Abstract :

This study focuses on the use of the « critical thinking » formula in the French Ministry of Education’s institutional discourse which contributes to forging the discursive position « to develop critical thinking in learners » (Eduscol, 2016). This research examines this critical thinking imperative within France’s educational institutional discourse. By doing so, this work highlights the discursive context and the political, social and academic issues underlying the use of this formula. To this end, this research is based on the qualitative analysis of institutional discourses and counter discourse corpuses. The hermeneutic approach adopted allows one to analyse the puttings into words of critical thinking. Using an interdisciplinary approach in the Information and Communication sciences field, this work raises educational awareness related to the challenges of building a critical information culture and therefore questions its institutionalisation. 

 

Keywords : critical mind, critical thinking, information culture, critical information culture, discursive position, institutional discourses