Teacher education program supporting critical thinking skills: a case of primary school teachers

Abstract

This quantitative study investigates the needs of primary school teachers for better Teacher Education Program supporting critical thinking skills. The study was carried out at four different public and private primary and secondary schools in Erbil, Iraq, during the 2019–2020 academic year, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused the suspensión of classes and the closure of educational centers. An online survey was conducted with 48 physics, mathematics, Kurdish, and social science teachers to gather data regarding how teachers support students’ critical thinking skills in the classroom. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and revealed that teachers were inefficient in encouraging students to use critical thinking skills in the classroom. The findings indicated that teachers require training to improve skills such as open-mindedness, asking high-level questions, questioning information accuracy and reliability, and searching for causes or evidence. Hence, the study proposes a teacher education program to supporting critical thinking.