Some peculiarities of developing critical thinking skills in children

Some peculiarities of developing… 
Серия «Педагогика». № 2(78)/2015 
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Each of these problems offers children chances to exercise and build a foundation for critical thinking 
and are not minor to children. Our role as the adults in their lives may sometimes be to offer guidance for 
creative problem solving. In other cases, it may be more useful to let a child experiment on his/her own for a 
bit. How and how quickly we respond can have a significant impact on children's development of critical 
thinking skills. 
Learning to think critically may be one of the most important skills which today's children will need for 
the future. Ellen Galinsky, author of Mind in the Making (2010) includes critical thinking on her list of the 
seven essential life skills needed by every child. Helping children view themselves as problem solvers or 
critical thinkers is also one of ten strategies that Dombro, Jablon and Stetson describe in Powerful Interac-
tions (2011) to extend children’s learning [2].
Considering the notion of critical thinking by Michael Scriven and Richard Paul, presented at the 8th 
Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform, Summer 1987 there is a need 
to define critical thinking as the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, 
applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observa-
tion, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary 
form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, 
precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness. It entails the 
examination of those structures or elements of thought implicit in all reasoning: purpose, problem, or ques-
tion-at-issue; assumptions; concepts; empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions; implications 
and consequences; objections from alternative viewpoints; and frame of reference. There are a number of 
ways to look at the process of critical thinking. Brookfield presents several, with this one being perhaps the 
simplest. 
Problem/goal identification: What is the real issue here? 
Diagnosis: Given all the information we have, what's the best way to deal with this issue? 
Exploration: How do we do what we decided on, and who will make it happen? 
Action: Do it! 
Reflection: Did it work? If so, how can it work better? If not, what went wrong, and how can we fix it? 
What have we learned here that might be valuable in the future? 
Reflection leads you to the consideration of another problem or goal, and the cycle begins again. 
Critical thinking involves being thrown into the questioning mode by an event or idea that conflicts 
with your understanding of the world and makes you uncomfortable. If you allow yourself to respond to the 
discomfort — that's partially an issue of personal development — you'll try to figure out where it comes 
from, and to come up with other ways to understand the situation. Ultimately, if you persist, you'll have a 
new perspective on the event itself, and will have broken through to a more critical understanding. 
Learning to think critically is more often than not a long process. Many people have to learn to think 
abstractly — itself a long process — before they can really apply the principles of critical thinking. Even 
those who already have that ability are often slowed, or even stopped, by the developmental and psychologi-
cal — and sometimes the actual — consequences of what they're being asked to do. Often, it takes a crisis of 
some sort, or a series of negative experiences to motivate people to be willing to think in a different way. 
Even then, developing the capacity for critical thinking doesn't necessarily make things better. It can al-
ter family relationships, change attitudes toward work and community issues, and bring discord into a life 
where none was recognized before. Learning it takes courage. 
The point of all this is that, although there's a series of what we believe are effective how-to steps laid 
out in this section, teaching critical thinking is not magic. The reason we keep using the words «develop» 
and «process» is that critical thinking, if it takes root, develops over time. Don't be frustrated if many people 
don't seem to get it immediately: they won't. 
Helping others learn to think critically can take place in a classroom — it's essentially what higher edu-
cation is all about — but it's probably even more common in other situations. Community interventions of all 
kinds provide opportunities for learning, both because participants are usually involved over a period of time, 
and because they are often experiencing difficulties that make it clear to them that their world view isn't ade-
quate to solve the problems they face. Many are ready to change, and welcome the chance to challenge the 
way things are and learn new ways of thinking. 
By the same token, learning to think critically can be a frightening process. It leads you to question ide-
as that you may have taken for granted all your life, and to challenge authority figures whom you may have 
held in awe. It may push you to tackle problems you thought were insoluble. It's the intellectual equivalent of 

A.Mackenzie, N.V.Denivarova, A.K.Kitibayeva 
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Вестник Карагандинского университета 
bungee jumping: once you've leaped off the bridge, there's no going back, and you have to trust that the cord 
will hold you [3]. 
As a result, facilitating critical thinking — whether formally or informally — requires more than just a 
knowledge of the process. It demands that you be supportive, encouraging, and honest, and that you act as 
role model, constantly demonstrating the process as you discuss it. 
There are really three aspects of helping people develop critical thinking: how to be a facilitator for the 
process; how to help people develop the «critical stance», the mindset that leads them to apply critical think-
ing all the time; and how to help people learn to apply critical thinking to dealing with community problems 
and issues. Stephen Brookfield has developed a 10-point guideline for facilitators of critical thinking that 
focuses both on the learner and the facilitator herself. 
Affirm learners' self-worth. Critical thinking is an intellectual exercise, but it is also a matter of confi-
dence and courage. Learners need to have the self -esteem to believe that authority figures or established be-
liefs could be wrong, and to challenge them. Facilitators need to encourage that self-esteem by confirming 
that learners' opinions matter and are worthy of respect, that they themselves have and deserve a voice. 
Listen attentively to learners. Repeat back their words and ideas, so they know they've been heard. 
What they say can reveal hidden conflicts and assumptions that can then be questioned. 
Show your support for critical thinking efforts. Reward learners for challenging assumptions, even 
when they're your own. 
Reflect and mirror learners' ideas and actions. That will help to identify assumptions and biases they 
may not be aware of. 
Motivate people to think critically, but help them to understand when it's appropriate to voice critical 
ideas and when it's not. The wrong word to the boss could get a learner fired, for example. It's important that 
he understand the possible consequences of talking about his conclusions before he does it. 
Regularly evaluate progress with learners. Critical thinking involves reflection as well as action, and 

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