Using English as a Tool to Nurture 'Thinking Children'

When teaching English conversation lessons, I see various skills in children that I want to develop beyond just English proficiency.
Recently, I have been focusing particularly on critical thinking skills.

Honestly, if a child has 'thinking skills,' I feel at ease even if their English proficiency is only moderate.
Conversely, without 'thinking skills,' a person can be fluent in English but empty inside.
After all, English is just a 'tool'.

In that sense, in my lessons, I value the idea that 'there is not just one answer' and 'it differs from person to person' more than ever before.

For example, in lessons with junior high and high school students,

・Choosing the topics to study themselves

・Thinking of questions

・Thinking of counterarguments
—I incorporate activities like these.
Since these are individual lessons, being able to speak without fear of making mistakes is also a major benefit for children of this age.

When practicing English proficiency × thinking skills, proficiency tests like Eiken might actually feel easy.
However, Eiken is just a milestone.
Practicing thinking from various perspectives while in junior high and high school will broaden their horizons and prove useful in many aspects of life.

So, is such a lesson possible for elementary school children as well?
I actually believe that elementary school is the perfect time to cultivate a 'habit of thinking'.

Therefore, I am gradually incorporating activities like these into my lessons.

・In vocabulary practice, they decide for themselves whether they read first or the teacher reads first.

・Having the children come up with their own quizzes (charades, 3-hint quizzes, etc.)

・Having them talk about what they think of characters in picture books (using words like nice, kind, brave, mean, etc.)

Also, seeing oneself objectively is important.
In my lessons, there are many opportunities for mini-speeches and mini-presentations, which we record and watch together.
Afterward, I ask for their thoughts.
Sometimes I hear 'I like it!' or 'It’s good,' and other times the reaction is a hesitant 'Hmm.'
At those times, I ask, 'Would you like to try it one more time?'
And almost every child takes on the challenge.

Seeing oneself objectively—or from a bird's-eye view—corresponds to metacognition.
It is said that people who can use metacognition have a higher ability to achieve their goals.
I want my students to lead successful lives.
The small steps toward that are 'recording' and 'self-evaluation'.

The other day, I attended a seminar on critical thinking.
Come to think of it, about six years ago, I had an elementary school student living in the U.S. who requested to learn critical thinking skills necessary for entering a local high school.
I declined at the time, but it has been a theme that has stayed with me ever since.

The seminar was about English education and was very exciting and practical.
The book introduced there was Tomohiro Hoshi's 'Textbook for Developing Children's Thinking Skills' (Daiwa Shobo).
It is so comprehensive that you can understand most of the topics currently being discussed in the educational world with just this one book.

Critical thinking is introduced in the final chapter of the book, but as I was reading it, I suddenly thought,
'Wait, I'm already doing this in my lessons! (laughs)'.

In my writing lessons, I conduct 'role-play writing'.
This is English composition where you pretend to be someone else and write from their perspective.
For example, even if you don't like cats, you think about 'what cat lovers like about them.'
You eat with chopsticks, but you imagine 'what are the benefits of eating with your hands?'
Through such activities, I am practicing thinking from the perspective of others.

By the way, the illustration at the beginning was created for this year's Halloween lesson.
It is an activity where students look at the ingredients to put into 'Witch’s Stew' and think about whether they are 'Yucky' or 'Yummy,' then circle the Yummy ones.
By realizing that feelings differ from person to person, it is said that 'cognitive flexibility' is fostered.

You can take online lessons with Junko N., who thinks about these things every day, here: