Abstract:
Mathematics in the New Zealand Curriculum requires the classroom teacher to develop the learner’s critical thinking skills. Research indicates that critical thought is the final step in a four step process. The curriculum suggests that language development followed by conversation and dialogue development — steps one and two — will lead to critical thinking. The curriculum is silent on the third step, questioning, even though recent research suggests that all three are necessary to develop critical thinking. Critical thinking is one of the contributors to reflection. This paper discusses the four steps and promotes a model of the inter-relationship of the steps. From there, the paper proposes methods that the classroom teacher can use to improve both the teacher’s and the learner’s questioning skills in order to develop critical thinking.
