Critical thinking has various definitions. Here, we define it as a thinking process in which an individual actively questions the objectivity, impartiality and accuracy of one’s own decision-making process and finally makes a decision through one’s own analysis, judgment and reasoning.

With three years of research, we constructed a structural model of critical thinking for Chinese high school students and designed critical thinking evaluation sheets based on surveys at home and abroad.

We surveyed some 20 high schools in Dalian, Shenyang and other places, sending out 6,240 questionnaires and getting back 6,204 effective ones. We also conducted in-depth interviews with 32 students and teachers from different schools and disciplines and with different amounts of teaching experience, forming 270 data tables and charts. After intensive data analysis, we have reached the following conclusions.

On the whole, ordinary Chinese high school students exhibit a high tendency to apply critical thinking, but the ability to do so is generally lacking. In the tendency toward critical thinking, objectivity and initiative are commendable, but impartiality, independence and preciseness are ill-performed, signaling that students recognize the value of critical thinking, but its development lags behind.

Second, the critical thinking of Chinese high school girls is significantly better than that of boys, which contradicts common societal perceptions. The performance of female students in academic and other aspects is increasingly outstanding, as more girls are achieving high grades in the college entrance examination, and more women from all walks of life are gaining top positions.

As a result, some researchers wonder if the selection and evaluation mechanism is more favorable to girls, neglecting boys’ creative qualities. Our research shows that the better overall critical thinking of female students is an inevitable result of the development of social productivity, rather than a presumably ill-designed selection criteria.

Third, age influences the critical thinking development of Chinese high school students. In short, the later the grade year, the better the student’s performance.

In addition, students who maintain good relationships with their classmates have better overall critical thinking. There is a positive correlation between academic performance and critical thinking, but there are students with excellent academic performance but low critical thinking ability, and there are also good critical thinkers among underachievers. This fact needs to be accounted for in the evaluation and selection of students in the future.

Fourth, the schools that encourage students to manage their own time and work benefit their students’ independence, but that does not mean we should downplay the authority and responsibility of schools, which could be harmful to the development of critical thinking. Abundant extracurricular activities at schools are beneficial to the development of critical thinking, but might be counterproductive for the students who struggle with schoolwork. At the same time, teachers’ behavior directly affects the development of students’ critical thinking.

Fifth, having a rural or urban background has a significant impact on students’ critical thinking. The percentage of students from rural areas that achieved high scores in critical thinking tendency and ability was the lowest. The percentage of students from counties and rural-urban fringe zones had the highest percentage of students with low scores. In contrast, students from large and medium-sized cities tended to have better scores. This result objectively reflects the discrepancies between urban and rural areas in China, which should be addressed with educational policies.

Sixth, parental educational background has an apparent influence on students’ critical thinking, and parental professional identity also weighs in. However, these impacts are complex and not linear.

In sum, Chinese high school students consciously conduct rational thinking and judgment, but their mastery of critical thinking skills is insufficient, and their critical thinking ability relatively lags behind. Schools and teachers have a significant impact on students’ critical thinking, as do families and parents. Therefore, the comprehensive development of critical thinking in Chinese high school students requires the joint efforts of education departments, schools, teachers, families and society.

Sun Xiuli and Qi Yeguo are from the Faculty of Education at Eastern Normal University.

(Edited and translated by Yang Xue)