Education and Early Childhood Learning

Critical Thinking is not developed and assessed separately, but rather as an integrated part of the SLOs for  the report card grading categories comprehension and communication. Links between SLOs and these categories (see the report card policy and support document) can be drawn out by carefully examining the SLOs, thus making it easier to identify and assess critical thinking. These links, direct or indirect in nature, are more far-reaching than the actual SLOs, given that they are targeted in the context of complex communication or comprehension tasks.

Each of the report card category descriptions for critical thinking mobilizes a number of SLOs that are directly or indirectly linked.

Direct Links

SLOs with a direct link to a specific report card category description are easily identifiable through key words such as:

• Reacting to speech, information, text based on/by establishing links/by communicating that....
• Reacting in a critical manner...
• Expressing feelings, emotions, tastes, preferences, opinions...
• Establishing links between...
• Discussing:
• the effectiveness of techniques, methods...
• the influence of media on...
• the realities expressed...
• Expressing one’s interests, opinions, reactions...
• Distinguishing...
• Determining the point of view expressed...
• Verifying whether...
• Evaluating...
• Analysing...
• Questioning oneself...
• Presenting and defending one’s point of view...

Indirect Links

An indirect link between a SLO and a report card category in particular is established according to the context of a communication task and is observed during a three-step process - before, during and after.   During a given communication task, every targeted SLO should be carefully examined for its potential to develop critical thinking.

The following examples serve to illustrate the indirect link that can exist between an SLO and a particular report card category description for critical thinking.

	SLO	Explanation of Possible Link with a report card grading category
Middle Years	Select content and final presentation taking into account the needs and interests of the target audience. Select the content and final presentation taking into account the target audience's familiarity with the subject matter and vocabulary. (Before)	When selecting the content and final presentation, students can make links between prior knowledge and experiences and reflect on a number of aspects that could influence their presentation and its content. This reflection process can take place alone or with others. A list of criteria developed collaboratively can lead to discussions, exchanges of ideas and opinions that will subsequently need to be substantiated.
Early Years	Extract the overall meaning of the message. Extract the subject and aspects dealt with. (During)	Questions by the teacher or student can lead to discussions during which feelings, tastes, preferences and emotions can be expressed and predictions can be shared. Such discussions can provide an opportunity for students to express an opinion which they will need to substantiate. Examples: "I think that… I don’t think that… because… Why did he/she...? I would not do that because…That’s not nice... That’s not true… because…", etc.
	Ask questions in order to better understand. (During or After)	The questions students ask themselves or ask others can allow them to reflect on some aspects of the message heard, read or seen. This reflection can lead them to express their opinions.

The development of critical thinking is not limited only to French as a subject area. When the situation allows, critical thinking can be observed through other subjects as language is the vehicle for demonstrating critical thinking.