siliconindia | | May 20198IN MY OPINIONLet's first start with the definition of Critical Thinking: `Critical thinking means making reasoned judgments that are logical and well-thought out. It is a way of thinking in which you don't simply accept all ar-guments and conclusions you are exposed to, but rather have an attitude involving question-ing such arguments and conclusions.Years back when I started-out, I realized that our ed-ucation systems believe in the rote method of learning. Everything was designed for students to only mug-up. There was no culture of working towards making sure children understood what they were learning.However, one of the most important aspects that one must inculcate in children is the ability to critically evalu-ate what is being taught, to question and reason every-thing that is told to them. One thing to keep in mind is that all the knowledge today is available out there on the web at the click of the button. However, to be able to evalu-ate and dissect the information is an art, and that is what children need as a skill today.As educators, we need to realize that when children grow-up and enter the real world, their organization does not expect them to remember dates of wars or which crop grows where anymore; what they do expect though is for the employee to be able to think, to know how to make connections between ideas, and evaluate information critically. Each decision they make has a consequence and they are required to weigh each aspect intricately before taking the final call.So if it is an important aspect, why do educators fail to inculcate this habit? Because the need to get bet-ter scores is what we emphasize on in most schools. Also, teaching critical thinking is not an easy task, and a whole lot don't know how it should be in-troduced. Here are ways in which critical think-ing can be introduced from the beginning of a child's schooling years:THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL THINKING AS THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESSBy Lina Ashar, Founder, Kangaroo Kids EducationHolding a Bachelor's Degree from the Victoria College, Jersey, Lina is a passionate educationist and an entrepreneur who has won several accolades to her name that include Lifetime Award for Achievement in Education by Education World, Alumni Excellence Award by Australian High Commission, and Inspiring Business Leaders India Award by The Economic Times, to name a few.Lina Ashar
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