METHODOLOGICAL CONDITIONS FOR DEVELOPING PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS’ CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM SOLVING

Abstract

Primary school mathematics offers a natural setting for teaching children to question, evaluate, and justify, yet word problems are often solved by routine operations without attention to meaning. This article examines which methodological conditions allow problem solving to develop critical thinking in primary school pupils. The study is a conceptual-analytic integrative review of ten purposively selected sources from Kazakhstan, the United States, Europe, China, Japan, and South Korea. Documented findings were coded against the components of critical thinking, the features of problems, and teacher practices. The analysis yields five methodological conditions: interpretation-demanding tasks, structured critical questioning, multiple solution strategies with justification, reflection and self-checking, and teacher preparation within a coherent methodological system. The conditions are hypotheses derived from existing evidence, not tested effects. The article contributes a classroom-oriented framework, a coding frame for future studies, and implications for Kazakhstani primary education, and it proposes quasi-experimental research to validate the conditions.