IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING CRITICAL THINKING TO STUDENTS

Abstract

This text aims to reflect on the importance of teaching critical thinking to students as an essential tool in the integral development of individuals. It discusses the need to teach critical thinking to students so they can learn to think effectively and independently. Students with critical thinking skills will be able to analyze current events, separate personal opinions from facts, develop and produce coherent and assertive responses, question information, reflect on an issue, evaluate the overall context, weigh internal and external factors, and establish a position on specific facts of social reality. There seems to be a consensus that critical thinking skills foster questioning and enable students to learn skills that will be useful not only during school but also in adulthood, as citizens and during their professional careers. These skills relate to collecting, analyzing, and organizing information, scheduling tasks, problem-solving, communicating information, working in groups, using technology, and developing argumentative skills. Solutions to the problems of modern society require that education emphasize critical thinking skills. There is a factual recognition that any democracy, to function according to its concept, needs individuals with the capacity to think critically.