Are We Teaching Students How to Think?
The Question
Never before have young people had access to so much information.
Or so many opinions.
Or so many people telling them what to think.
The challenge facing students today isn't finding information.
It's evaluating it.
Questioning it.
Testing it.
Processing it.
So perhaps the real question for schools is this:
Are we teaching students what to think, or how to think?
The Conversation
Great learning has never depended on passive agreement.
It depends on curiosity.
Evidence.
Wonder.
Challenge.
The ability to analyse information critically is becoming one of the defining skills of modern life.
Students must be able to distinguish fact from opinion.
Evidence from assumption.
They need to understand competing viewpoints and evaluate arguments on their merits.
According to ACER's Essential Skills Framework, critical thinking and communication are among the most important capabilities for learning and participation in contemporary society. Published in 2025, the framework positions these skills as central to future success.
The OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 project similarly highlights students' ability to appreciate different perspectives, challenge assumptions and engage constructively with others.
That requires something increasingly rare.
The ability to disagree well.
Not disagreement for its own sake.
But disagreement that sharpens thinking.
Improves understanding.
Strengthens ideas.
What the Research Says
The ability to evaluate information, understand differing viewpoints and challenge assumptions is increasingly recognised as a critical future capability.
The OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 framework emphasises students' ability to appreciate different perspectives and navigate complexity as essential competencies for a changing world.
The Australian Council for Educational Research identifies critical thinking and communication among the most important skills for learning and participation in modern society.
Further Reading
- OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030
https://www.oecd.org/en/about/projects/future-of-education-and-skills-2030.html - ACER Essential Skills Research
https://acerq.acer.edu.au/au/research/essential-skills
Keeping It Real
At Kingswood, intellectual rigour is about more than regurgitating content.
It's about developing thinkers.
Students who ask questions.
Test ideas.
Listen carefully.
Challenge respectfully.
Because the future belongs not only to those who know the answers.
It belongs to those who know how to think deeply.
Continuing the Conversation
Next, we'll examine the skills employers, universities and communities increasingly value, many of which never appear on a report card. Keep an eye out for our next article,
The Skills we Can't Measure Matter Most (available 4 November)
At Kingswood College we proudly work to fulfil our vision to embolden hearts and inspire minds in a nurturing environment, on land that holds deep cultural significance to the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We acknowledge and honour their Elders, past and present, and extend our respect to all First Nations people. Whenever we gather, and wherever we gather, we extend respect and dignity to the first inhabitants of our country and acknowledge the truth about the country on which our school has stood and now stands.
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