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Give girls the same opportunities as every learner to ask questions, weigh evidence, hear different perspectives and develop solutions. The most useful change is often not a special lesson for girls, but an environment where adults examine their expectations, distribute participation fairly and make room for varied interests and ways of thinking.
What critical thinking looks like in practice
Critical thinking is something learners practise: asking questions, considering reasons and evidence, listening to other views, and forming or revising a conclusion. It is not a fixed personality trait, nor does it require a child to debate constantly or speak confidently in front of a group.
UNICEF’s 2021 brief on gender-transformative education frames the work more broadly: challenge stereotypes, attitudes, norms and practices across education, and build critical awareness of inequality. The goal is not to train girls to fit a prescribed image of confidence. It is to support agency and meaningful choices for all learners.
That distinction matters because gender norms can constrain boys and young people who do not identify within traditional gender binaries, too. Avoid blanket assumptions about what girls naturally like, know or can do, and do not presume every girl faces the same barriers. UNESCO’s education and gender equality overview emphasizes access, learning content and context, outcomes, and future opportunities—not just what happens in one lesson.
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At home: invite reasoning without prescribing interests
Ask questions with more than one possible answer
When discussing a story, game, news item or everyday disagreement, try questions such as: “What makes you think that?”, “What evidence might change your mind?”, “Who might see this differently?” and “What else could explain it?” These are practical prompts, not a tested script. Give the child time to think aloud, and treat uncertainty or changing an answer as part of learning rather than a failure.
Offer a broad range of play and responsibilities
Let children try activities and household roles without assigning them by gender. UNICEF’s guidance on reducing gender stereotypes in playtime recommends equal time for play and chores regardless of gender, inclusive books, and games that can build literacy, numeracy, spatial, cognitive and social skills. Choose materials for the particular child and the opportunities they offer—such as creating, explaining or solving an open-ended problem—not for a claim that a certain activity is what girls prefer.
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In classrooms and youth programs: make participation equitable
Notice who gets heard and who gets to act
Look beyond who raises a hand. Notice who is invited to answer, interrupted, asked a follow-up question, credited for an idea, or given a turn with equipment and leadership. This can be tracked informally or systematically, depending on the setting. If some learners rarely contribute in whole-group discussion, offer several routes in: quiet reflection, writing, pairs, small groups and then an optional whole-group exchange. Adapt formats to age, accessibility and learner needs; participation should be active without requiring every child to contribute in the same way.
IIEP-UNESCO’s account of gender-transformative learning and training describes participatory learning, valuing personal experience as knowledge, open-mindedness and equal opportunity to participate and benefit. These principles support routines where learners can explain how they reached an answer, listen to a different account and reconsider a claim without being shamed.
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Use examples that widen possibility
Show women and girls in varied fields and roles, and boys and men in caring and collaborative roles. When a text, example or task makes an assumption about gender, invite learners to examine it: What is being assumed? What evidence supports the claim? Whose perspective is missing? Avoid turning one girl into a representative of all girls or making a role model responsible for proving that a field is open to everyone.
UNESCO’s reporting on challenging gender stereotypes and bias in and through education notes that school programs, curricula, teaching materials and teaching can reinforce bias or challenge it. Role models can broaden what learners have seen as possible, but a mentor is one resource among many, not a substitute for fair access, responsive teaching or a learner’s own interests.
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- Motivate students with high-interest non-fiction articles from TIME For Kids
- Articles, primary source documents, and questions are included as reproducible pages on the Teacher Resource CD
- Step-by-step guides include document-based questions for maps, census reports, population reports, charts, and graphs related to the article
- Strengthen students' comprehension skills and prepare them for standardized tests
Put real questions at the center of STEM learning
For a science, technology, engineering or mathematics activity, begin with a real-world question. Ask learners to investigate, compare evidence, explain a conclusion and suggest a solution. UNICEF’s 2020 report Towards an equal future: Reimagining girls’ education through STEM describes integrated STEM learning around real-world problems as a way for learners to examine social and environmental issues, take part in debate and propose solutions. This is a useful model for inquiry, not proof that every STEM activity or intervention produces a particular critical-thinking outcome.
Audit the learning environment, not only the lesson
Bias can be carried through everyday interactions as well as formal content. UNICEF Innocenti’s 2022 summary, Tackling Gender Inequality From the Early Years, identifies teacher–student interactions, play, curricula, and teaching and learning materials as places where gender bias can be reproduced. Review these together: changing a book list alone will not correct unequal opportunities to speak, lead or handle equipment.
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- Logic Workbook for Gritty Kids: Spatial reasoning, math puzzles, word games, logic problems, activities, two-player games. (The Gritty Little Lamb companion book for developing problem solving, critical thinking & STEM skills in kids ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.)
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- Do adults respond similarly to the same behavior from different children?
- Do examples suggest that particular subjects, jobs or responsibilities belong to one gender?
- Can learners disagree respectfully, and are they given time to explain their reasoning?
- Do materials show people in varied roles without reducing anyone to a token example?
- Are opportunities to participate and benefit from activities distributed fairly?
UNICEF’s guidance on gender-transformative education also points to teacher development in gender-responsive pedagogy, assessment data that can identify learning gaps, and materials that do not reproduce stereotypes. Treat these as connected parts of the learning environment, rather than expecting one discussion, book or activity to do all the work.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Choose books and activities for what children can do with them
When selecting a book, game or activity, check whether it suits the child’s age and needs, includes people in varied roles, and invites reasoning or open-ended problem-solving. Consider whether children can ask questions, explain choices and create something, and whether the packaging or marketing relies on restrictive gender assumptions. UNICEF’s playtime guidance supports inclusive representation and materials that develop a broad range of skills. No single product can replace attentive adults and fair opportunities to learn.
What these approaches can—and cannot—promise
UNESCO’s education overview lists broad indicators, including the number of children and youth out of school and the share of STEM graduates who are women. Those figures describe wider patterns; they do not show that a particular discussion format, book, mentor or activity causes improved critical-thinking outcomes. The guidance from UNICEF, UNESCO and IIEP-UNESCO supports equitable participation, critical inquiry and attention to bias across learning environments, but it does not establish a single technique with a specified effect size.
Use the ideas here as practices to adapt and observe: whether learners get meaningful chances to reason, whether their contributions are taken seriously, and whether materials and routines leave room for different experiences. The measure is not whether girls conform to one model of assertiveness, but whether each learner can question, think, contribute and make choices.
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