Oxford Catalyst

Join us for live in-person workshops based in London this summer.

We'll be running half-day activities combining a field trip with a critical and creative thinking class: a trip to the Science Museum to explore medical ethics, or a visit to the Foundling Museum to think through the pros and cons of philanthropy vs state intervention.

******Message us below if you're keen to sign up!*******

Vaccine passports: discriminatory and invasive, or a fast track back to normal life?

There's still time to join this Saturday's critical thinking in action workshop where we'll be examining this issue from all angles: https://www.oxfordcatalyst.com/book-online

Visit www.oxfordcatalyst.com/weekendworkshops to book a slot at our next Saturday morning session on 13th March

We really enjoyed running today's workshop as part of Potential Plus UK's - what a fantastic, engaged group of participants! A big thank you to PPUK for hosting and for inviting us to take part.

If you missed the workshop, a recording will be available soon on the festival website along with our critical thinking toolkit document.

What is Critical Thinking? and Why it Could be Your Superpower – Alex Elliott and Tom Ziessen – Ages 11-14 – Virtual Plus Festival February 15-26. The vPlus Festival is an online festival from Potential Plus UK, full of workshops, webinars and discussions for young people with enquiring minds, their families and schools.

Don't forget that Potential Plus UK's starts tomorrow offering 12 days of fun, challenging, creative activities and presentations for children, young people, parents and families.

Just visit the website to register for free and browse more than 50 sessions on everything from black holes to Peter Pan. And we hope to see your 11-14s at our critical thinking workshop on Thursday 18th February at 2-3pm.

Virtual Plus Festival – The Virtual Festival Website of Potential Plus UK February 15-26. The vPlus Festival is an online festival from Potential Plus UK, full of workshops, webinars and discussions for young people with enquiring minds, their families and schools.

We're delighted to be taking part in next month's vPlus festival organised by children's charity Potential Plus UK: 12 days of exciting, stimulating and absolutely FREE activities for children, young adults and parents.

We'll be running a critical thinking workshop for 11-14s on 18th from 2-3pm. It's a great opportunity to try a taster session with us, all you have to do is visit the website and register https://virtualplusfestival.org/

Links for individual sessions will be available from 1st February.

Virtual Plus Festival – The Virtual Festival Website of Potential Plus UK This 12 day online festival from Potential Plus UK provides a programme of live presentations and creative challenges, some especially for children, some specifically for parents, and others for the whole family to enjoy.

Interesting article on the benefits of teaching critical thinking in a deliberate way rather than leaving the development of those skills to chance.

"“The DP philosophy ensures that critical thinking instruction is not assumed to follow from other gains in knowledge, but is purposefully taught within the classroom… this approach may represent one of the likely ways that DP students gain a competitive critical thinking advantage because national programmes rarely include general critical thinking instruction courses."

IB students ‘appear to hold an advantage’ in critical thinking, finds study - Independent Education Today The report, by Oxford University, found that participation in the IB diploma programme was a “significant predictor” of critical thinking

Why is it more acceptable to eat some animals than other?

Curiosity fuels learning! Encourage your children to ask questions about areas of life that we take for granted.

What is the most important inventions by humans? Printing press? Fire? Wheel?

There isn't a right answer, which is what makes it a great exercise for developing critical thinking skills.

If you've got school or university interviews coming up, the chances are you'll be faced with at least question for which there is no right answer. And what the interviewer really wants to know is that you've thought about the question critically and from a variety of perspectives.

Calm, constructive debate is much more likely to change minds and lives than simply battering our opponent with all the reasons why we are right. For a memorable example, watch this YouTube video from Megan Phelps-Roper, former member of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church, about how discussions with others on social media radically changed her perpective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVV2Zk88beY&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=offensive_statements_do_not_change_minds&utm_term=2020-10-29

And if you’d like your child to learn the language of constructive argument, why not sign up to one of our weekend debate workshops: www.oxfordcatalyst.com/weekendworkshops

I grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church. Here's why I left | Megan Phelps-Roper What's it like to grow up within a group of people who exult in demonizing ... everyone else? Megan Phelps-Roper shares details of life inside America's most...

'So, how does the game work?'

Half term relaxation will look different for everyone and if gaming is your child's passion then ask them to talk you through their favourite game. Explaining it will be a good way for them to practise picking out the most important points and articulating them clearly, and understanding more about what they are peering at on-screen could make you feel more connected to them. You might even find yourself asking to join in.