Our middle school ACT mini-lessons enable any teacher to run thought-provoking learning activities, link their subject to contemporary issues and events, and encourage students to challenge their assumptions about the world.
For our definitions of each subject area, visit this page. Also check out our new Thinking Citizen resource, which is what we update every month.
Download the ACT mini-lessons
Our mini-lessons develop authentic critical thinking, support meaningful PSE sessions, and provide relevant, up-to-date material for Global Perspectives lessons and extended projects.
They also help prepare students for the IB Diploma, A-Levels, and other final high school programmes, with clear guidance on how each lesson connects to different subject areas.
The key concepts
The key concepts are ideas of particular significance to us as authentic critical thinkers. As much as possible, we try to build our newsletter stories and mini-lessons around them.
Use the key concepts to scaffold your thoughts and ideas, explore opinions, and ask questions about knowledge across different subject areas, as we’ve done below.
In which subject area are we able to make the most certain claims about knowledge and understanding? Why does this variance exist? Does language allow us to be more certain about knowledge? Can certainty bring disadvantages in terms of our understanding of the world?
How does the nature of the subject areas differ in different cultures? Do mathematics and science transcend cultural differences? Do the arts deal with culturally universal concepts? Does the way we understand the world depend on the language we speak?
What role does evidence play in the different subject areas? How has technology changed the way we gather and use evidence? How does the selection of evidence shape our understanding? Does evidence support or challenge our assumptions about the world?
Which subject deals with the most and least objective knowledge? Is mathematical knowledge completely objective? Can we be objective about art? Does technology increase objectivity? Do our political affiliations undermine our objectivity?
Which subjects are most and least affected by perspective? How do our religious and political perspectives shape our worldview? Do our perspectives determine our language use? What forms our perspectives, and should we seek to escape them?
How does power affect the way knowledge is produced within the subject areas? In what ways can language be used to consolidate power as ideas are communicated? How does political and religious power influence the way we understand the world?
In which of the subject areas is it easiest to access the truth? Is mathematics the only subject area that deals with truth? Has the development of technology allowed us to access the truth more easily? Does language help or hinder us from accessing the truth about the world?
What is the relationship between the development of our values and the subject areas? Which of the subject areas deals most intimately with values? Does the way we use language have ethical implications? Does the possession of knowledge bring with it certain responsibilities?
Workshops to help you escape your echo chamber!
Our online and in-person workshops are practical, honest, and jargon-free. They help teachers and students of all levels develop their authentic critical thinking, and become more nuanced and objective navigators of the world.
Browse our professional development and student training options here, or drop us a line at [email protected] to find out more, and discuss how we can help you.