Integrating Critical Thinking Skills Using The Cort Program In Arabic Read-aloud Sessions: An Infused Curriculum Approach

The teaching of Arabic literature for children faces two main challenges: the presentation of the information in a didactic way that does not engage the learners or stimulate their thinking, and the irrelevance of the presented curriculum to students’ lives. The current research aims to mitigate these problems by designing culturally relevant content that activates learners’ higher-order thinking skills as well as infusing moral and ethical values in a dialogic format. The current research presents two excerpts as a model of how to immerse learners into Arabic literature by infusing de Bono’s CORT program in Arabic literature for two age groups. This study adopts a unique approach in infusing CoRT methodology into the content by using culturally relevant examples to empathize with the CORT values, unlike previous studies that use the same examples and application of the CoRT handbook. Additionally, this study follows a holistic approach that aims at developing students’ empathy and emotional awareness by reflecting on real-life situations, in addition to their thinking skills. Another aspired outcome of the designed curriculum is the improvement of students’ engagement with Arabic literature at deeper levels. The units presented include guidelines that make the units implementable by teachers and parents in school and out-of-school settings. We consider the current curriculum to be a unique contribution towards integrating higher thinking skills and moral values into Arabic literature.