Skills for Life: Fostering Critical Thinking

Critical thinking has become key to the skill set that people should develop not only to have better prospects in the labor market, but also a better personal and civic life. This brief shows how policymakers and teachers can help students develop their critical thinking skills. First, this brief defines critical thinking skills. Then, the brief shows how the concept can be translated into teacher-friendly rubrics to support them to design or redesign better lessons but also to assess their students. Lastly, the brief highlights 10 concrete steps for policymakers, school principals, and teachers to better prepare students for the future with critical thinking skills and improve the quality of their education. While applied to the fostering and assessing of students critical thinking skills, those 10 steps can be generalized to the implementation of other forms of educational innovation, notably competency-based curricula.