Integration of critical thinking into curriculum: Perspectives of prospective teachers

It is generally agreed that higher education should enable students to improve their critical thinking, which is regarded as one of the most important real-life competences of the 21st century. The present study aims to reveal prospective teachers' opinions on critical thinking education course. Case study design, a qualitative research method, was used in the study. This study was conducted in the critical thinking education course with the participation of 28 prospective teachers enrolled in the undergraduate program of music education at a state university in Turkey. The study group was selected using criterion sampling. The data were gathered by an open-ended question form. Content analysis method was employed to analyze the obtained data. According to the findings of the study, it is evident that perceptions of the prospective teachers participating in the study about critical thinking education course are positive in general. Findings revealed that critical thinking education course made great contributions to the prospective teachers in terms of improving their critical thinking skills, making contributions to their affective features and increasing their awareness in the field of music. It was determined that the participants defined themselves with more positive qualities after attending the course. Lastly, the participants reported their positive experiences by emphasizing positive aspects, opportunities and contributions of the course. The most prominent findings are that the course enabled them to gain different perspectives, to make evaluations based on different points of view and to become critical thinkers. However, they mentioned about their negative experiences such as having difficulty in asking questions and getting meaningful inferences during the process.