Analysis and evaluation of the Thinking Programme in developing critical and creative thinking among lower secondary students in The Chinese High School

This paper examines the effectiveness of the Thinking Programme in developing critical thinking and creativity among the Secondary One students (13 year-old, first year) in The Chinese High School. This study utilises qualitative and quantitative methodologies to evaluate students’ perceptions on the teaching and learning of the Thinking Programme. Students are asked to reflect on their actual learning experience and comment on whether the explicit teaching of thinking skills has helped to develop their critical and creative thinking ability. This retrospective reflection done by the students helps the writer to identify certain characteristic, behaviours and learning attitudes of better thinkers, thereby reinforcing the belief that the Thinking Programme does have an impact on the critical thinking and creativity of the individual.

In addition, this study examines the extent to which thinking skills are applied in the daily lives of the students, be it in school or beyond the institutional boundaries. Also, it shows how certain conducive environmental factors that help promote and inculcate critical and creative thinking and learning that surface consequentially because of this study.