Investigating critical thinking in children's and adolescent literature

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD student, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Torbat Heydarieh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Torbat Heydarieh, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Farsi Language and Literature Department, Torbat Heydarieh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Torbat Heydarieh, Iran.

3 Associate Professor of the Department of Persian Language and Literature, Torbet Heydarieh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Torbet Heydarieh, Iran and Visiting Associate Professor of Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzvar, Iran

Abstract

Critical thinking is a method for deep and rational education, which often prompts the audience to reflect and be curious with open questions and makes him gain a deep understanding of the topic under consideration. The story plays a vital role in the formation of critical thinking skills. Thinking about thinking in order to improve the thought process is at the heart of critical thinking. The aim of the present research is to discover the possibilities of ordinary stories in strengthening and shaping critical thinking skills in children's and adolescent writers.
The examined critical thinking skills are: purpose, questioning, information, data, witness, experience, inferences and interpretations, assumptions, implications and consequences, opinions, fairness (impartiality), Humility, courage, companionship, strength, and mental perseverance, confidence in thinking, control over self-centeredness, and moral reasoning capabilities. The research method is descriptive and analytical, and the tool for collecting information is extracting files from library sources and documents in the field of critical thinking.

The findings of the research show that ordinary stories can be used as an educational tool if they have a suitable literary quality. Another result of the current research is that each of the lists of critical thinking experts have mentioned some skills, and according to each research, an appropriate list should be chosen to measure critical thinking.

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