26/05/2026
How early can we teach critical thinking, perspective-taking, and empathy?
Much earlier than many people think.
In our EdPsych and DevPsych classes, we teach that even very young children are already trying to understand fairness, emotions, intentions, and other people's perspectives. But the challenge isn't whether children can learn these skills, but whether adults intentionally create environments where these skills can be taught and practiced.
Important thinkers who have done research on moral development like Lawrence Kohlberg (1958), Nancy Eisenberg (1986), and Martin Hoffman (2000) have pinpointed critical thinking, empathy, and perspective-taking as all-important skills that people need to develop to help with moral reasoning. These develop gradually across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood through repeated experiences, modeling, conversation, and reflection.
But critical thinking does not just mean teaching children to question everything. Empathy is not just about being nice. And perspective-taking has to go beyond just telling children to understand others.
So what can this look like developmentally?
In Early Childhood: (2-6 years old)
Children begin learning empathy through naming emotions, turn-taking, repairing hurt feelings, and seeing adults model kindness and accountability.
Simple yet powerful questions we can ask them are:
-"How do you think your classmate felt?"
-"What can we do to help?"
-"What happened before your friend reacted that way?"
In Middle Childhood (7-onset of puberty):
This is when learners become more capable of understanding rules, fairness, intentions, and multiple perspectives.
So broaden your questions so that beyond asking, "Who is wrong?," we also ask them:
-"Why might different people see this situation diffferently?"
-"What information might be missing?"
-"Can someone make a mistake without being a bad person?"
In Adolescence (10/12-18 years old):
Teenagers become more capable of abstract thinking, ethical reasoning, and analyzing systems, power, and social influence.
This is the stage where learners benefit from:
-discussions of real-world issues
-examining bias and misinformation
-analyzing group influence and peer pressure
-learning how emotions affect judgment
-practicing respectful disagreement
Remember: Learners do not develop critical thinking, empathy, and perspective-taking skills because adults lecture about them. They develop these skills when adults model them consistently.
You may not notice it but children notice and easily pick up on:
-how adults talk to (or about) people they disagree with
-how adults respond to mistakes
-whether questions are welcomed or punished
-whether empathy is practiced selectively or consistently
Classrooms, homes, and communities are the best places to teach the foundations for moral development because these are environments where ways of thinking and ways of being human are shaped. So the responsibility to shape our future leaders and future voters is all ours.
