Teaching Critical Thinking Skills : An Introduction for Children Aged 9-12

This practical teaching resource has been designed to give children aged 9–12 the basic tools required to challenge some of the conflicting information which they may encounter in everyday life. With increasing exposure to modern information technology and social media, amongst other things, children are increasingly exposed to misleading information that can seriously influence their worldview and self-esteem. The sooner they are helped to approach some of this material with a critical eye, the better they will be able to make independent judgements and resist undue persuasion.

Key features of this book include:

• Short texts designed to give opportunities for critical examination, created to be points of discussion with individuals, groups or whole classes

• Topics covering seven areas of critical thought, ordered in level of difficulty, including finding contradictions, and detecting bias and fake news

• Supporting teacher prompts and questions, as well as photocopiable resources without prompts

The ability to question and evaluate information is an essential life skill, as well as a key skill for academic learning, yet it remains one of the most challenging aspects of comprehension to teach. This is a vital text for teachers, teaching assistants and other professionals looking to develop critical thinking skills in their students.

Jill Spring is a retired speech and language therapist who specialised in child speech and language disorder and autistic spectrum disorder. After qualifying in 1972 she worked in a variety of paediatric settings, including community clinics, assessment centres, opportunity playgroups and mainstream schools. From 1996 to 2014 she worked in specialist language units attached to mainstream schools, spending two years managing one of these units. Before retiring in January 2016, she was responsible for coordinating the Education Commissioned Communication Plan support service for children with complex speech, language and communication difficulties. She also worked as part of the multi- disciplinary team responsible for assessment and diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders in West Dorset.

Catherine Delamain is a retired speech and language therapist. Her varied career included work in an audiology unit, and with the children of armed forces overseas. She spent a year visiting speech and language therapy departments in American universities and hospitals. Her last post involved management of children with a wide range of needs in a large speech and language therapy service, where she also formed part of a pioneering team assessing autistic spectrum disorders. After retirement, she worked in association with a senior educational psychologist lecturing teachers on how to support children with communication difficulties in mainstream and special schools.