An Investigation On English Teachers' Critical Thinking Disposition In Chinese Senior High Schools

With the development of the information society,the research on critical thinking has gradually become an important topic and hot spot in the field of education at home and abroad.Critical thinking,as a mode of thinking,is originated in the West.And in the 1960 s,there was an upsurge in the study of critical thinking in the United States.Compared with the West,the domestic research on critical thinking is at a more theoretical level.In recent years,many scholars have tested and analyzed the critical thinking of senior high school students and college students,but there is little research on teachers' critical thinking,especially on English teachers in senior high schools.As far as the physical and mental development of students is concerned,the teachers in senior high schools shoulder the excessive role of connecting the past and the future for the education of students,and the role of shaping the personalities of students.Especially under the background of advocating the quality-oriented teaching method and the new curriculum reform in senior high schools,the teachers' quality is quite crucial to the practice of the core competence and the new curriculum.Therefore,it is meaningful to investigate the critical thinking of English teachers in senior high school.In order to investigate the current situation of English teachers' critical thinking disposition in senior high schools,questionnaire method and interview method are used in this study.To carry out the study,the researcher invited 131 English teachers in senior high schools in Hebei Province and Gansu Province to answer the questionnaire of “A Survey for English Teachers' Critical Thinking Disposition in Senior High Schools”,which was compiled on the basis of “California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory” and “Teacher Critical Thinking Scale”.Besides,12 of them were invited to participate in the interview about the factors that influence the cultivation and development of their critical thinking.The results show that the critical thinking disposition of English teachers in senior high schools ranks at the middle level.In terms of gender,teaching seniority,education background and administrative partition of schools,there are somedifferences in English teachers' critical thinking disposition in senior high schools.Moreover,it shows that the Chinese traditional culture,working environments,learning experience,social background,family and so on affect the cultivation and development of their critical thinking.The findings may help teacher trainers to realize the importance of teachers' critical thinking ability.At the same time,it is useful for teacher trainers to find out ways to eliminate the negative factors that influence the development of English teachers' critical thinking in senior high schools.In addition,it is helpful for teachers to estimate their critical thinking ability properly and realize the necessity and importance of cultivation and development of critical thinking in teaching.