Is Critical Thinking Desirable for Children?

Abstract

In this paper, I theorise the conception of critical thinking as a normative activity in which certain standards and criteria are applied to what people say or do and even write. I situate critical thinking in the context of children and inquire into its suitability and applicability in the world of young people. There is no consensus on the meaning of critical thinking, what its educational outcomes could be and the most effective means of achieving it especially when applied to children in schools. I illuminate and uphold a conception of critical thinking and the critical thinker basing on Matthew Lipman’s Philosophy for Children programme as one opportunity of initiating critical thinking from an early age. I advance the conception that developing critical thinking is the focal aim of educating children and “…the ultimate educational ideal” (Siegel, 1988, p. 137).

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n10p325