The Relationship Between Pre-Service Teachers’ Educational Beliefs and Their Critical Thinking Tendencies

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to determine whether there is a relationship between the preservice teachers’ educational beliefs and their tendency to think critically. Moreover, the study also looks at whether the critical thinking tendency varies depending on the variables such as gender, the classroom attended, department, the state of book reading habit, and mother and father’s education level. The population of this research employing a survey model consists of 908 pre-service teachers of all the departments of the Education Faculty of Ankara University. The data collection instruments of the study are “California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory” and “Educational Beliefs Scale”. Pearson Moments Product Correlation Coefficient, ttest, and ANOVA were used in the analysis of the data. The findings of the study revealed that there were significant relations between the sub-dimensions of the Educational Beliefs Scale and the Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory.