We have recently been working with teachers in schools in India. It is interesting how similar issues come up in terms of how Critical Thinking should be taught (including how it can be incorporated into very full timetables with lots of material needing to be taught.) In one of the schools (in Mussoorie, high up in the mountains), there was an interesting emphasis on physical education as well as intellectual education (with lots of cross-country running up and down the mountain-side). This fits well with the emphasis Socrates placed on the need for physical training as well as for what we now call Critical Thinking.
Using fairy stories to develop critical thinking
A recent study in The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy on using fairy stories in primary schools has highlighted that such stories can be