Critical thinking in young children

Abstract

Promoting critical thinking in children is crucial in Malaysia's education reforms. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has emphasized the need of nurturing the young thinkers. Many programs have been introduced to develop young children's thinking skills but their critical thinking capabilities still remain vague. For this reason, teachers should acquire both knowledge and skills of critical thinking in order to develop the young children's critical thinking abilities through the appropriate methods, approaches and tools. Thus, a study is needed to investigate the current practices of the kindergarten teachers towards children's critical thinking abilities. This study aims to (1) explore the critical thinking competency of kindergarten teachers; (2) understand the current practices of critical thinking skills among kindergarteners; and (3) discover the opinions on instructional approach that can enhance kindergarteners' critical thinking skills. For data collection, this study will implement qualitative methods such as observation and interview. An interview with 20 open-ended questions was directed to the teachers and principal in a kindergarten while an observation checklist was used to record students' critical thinking learning activities in the classroom. Lastly, the result of this study aims foster the development of critical thinking in young children.