Why is it essential to encourage rational thinking among children?

posted on Oct 15, 2019

Rational thinking refers to the ability to think with logic and reasons. Though in many cases, we come across pieces of evidence of biased views, opinions, thoughts, and rationales amongst people, reasons and logic always help to keep the process of thinking and the mind ahead of the social prejudices and stereotypes. Rational thinking allows the mind to breathe some fresh air and keeps the logical reasoning of the brain unaffected.

As far as young minds are concerned, rational thinking can be developed among them through the means of regular practice. The way a child learns to perceive things from childhood is the way it develops its cognitive sophistication. Therefore, the foundation must be laid in the childhood days, and the same can be a source of constant encouragement for the rest of the life for thinking with reasons.

Contrary to the theories of belief, rational thinking encourages the little ones to come up with questions demanding for further clarification of any issue or fundament. Instead of relying on what others say, a rational mind stays inquisitive to learn things on its own and practices the same through trial and error methods, which make the young minds more agile. At GurukulThe School, we firmly believe that for the holistic development and character building of children, rational thinking is a must. However, it is imperative to sow the seeds of rational thinking in children at an early age. Let us look into various reasons why we believe encouraging rational thinking among children is a sheer necessity in the current times.

Enhances analytical power

When a child is made to think rationally, he/she learns to analyse the evens and odds associated with any event or phenomenon. Rational thinking demands a thorough analysis of the entire scenario under consideration to conclude. Mere beliefs and ideas do not justify the process adequately. Hence, as an integral part of the rational thinking process comes the process of analysis. Thinking rationally thus helps improve the analytical abilities of children, thereby improving their capacity to comprehend things and absorb them much fast and easily. This, in turn, makes the process of learning hassle-free for them.

Helps in framing individual opinion

Analytical thinking, along with rational reasoning habits, enables a mind to frame its individual opinions on every aspect. If a child learns to think rationally at a tender age, it also becomes capable of voicing his/her opinions more confidently. A person with individual opinions always manages to earn respect and attention in the society with time. Moreover, having individual opinions often helps in the academic sphere as well, and helps in making an individual more aptly prepared to align with the demands of the changing times.

Widens insight and intellect

The deeper one goes into the analysis of an event or occurrence, the more insight he/she gains. Having more insight also means being capable of comprehending things more holistically. Therefore, rational thinking can be a step towards improving the insight of the children, which, in turn, would help them get groomed into more logical and reasonable personalities in the future.

We, at Gurukul The School, recognized as the Best School in Ghaziabad, India, believe that the true purpose of education remains unfulfilled if it doesn’t aid the young minds to think rationally and reasonably. We hence follow a deliberately designed pedagogy that helps to establish a perfect balance of reason and analysis in our education impartation process. Through the value education classes, exploration opportunities, hands-on learning sessions, and much more, we, at Gurukul, always strive to encourage the inquisitiveness of each of our pupils to keep them aligned with the process of rational thinking. Instead of making the children follow the textbooks alone, we encourage them to go deeper into the lessons to make sure that they develop a clearer insight and idea of the topics learned. This also enables them to think rationally through analysing the cause and effects of any fundament and helps them to grow into much more confident, responsible individuals we all can be proud of.