Critical thinking talk and a community of enquiry in the primary school

This paper presents a theoretical consideration of the nature of classroom talk. It argues that traditional methods of instruction do not provide the conditions necessary to encourage pupils to think critically, and that a major reason for this is inappropriate discourse structures in schools. It suggests that a focus on fostering critical thinking implies a type of classroom interaction that is very different from that most commonly practised. Dialogue within a community of enquiry setting is proposed. The arguments presented are related to young children in primary schools.