THE CORRELATION OF TEACHING STYLES AND CRITICAL THINKING: THE CASE OF IRANIAN TEACHERS

It is assumed that critical thinking and teaching styles are correlated in construction. In order to investigate the claim, this study aimed to discover the relationship between critical thinking and teaching styles in a population of Iranian PHD candidates who were experienced teachers. Two questionnaires with the focus of critical thinking and teaching styles were assigned to the population of teachers and the results came to be in favor of critical thinking in correspondence with formal authority as a construct of teaching styles questionnaire. It is revealed that critical thinking teachers are teachers who prefer to follow standards, give feedback to students and are less likely to perceive teaching as a personally modified activity. Moreover, as critical thinking is formed in communities, therefore, teachers’ beliefs should be accounted for the thinking thread through which teachers apply their teaching practices in the classroom.