THE PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS FOR DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS IN STUDENTS

Zahra Jabeen,Sadruddin Bahadur Qutoshi,Samina Ali

doi:10.52567/pjsr.v3i3.229

Zahra Jabeen, Sadruddin Bahadur Qutoshi + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.52567/pjsr.v3i3.229

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Abstract

Critical thinking is a multifaceted process which requires a higher level of cognitive skills. Teachers’ perceptions and practices to develop critical thinking skills among students influence their behavior in the class. This study intended to explore the perceptions and practices of secondary school teachers in developing the critical thinking skills of students. Four secondary teachers were conveniently selected for data collection by using a semi-structured interview followed by classroom observation and document analysis. The collected data was analyzed by using a thematic approach. The findings of the research study indicated that some of the secondary school teachers lack the basic knowledge about critical thinking; therefore, they were unable to define the concept of critical thinking and way to develop these skills in their students. Most of the teachers (i.e., 66.6%) were aware that it is important to develop student's critical thinking skills but except one, other teachers were unable to provide evidence of using effective classroom strategies needed to develop critical thinking skills among students. Moreover, it was observed that students were unable to analyze and apply their knowledge in new situations. Based on the findings, it was recommended that schools need to train teachers on pedagogies to enable them to create interactive classrooms to lead students to think critically. Keywords: critical thinking, reasoning skills, rote learning, teaching approaches

Highlights

Critical thinking is a form of reflective thinking over information and arguments, which involves the analysis and evaluation of existing communication by being logical (Browne & Keeley, 2011)
It was found during classroom observations, that for secondary school teachers, critical thinking means asking questions and giving responses to the teachers in order to grasp the main idea of the topic under discussion in the class
The study revealed that the majority of the secondary school teachers had little awareness and understanding about the concept of critical thinking; they could realize the importance of developing critical thinking skills in students as an important classroom activity

Summary

Introduction

Critical thinking is a form of reflective thinking over information and arguments, which involves the analysis and evaluation of existing communication by being logical (Browne & Keeley, 2011). To measure students' thinking and reasoning ability, it is important to develop their problem-solving skills and encourage and involve students in classroom discussions.

Results

Conclusion