Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains the need for a rethinking of the meaning and sense of critical thinking and judgement capacity, defines the areas and practices of this education in primary school, and examines proposals and experiences that are authoritative and significant. It explores the key aspects of the formation of critical judgement in primary school, leading to an examination of the meaning of thinking and its relationship with creativity, recognising the latter as a founding premise for critical thinking and judgement. The book discusses the reasons why the capacity for judgement represents one of the key objectives of the modern elementary school, with its mission both to guide new generations along the path of their human formation and to prepare them for their future tasks of active and responsible intervention in society.