she took a trial class at a cram school in Tokyo.

There she was given this problem to solve:

What's the difference between the two?

My daughter's answer was:

"The one on the left is more like a square

and the one on the right is more round."

"Incorrect", the teacher said.

Later I was told the correct answer had to refer to the difference

in the function and material of the objects, but not their shape.

"Why?", I asked.

The teacher didn't have an answer.

I came across many similar instances

not only at cram schools in Japan but also at public schools,

where children accept the "correct" answers

without being given much of an opportunity to question.

And each time I thought to myself, maybe,

something very important is missing in Japanese education.

And that something is to teach children to think,

or to think critically, to be more precise.

My 20 years of teaching at various Japanese universities tells me

Japanese students excel at doing what they are told to do,

but they have a much tougher time thinking for themselves,

simply because they haven't been trained to do so.

So, I launched my project: "Critical Thinking for Kids".

I tried to teach young Japanese children,

mainly first to third graders,

to think critically and independently.

Because I want them to concentrate

on the very act of thinking, there are no desks, no writing.

Just a lot of thinking through a lot of talking.

Here I'm trying to get kids to distinguish fact from opinion,

by the simple use of little flags.

I say sentences like "Mickey Mouse is popular" in Japanese.

And if they think it's a fact then they raise one flag,

and if it's an opinion the other.

This simple question can be rather challenging for Japanese children

who are not used to giving their opinions in their classroom.

And also in Japanese grammar, the subject is often left out of the equation,

tending to blur the line between fact and opinion.

The easiest, most powerful tool

to entice critical thinking, I think, is to ask "Why?".

I ask children many open-ended questions

so they come to understand there isn't always just one answer.

And when they give their opinions, I always ask, "Why?",

because it helps children realize

how they're arriving at the thought they have.

Another question I often use is "How did you find out?",

which can enhance a child's logical thought process.

The other day a first-grade girl told me,

"Plants contain a lot of water just like we do".

Great discovery. So I asked her how she found out,

and she went on to explain how she reached her conclusion

through all the facts she had dug up.

Two simple questions, "Why?" and "How did you find out?" can

provoke so much more thought into any classroom experience.

I often have kids put themselves in other's shoes

because I want them to learn to have more than one perspective.

I'll ask something like "Imagine you're a second-grader

who came to Tokyo a week ago from Sweden because of your father's job.

You'll be staying for three years. What about Tokyo do you find inconvenient?

To answer this, children will have to

find out about Sweden and its people,

which gets their minds going in a way that can be used

to research any topic in the future.

Another question I've thrown at my students is,

"How do you think the pyramids were built?"

One seven-year old boy said,

"People carrying bricks were hurled

to the top of the pyramids using a huge springboard."

Isn't it beautiful? I like this one.

But what this boy was doing in his head was

connecting all the little bits of knowledge he had,

that electricity or trucks didn't exist at the time, for example,

with something from his P.E. class, a springboard.

And through the exploration of logic and reasoning,

children can learn to have fun when they think, just as this boy did.

A fourth-grade boy told me,

"Everything we do in Miki's class is really fun."

Getting back to my daughter, she is now eight.

I've encouraged her to think critically for several years,

and I'd like to think she is now a great critical thinker.

I asked her what she likes about thinking, and her reply was:

"Critical thinking has given me confidence.

Because many ideas are based on my own thinking,

they mean so much to me. That's why they've given me confidence."

One day I'd like to see Japanese children express their own ideas

and debate as much as Western children do.

But my biggest point is

I want them to gain confidence and find out what they really want

to be able to value differences, understand their friends better,

and learn how to use all the knowledge

they've crammed into their little, wonderful minds.

And it can happen if more adults are willing

to teach them the beauty of thinking.

I'm ready to share my passion

for teaching critical thinking with anyone interested,

and I hope you all are, too.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)