This program is an integration of critical thinking, civics and English language. We have introduced it as a subject in the 10th grade at Gymnasium AIA-GESS, but existing materials can also be used for school clubs. The purpose of this program is as follows:
1) promotion of quality education among students (English language, civic education)
2) Development of skills - self-awareness, self-regulation, critical thinking (observation, questioning, analysis, decision-making), communication, cooperation, leadership... It is the development of these skills that helps to solve the problem faced by the youth of the 21st century, whether it is choosing a profession or a right vision of the future.
3) Development of social values, because these are the elements (love, kindness, peace, honesty, respect) that unite societies, since they consider the well-being of society members.
The development of critical thinking in schools is not new, although this approach is truly innovative because until now the educational system offered the student a subject + critical thinking, in this case, depending on the difficulty of the subject, the student was able to develop skills and use them in real life, i.e. transfer knowledge and skills, with a low percentage. Our approach is as follows: critical thinking + subject. Along with theoretical material, the student acquires the above-mentioned skills using real cases. The teacher has adapted the role of facilitator and "conducts" the class.
The program consists of the following chapters:
Critical thinking (what is critical thinking, how it differs from criticism, its purpose and benefits), logic (Aristotle's triangle), cognitive biases (types, examples, how to find biases in ourselves and how to fight them),difference between fact and opinion and how to avoid negative influence.
Students created activities for each chapter: a 1-minute speech where they had to name a problem, its cause and three ways to solve it using logos, ethos and pathos, debates about people with different religious and ethnic backgrounds, logical problems, presentations and the most important product was board games that students created after passing each chapter. Each board game is divided into levels, the first level is dedicated to the energizers, then there are issues that will increase the awareness of the players in terms of critical thinking, and the final level is cases where decisions need to be made in critical situations.
These students simultaneously participated in projects financed by the European Council.
Teaching and Learning Setting
Innovation Dimension
Education Sector