The Cultivation Of Critical Thinking Disposition In A Specific Subject

Using mixed method to tudy the cultivation of critical thinking disposition in senior high school history.According to composition of the critical thinking definition theory by Delphi research,the high school history research learning objectives and the basic requirements of high school history study,the framework of the historical critical thinking disposition performance and teaching behavior were constructed.The framework was used to develop the questionnaire of the perception and teaching of the critical thinking disposition of 58 senior high school history teachers,as well as the present situation of the teaching environment.Furthermore,4 teachers’ history classes were observed and they were interviewed to study their perception and teaching of critical thinking more deeply.Rasch model and description method were mainly used to process data.The results of the study showed that teachers’understanding of critical thinking disposition was more narrow but consistent with the Delphi’s critical thinking definition.Teachers thought that critical thinking was almost an independent view and a comprehensive understanding of problem.However,whether the teachers had a good understanding of critical thinking or not,they would not consciously cultivate students’ critical thinking(disposition).Through the detailed analysis of the of the teachers’ classroom questioning strategies,the present research revealed the problem in cultivating critical thinking disposition in senior high school history-teachers’ unconscious and ineffective questioning strategies as well as the reaction to students hurt the development of students’ critical thinking disposition.There maybe two main reasons for teachers’ failing to teach critical thinking:1.Teachers thought that the goal of teaching critical thinking was not the same as teaching knowledge;2.They were lack of the ability to teach critical thinking.