Business school pedagogy: Curating a critical thinking learning environment

Critical thinking (CT) is a vital graduate attribute preparing students to face and address the challenges of the 21st Century. While much attention has focused on CT skills development via curriculum design and instruction, less attention has focused on a student’s CT disposition: their characteristics, predispositions, or ‘readiness’ for such skills instruction. We argue that in order to develop such CT dispositions, educators must focus on creating and curating a Critical Thinking Learning Environment (CTLE). To this end we propose the 8P framework, which comprises eight elements that shape CTLE: purpose, permission, parameters, psychological safety, personalisation, productive struggle, preparation, and practice. Taking into account the cognitive, emotive and applied aspects of CTLE, these elements together represent a framework for development and curation of learning environments appropriate for students to become critical thinkers.