In teaching youths to learn critically: the role of family, formal and non-formal education – findings from a middle-income context

ABSTRACT

This article discusses factors affecting youth’s critical thinking competency, using a dataset of 1182 observations from 30 secondary schools in rural and urban areas of Vietnam. Structural Equation Model (SEM) was constructed to analyse the overall impact of sociodemographic, within-school and out-of-school factors on critical thinking capacity of students. The results reveal that effects from school education appear to outweigh out-of-school elements and demographic features of students. Insights from these findings are expected to contribute to skills-based education and policy planning in educational contexts similar to Vietnam. Further studies could be conducted to complement and extend results from this study by examining different subject groups by age, ethnicity, and other stakeholders, such as parents, teachers, school managers and authorized representatives.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical thinking competency
• secondary school students
• parental involvement
• academic results
• Vietnam

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This article is the product of the research project No B2021-VKG-01 “Research on suggesting adaptive learning model for general education institutions” funded by the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training according to Decision 3183/QĐ-BGDĐT

Notes on contributors

Le Anh Vinh

Le Anh Vinh earned his PhD in Mathematics and master’s degree in international education policy at Harvard University and is currently Director General of Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences (VNIES). He has had more than 70 international publications (both in Math and Education) and led many national research projects on education.

Hoang Phuong Hanh

Hoang Phuong Hanh is a graduate from University College London, UK and currently working as a researcher at Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences. She has published works concerning STEM education, youth’s digital capacity, and educational disparities. Her research interests also include educational leadership and policy as well as education innovations and reforms.

Bui Dieu Quynh

Bui Dieu Quynh is a researcher in Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences. Her research interests include curriculum development, school programs, approaches in teaching skills and students’ learning, education for sustainable development. She has involved in several ministry-level and national studies on school curriculum development, national surveys conducted cross Vietnam.

Trinh Thi Ngoc Lan

Trinh Thi Ngoc Lan is Lecturer on Probability and Statistics, Calculus at Faculty of Management and Tourism, Hanoi University. Her research interest focuses on Probability Theory, Applied statistics, Bayesian network, Bayesian statistics and Survival analysis in Biology.

Bui Thi Dien

Bui Thi Dien is a researcher at Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences. Her works focus on educational policies, curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment, emphasizing the fields of transferable skills and inclusive education.

Do Duc Lan

Do Duc Lan is a researcher in Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences. His research focuses on curriculum development, students’ skills, students’ learning outcomes, Mathematics Education, STEM education in K-12 education. He has been involved in numerous research projects with Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam and international organizations.

Luong Viet Thai

Luong Viet Thai is Deputy Head of the Department of Education and Training and International Relations of Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences. He is renowned for his research on curriculum development and improving methods of Physic education. He has led many ministerial-level research projects on education and cooperation projects with international organisations.