Verbal Manifestation of Critical Thought: Transversal Study from Age 10 to 18 in France

Abstract

The article studies the verbal manifestation of critical thought in a school context. Four modes of thought - logical,creative, responsible, and metacognitive – accompanied by six epistemological perspectives, are studied from 1,730pupils turns to speak analyzed in eight class groups. The pupils dialog about freedom. Quantitatively and gradually thecollective thought gives the lion's share to the manifestation of logical, followed by creative and then responsiblethought, and very little to that of metacognitive thought. The study reveals a significant developmental effect forlogical and responsible thought – to the advantage of the girls. While each mode of thought evolves following its owndevelopmental path, the epistemological congruence that emerges between the logical and responsible modes ofthought on the one hand and responsible and creative on the other seems perhaps debatable. The results lead to apedagogic proposal which consists in proposing to introduce a cognitive activity of doubt, not spontaneously adoptedby the pupils, to favor the advent of a form of critical thinking more balanced as concerns the modes of thoughts ofwhich it composed.