Reading as a strategy to develop critical thinking in Basic Education students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59169/pentaciencias.v8i3.1886Keywords:
reading; critical thinking; reading comprehension; basic education; critical readingAbstract
Reading constituted a fundamental practice for the development of higher-order cognitive skills because understanding a text required activating prior knowledge, establishing relationships, making inferences, identifying arguments, contrasting information, and formulating judgments. In basic education, these operations were relevant for moving beyond a conception of reading focused exclusively on decoding and for progressively fostering critical thinking. The aim of the study was to analyze scientific literature on reading as a strategy for developing critical thinking in basic education students, identifying the foundations linking reading comprehension and critical thinking, the pedagogical strategies with stronger support, and the main challenges associated with their implementation. A narrative and analytical literature review was conducted using verifiable scientific articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and empirical studies. Findings showed that questioning, inference, summarizing, contrasting perspectives, evaluating source credibility, argumentation, and dialogue about texts promoted processes associated with critical thinking. It is concluded that reading can become a cross-curricular strategy when approached as an interpretive, reflective, and dialogic activity.
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