مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - PERSPECTIVES OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS ON CRITICAL THINKING SKILL AND ITS IMPROVEMENT IN STUDENTS

Abstract :

Critical thinking is the skill that the students need to be able to utilize the information they were taught in their future education and in their lives overall. Students need critical thinking skills to comprehend new information instead of just learning them by rote. This study was intended to determine the level of emphasis placed on critical thinking skill in the educational system. A secondary objective was to promote the critical thinking skills among classroom teachers. Research was conducted with 9 classroom teachers working at Şahinbey District of the City of Gaziantep of Turkey. The study is a phenomenological study utilizing semi-structured interview as a qualitative technique. Findings revealed that classroom teachers have specific perspectives on the skill of critical thinking. It turned out that classroom teachers in general were not able to distinguish ‘criticism’ with that of ‘critical thinking skill’. They stated however that empathy is a useful skill leading to an improvement in the critical thinking skills. However, it was concluded that classroom teachers lack the necessary knowledge and experience in terms of the methods and techniques used to improve critical thinking skills in students. Classroom teachers primarily kept families responsible for improving the critical thinking skills in children, however they have not shared any of their past experience of cooperation or collaboration with families in that regard either.