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Critical thinking

The following case studies show how critical thinking has been used in a range of institutions and with students of different ages. They are based on visits and discussions with teachers and students.

• Alcester Grammar School - critical thinking in year 13
• Aylesbury High School - critical thinking alongside general studies
• Benjamin Britten High School - critical thinking using distance learning in year 10
• Coulsdon High School and Coulsdon College - critical thinking in collaboration
• Court Moor School - critical thinking at key stage 4
• Hills Road Sixth Form College - critical thinking on a large scale 
• HMP/YOI  Warren Hill - critical thinking in a young offenders’ institution
• Lawrence Sheriff School - critical thinking in year 12 and year 13
  

Alcester Grammar School

Alcester Grammar School, Warwickshire, is a co-educational selective grammar school that was part of the critical thinking pilot. The members of staff involved have therefore developed considerable experience in the subject. The school also offers the AEA in critical thinking.

The subject is offered to year 13 with a time allocation of two hours a week and an additional recommended two hours a week for private study. There are three teaching groups. Students take the subject for a variety of reasons, including the expectation that it will enhance their chances of getting a university place and that it will help with their work in other subjects. Some students who take the subject are doing so in place of A2 in a subject where their AS results did not indicate success.

The range of materials used by the teachers shows how a course benefits from a careful mixture of textbooks, materials collected from different sources, and articles and other features from newspapers. In this way, the topicality of the subject is preserved.

Aylesbury High School

Critical thinking has been taught at Aylesbury High School in Buckinghamshire (a girls’ selective grammar school) for two years. It is taught to year 12 students and some of them opt also to take the AEA. Staff have decided to develop ways of integrating AS general studies and AS critical thinking so that the students can take either or both of the qualifications.

Materials used for the general studies course are also used to develop critical thinking skills. Because the assessment of general studies includes questions on thinking skills, this approach works well. In the spring term, students choose whether they want to take the additional qualification. In the main, it is the students who have been studying critical thinking rather than general studies as their preferred option who choose to go for the additional qualification.

The school has found this approach to be successful. The students report that their wider understanding of the world has been enhanced and that their critical thinking skills have helped them to perform better in other subjects and in university entrance tests.

Benjamin Britten High School

At Benjamin Britten High School in Lowestoft, Suffolk, year 10 students are selected to study critical thinking through a combination of assessment scores and teacher recommendations. They are then invited to a meeting to discuss what is involved in doing the course, and those who wish to join the class do so. They take the AS examination at the end of year 10.

Because of the lack of expertise in the subject in the school, it was decided to use a commercial distance-learning scheme. For one hour a week (after school hours), the students have a video link with a teacher who takes them through a workbook and sets homework. The teacher visits the centre three times during the academic year. A teacher at the school acts as a link between the students and the distance-learning programme.

The students can see how critical thinking can help with other subjects, such as English, by enabling them to analyse material better. Some think that their performance in other subjects will therefore improve. 

Coulsdon High School and Coulsdon College

Through a collaborative venture between Coulsdon High School and Coulsdon College in Croydon, a year 10 critical thinking group from the school is taught by lecturers from the nearby college. The students take a four-term course with an examination in January of year 11. CAT scores at year 7 are used to assess which pupils are invited to discuss joining this class. Those who agree to join are a highly motivated group who see the subject as beneficial not only in terms of their performance in other subjects but also in terms of life beyond school. They give response to the media as an example of something on which critical thinking can have a useful effect. An illustration of this is the study of the claims made by advertisers.

At the college, the subject is taught to two groups, each of which has three hours’ teaching a week (two one-and-a-half-hour sessions). The teacher, who has considerable experience with the subject, runs a well-organised course with a wide range of teaching material.

This course is a useful example of the benefits of critical thinking. The students’ comments highlight how critical thinking is seen in a very positive light by a wide range of students.

Court Moor School

Since 2001 Court Moor School in Fleet, Hampshire, has run a critical thinking course for students at key stage 4, starting at the end of year 10 and continuing through year 11. As the school does not have a sixth form, it was their first experience of teaching AS (though they now provide an AS-level course in ICT for students who take GCSE ICT in year 10). The teacher, who is very enthusiastic about the critical thinking course, has a science background and is allocated one and a half hours a week to teach it.

Selection of students for the course is based on  a combination of prior achievement (SATs) and ability measures (CAT scores) supported by teacher nominations. Those selected are invited to attend a sample lesson, after which they decide whether they want to join the class. The lessons take place after normal school hours, and compete with other activities available, such as sport and music. Some students with better reasoning than written skills can take the course but not the qualification. One year 9 student attends the course to gain further stretch and motivation.

The students on the course speak enthusiastically about it. They recognise its value in helping them with their other subjects (for example, evaluating information sources in history), teaching them skills and contributing to UCAS tariff points. They also like the way disagreements can be aired, but need justifying.

Hills Road Sixth Form College

Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge teaches critical thinking on a large scale in year 13. Seven teachers are involved, with 17 groups of students. The teachers come from a range of subject backgrounds including history, geography, philosophy, and psychology. The college has developed an intranet website that students can use as a revision facility and that teachers can use in lessons. This provides a combination of short explanatory items together with multiple-choice exercises and links to other resources. From time to time debates are held on “big issues” such as fox hunting and the future of Stonehenge.

Students in the college have said that critical thinking should be introduced much earlier within the school curriculum. The fact that the subject is largely skills-based is seen as a significant plus, contrasting with a perceived emphasis on content elsewhere. Some students believe that the one hour a week available for the subject is enough; others would like more time for debate.

HMP/YOI Warren Hill

The Carlford Unit at HMP/YOI  Warren Hill, Suffolk, is a unit for 30 male juvenile offenders aged 16–18. Before coming into prison, a high proportion of the young men have been excluded from school, and very few have any prior educational achievements. Critical thinking has been taught since the unit opened in 2000. Though the students for the AS programme are selected on the basis of performance in a test of literacy, many have a limited education in developing written and reading skills. However, critical thinking has been a very successful course in terms of the commitment shown by the students, their enthusiasm to develop the skills, and their ability to succeed in the AS examination. For many, this was the first public examination they had ever taken.

Lawrence Sheriff School

Lawrence Sheriff School in Rugby, Warwickshire, teaches critical thinking to year 12 and year 13 groups. In year 12 there are three groups, and in year 13 there is one. Critical thinking is presented as an alternative to general studies, and students are required to choose one of them. The three critical thinking teachers in this school come from backgrounds in English, French, and ICT. The course is taught for one hour a week, but students are encouraged to look at newspapers and magazines and to practise their critical skills further.

Students are positive about the value of critical thinking in enhancing their performance in other subjects. Examples include its value in analysing texts in English and in helping to understand more clearly what an author is arguing.

Also see

> Using AS in critical thinking

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Page updated: 12 June 2008
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