THE ROLE OF LITERATURE IN SHAPING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OREDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT

ABSTRACT

The title of this study is “The Role of Literature in Shaping Critical Thinking Skills Among Secondary Schools Students in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State”. This study is designed to assess and understand how literature can help in developing critical thinking skills among senior secondary school literature students. This study used a descriptive survey research design. A total of one hundred and fifty (150) respondents were selected for the study through descriptive survey research design. The questionnaire was designed and validated by experts in the Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Benin. Data collected were analyzed using Cronbach Alpha with a reliability coefficient of 0.710 which indicated that the questionnaire was reliable. The findings of the study revealed that the introduction of literature into the classroom has contributed to the student's ability to evaluate information critically. It also revealed that the beauty of literature is its multiplicity in communicating morals via different literary works. More, so, students’ engagement with literature both independently and through classroom discussion contributes to the development of critical thinking skills. It was further recommended that students should be taught how to transfer the knowledge gained from literature to pratical life issues thereby enhancing their critical thinking ability. After texts are read, students should be made to  tell the themes, this is to tell if students pick out the moral from the text they have read. Lastly, the Ministry of Education should scrutinize literature text implemented in the syllabus and ensure that they are able to improve the critical thinking ability od students.