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Wednesday, April 3, 2013

How Schooling Disables Critical Thinking


This is a guest post by Pooja Srivastava


Neha is a 12 year old studying in the sixth standard at a Public School in Pune. On a visit to her home we began chatting with her about her school and what subjects she studies. A Geography lesson came up and she mentioned that she had read about soil types in the class.

We asked her about the difference between fertile and arid soil, she was able to repeat the definitions exactly as she had read in her textbook. When she was asked about which regions in India have arid soil though, she had no response.

 We tried to lead her to the right answer by mentioning rainfall patterns and climate conditions but she was unable to give any response.

Finally she broke down crying. You see, she was the best student in the class and she realized she was unable to make the most basic connection to the real world. She also said, this question was not taught in the class or explained by her teacher. I consoled her and helped her calm down by asking her to find out the correct response by asking her teacher in the next class.


Pooja Srivastava is a Special Education & School Teaching Expert based in India.

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