How critical thinking unlocks the power of AI

In an age driven by technology, where faster is better, AI is billed as the ultimate shortcut. But in the classroom, speed is seldom the point. A calculator can answer a maths problem instantly, but that doesn’t help children learn to reach the answer themselves. So, when AI first burst on to the scene, we wanted to understand how it could be used most effectively for learning. Our response drew on two years of global research into the best way to develop children’s thinking skills.

The answer was clear: in classrooms, faster is not always better. Children need to think for themselves before turning to AI.

Working with Boston College, one of the world’s leading education research institutions, our global study followed more than 12,000 Nord Anglia children across 20 countries. It showed that teaching children to think for themselves and understand themselves as learners delivers clear, real-world benefits: collaboration improves by 72 per cent, curiosity by 70 per cent, and critical thinking by 68 per cent.

Other huge benefits for students and their families quickly emerged too. The schools involved in the research saw teachers become more engaged and remain longer in post, and parents rated our schools even more highly than before. A genuine case of ‘heads you win, tails you win.’

Our approach to AI in learning

Our research underpins why at our schools we teach children to do their own thinking before turning to AI. We put curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and compassion at the centre of teaching and learning across our 90 schools in 37 countries.

We teach our students ‘AI literacy’ – the ‘what, how, why and when’ to use AI tools – to support their learning as well as their mastery of the technology. We believe AI is a powerful learning tool when it’s paired with independent, critical thought.

Our evolving, research-led approach builds skills for the future, preparing our students to step out more confidently into the working world.

Building the best foundation

Liam Cullinan, until recently Principal of Nord Anglia International School Abu Dhabi and now Nord Anglia’s Global Head of Admissions, says that while parents expect the excellent exam results that our schools deliver, they increasingly want to understand what the significance of AI means for their child’s development.

His answer is that early childhood years are too important to be filled simply with a flood of content from screens. “At Nord Anglia, we celebrate and embrace childhood. We provide an environment to develop enquiring minds.”

The early years of schooling, Cullinan says, are fundamental for nurturing curiosity and creativity along with critical thinking and compassion – skills that will accompany a child throughout their lives. That’s why students in our classrooms have handwritten work displayed on walls, that’s why the library lies at the heart of the school, and children practice mental maths – all to nurture their thinking and connection to their real lives.

All of this creates a vital foundation. “We’re teaching our children to ask the right questions about what AI can do to make the world a better place for themselves and others,” he says. “We want young people to have the empathy and insight to understand the risks as well as the opportunities that lie within AI.”

Why we teach critical thinking for an AI world

In the early years of education, our schools take a deliberately cautious approach to personal devices and screens in favour of play and exploration. From the middle years on, screens and AI are used where they offer a clear benefit.

“When you think first and then use AI, then AI can help improve your thinking,” says Emily Murphy, Head of Education Research. “When you use AI first and then think, it holds you back.”

Across our schools, teachers build critical thinking habits through simple ‘thinking routines’. One comprises just five words: “what makes you say that”? Whether describing a painting at six or proposing a design solution at 16, students are encouraged to explain their reasoning, not simply arrive at an answer.

Students also reflect on how they learn, recording their thoughts in an online portfolio that teachers can read and respond to. More than 500,000 reflections have been added in the past, and 85 per cent of students say they better understand their learning strengths. The programme combines thinking routines developed with Boston College and research methods from Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

These habits become particularly important when students start using AI. For example, through our global collaboration with MIT, students designing a robot inspired by animal biology used AI to evaluate the trade-offs between natural materials before switching it off and relying on their own judgement to finalise their designs.

Year 4 students at our H-FARM International School took a similar approach when creating a virtual museum inspired by the Guggenheim. After researching art and history and building a 3D experience, they used AI to refine how they presented their work while retaining responsibility for the story they wanted to tell.

It works in other ways too.

New Nord Anglia research is exploring how AI tutors can accelerate learning for students. The technology can help foreign students better understand the English language and the vocabulary used in lessons while also providing greater challenge for those who have progressed beyond the curriculum. The project is also helping teachers to personalise the learning for individual students. AI provides insights, but teachers decide how best to use them in the classroom.

“Teaching is more fun when children are actively engaging, questioning and building on each other’s ideas,” says Murphy, herself a former teacher. And it is precisely those habits that help students learn to think for themselves.

Teaching critical thinking skills helps to develop a child’s confidence in their own reasoning and judgement. And this in turn encourages children to question AI’s confident but sometimes superficial answers.

Skills the world is asking for

When our students enter the world of work, their ability to apply critical thinking both to how they use AI and how they approach other challenging tasks gives them a significant advantage.