Abstract
According to UNESCO, critical thinking (CT) is a strategic skill for the 21st century, as it is associated with attitudes of personal and social change and improvement. Based on this, the objectives of this study were (1) to find out the possible relationships between CT and effective personality (EP) and (2) to determine the extent to which EP predicts the development of CT in children and adolescents. The research approach was quantitative, correlational and predictive. The sample consisted of 562 Spanish students. The measurement instruments were: (1) the Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory and (2) the Efficacy Personality Questionnaire. The main findings showed that there is a positive relationship between EP and CT, with the traits “being enthusiastic”, “developing positive self-esteem” and “having self-confidence” correlating most strongly with CT. The regression analysis shows that EP influences the development of students’ CT. There were no significant differences according to sex, and Primary Education students obtained higher CT scores. It is concluded that the better the promotion of EP, the greater the CT development will be. This suggests the need to design educational programmes for the improvement of EP, especially in adolescents.
Highlights
Bivariate correlation analysis shows the existence of a significant linear correlation between all pairs of effective personality (EP) and critical thinking (CT) items
Spearman’s Rho analysis demonstrates that the most significant correlations occur between CT and the following EP items: “being enthusiastic” (0.549), “developing positive self-esteem” (0.546), “having self-confidence” (0.533), “having balance” (0.515) and “having self-control” (0.510) (Table 4)
The aims of this study were to find out the possible relationships between CT and EP, and to determine the extent to which EP predicts the development of CT in Spanish students in Primary and Secondary Education
Summary
In this sense, ESD aims to enable present generations to meet their needs while providing the opportunity for future generations to meet theirs. UNESCO [3,4] defines ESD as lifelong learning, and underlines the transformative potential of this educational approach, as it enables people to acquire the competences needed to meet the challenges of global citizenship In this regard, ESD’s priority goal is to promote “critical and systemic thinking, analytical problem-solving, creativity, working collaboratively and making decisions in the face of uncertainty, and understanding of the interconnectedness of global challenges and responsibilities emanating from such awareness” Given its enormous potential, CT has become an essential skill to promote sustainability [5,6,7,8]
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