in the rapidly changing 21st century, have the ability to make wise judgments, so as to bring inner stability and realize their potential.