Supporting critical thinking skills needed for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme: A content analysis of a national and two international education programs in Turkey

Students need well developed critical thinking skills for future employment and to deal with real life problems. These skills involve reviewing, comprehending and analyzing sources of data to make informed decisions and to reflect on possible outcomes and consequences of these decisions. Fortunately, many education programs provide learners with activities and experiences to foster and develop their critical thinking skills. One well-known program is the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program for upper high school students. Given the challenges of this program, it is important to ensure that students are prepared before they enroll. Therefore, this study examined educational programs offered to Turkish students in grades 9 and 10 to learn about the objectives and learning experiences they receive to develop their critical thinking. A content analysis of three education programs was conducted, guided by a framework identifying dimensions of critical thinking. The three programs were the national program, the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme and Cambridge's International General Certificate of Secondary Education. For each program, four different subject areas were analyzed. The subject areas that addressed all the critical thinking components most thoroughly were the language courses (Turkish and English). The study also found that Approaches to Learning skills outlined by the International Baccalaureate provide strong guidance to ensuring critical thinking are integrated throughout the curriculum.