The Development of Critical Thinking in Students: to What Extent the Practice of Philosophical Dialogue is Sufficient to Itself?

Among the reasons that are advanced by the advocates of philosophy for children and teenagers to include it in the school curriculum, the development of critical thinking occupies a prominent place. However, it is rarely discussed if the critical thinking skills that are developed in the philosophy classes are used in other contexts. It is this question this text wants to tackle. Firstly, we will clarify what we mean by critical thinking by presenting the main theories of this concept. We will then examine some of the results obtained in research, particularly the one of Daniel, aiming at study its development by the practice of philosophical dialogue. Finally, we will raise some issues around how a "general" form of critical thinking can be developed in this context by presenting some of the data we have collected in our research. We conclude by underlying few elements that should be taken into consideration to develop critical thinking in youth through philosophical dialogue.