ABSTRACT

A thinking skill is a competency that contributes to some type of reasoning, which means that there are thinking skills involved in reading, problem solving, creativity, and all other forms of thinking. Most thinking skills develop in the first few years of a child's life, which points to the crucial variable of interactions with significant adults, primarily parents, grandparents, older siblings, caregivers, and teachers. Teachers, in particular, shape children's thinking through effective instruction and classroom climate. During the 1970s and 1980s, investigations into the thinking processes of gifted children led to the question of whether instruction in thinking skills was needed. Leaders in the field of gifted education identified the principles of instruction as including more complex and abstract concept/theme/issues-based curriculum, in-depth investigations, problem solving, decision making, and reflection and understanding of self and the learning process.