Comunicación externa

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of critical thinking through discussion, clarification of ideas and evaluation of others ideas (Sanders, 2008). He further stresses that there is a persuasive evidence that collaborative team achieve at higher levels of thought and retain information longer than students who work quietly as individuals. In view of the above distinction and the benefit of the collaborative task method, it was imperative to encourage it as a way of students‟ preparation for the future lifelong learning, inculcating its skills right from the junior school.

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Paul, (2004) suggesting the lack of critical thinking skills occurring in classroom and its absence is essentially challenging because the ability to think critically is an essential ingredient for the development of learners‟ minds and critical thinking according to them, allows student to achieve a deeper understanding of existing social conditions. Stressing the result of not imbibing the process of inculcating critical thinking into the students from their junior classes, Imoka, (2010) affirms that in Nigeria educational programme at all levels, a critical thinking is not prevalent among the students as a result most of them do not have good grades in tests that measures the ability to identify assumptions, evaluate arguments and make inferences. Students‟ ability to think critically has become a major concern among educators and psychologist as they try to study the factors influencing the acquisition of thinking skills, as critical thinking increases with education level (Mines, King, and Wood, 1990; Onwuegbuzie, 2001)

Some educators (Scriven and Paul, 2004; Pithers and Soden, 2000) believed that schools should focus on teaching their students critical thinking skills thereby cultivating individual traits. Garrison (1992) affirms that, it is an essential attribute that can free learners from ignorance, confusion and unjustified claims about societal ideals and reality. Findings have proven that critical thinking is significantly and positively correlated with academic achievement (Facione, Giancarlo and Facione, 2001; Collins and Onwuegbuzie, 2001). They further contend that critical thinking is often seen as a universal goal of higher education but is seldom confirmed as an outcome, but when it is inculcated into teaching and learning at the earliest time there is tendency for it to become an important learning outcome.

Students leave the classroom not only capable of synthesizing and evaluating but also with a desire to apply their critical thinking skills to solving problems.

Researchers on critical thinking argue that critical thinking includes skills that can be developed in individuals (particularly learners) by education to produce people of greater intellect. Applying critical thinking in the classroom can be encouraged when students are required to solve problems (Ennis, 2006; Facione and Facione, 2001). Critical thinking skills enable learners recognise that a problem exists and should look for evidence to solve it, assessing this evidence in a logical way, in order to, determine new knowledge and direction (Roderick, 2001). It is a means of correct thinking in the pursuit of relevant and reliable knowledge about the world which enables one to be a responsible citizen who contributes to the society

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and not merely a consumer of society‟s distractions (Schaferman, 1991). It is a logical and a reflective way of deciding what to believe or not to believe, it is a means of making reasoned judgments and a criterion to judge the quality of an idea, and a disciplined manner of thought that a person uses to assess the validity of such idea.

The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed, fair-minded in evaluation, honest in facing personal biases, diligent in seeking relevant information, persistent in seeking precise results (Whittington, 2000). These attributes are essential in Social studies, hence in this study, educating good critical thinkers, means working towards ideals of critical thinking which combines the development of critical thinking skills, nurturing those dispositions in learners which consistently yield useful insights and a basis of a rational thinking personality.

Critical thinking according to VanGelder (2005) cannot be regarded as natural tendency but rather it should be learned, because they are learned skills.

Elder and Paul (2004), Zoller, Ben-Chaim and Ron (2000) affirm that, critical thinking is the ability of thinkers to take charge of their thinking and this requires that they develop sound criteria and standards for analysing and assessing their thinking and routinely use those criteria and standards to improve its quality.

They added that students‟ disposition to think critically is a necessary precondition for critical thinking and it greatly affects critical thinking capability. Moore and Parker (2010), define it more naturally as the careful, deliberate determination of whether one should accept, reject or suspend judgment about a claim and the degree of confidence to which one accepts or rejects it (ideas) critical thinking evaluates quality of thinking. Imoka (2010) contends that, emphasis is placed on the importance of boosting the education of Nigerian child but not with a torch of critical thinking. This is because, the nation‟s education does not give room for the Nigerian learner to ask questions on why things are conventional and not otherwise, which has denied many students of knowing more about what they are learning. He further stressed that the educational environment in Nigeria, and most African countries, do not encourage critical thinking and that, Nigeria‟s education system is not doing justice to this.

Critical thinking is about being able to evaluate ones thinking during and after teaching and learning has taken place. Its focus is in developing the habitual

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intention to be truth–seeking, open-minded, systematic, inquisitive, confident in reasoning and prudent in making judgments.

Evidence from research suggests a direct relationship between teaching and learning approaches with critical thinking skills and teachers who impart information only, do not teach thinking well (Kember,2000), differences in teaching and learning methodology in student-centred classes according to researchers promote higher level of retention and thinking. Teaching approaches also have significant relationship with students learning approaches as opined by Gibbs and Coffey (2004), affirming that, teachers who increased their conceptual change and student focused approach to teaching have students using less surface approach to learning. It is evident that there is a general consensus that the idea of student- centred approach is enriching, supporting teaching approach which is more likely to lead students‟ intellectual growth (Trigwell, 2002).

Fisher and Scriven (1997), state that, critical thinking is a skill which involves the active interpretation and evaluation of observations, communications, information and argumentation. It employs not only logic but broad intellectual criteria such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breath and significance. It also involves careful acquisition and interpretation of information and the use of it to reach a well justified conclusion. The ability to think critically is an essential attribute that can free students from the fetters of ignorance, confusion and unjustified claims about ideals and reality (Garrison, 1992). Critical thinking is a pervasive and self-rectifying human phenomenon. Methods and skills in critical thinking are keys to independent judgments and learning which can be used in Social studies. Learners gain enduring intellectual abilities which can be used long after particular facts have been forgotten in Social studies classes.

It is imperative to establish the relationship between teachers teaching approaches and students‟ leaning approaches in relation to the development of critical thinking. Student who adopts deep approaches to learning were often associated with higher quality learning outcomes, academic performance and increased knowledge (Murphy and Alexander, 2002). Therefore, critical thinking focuses on the approach to learning in which the students use less surface approach to learning which is considered as an important variable and process of students‟

learning, its importance is worthy to be researched into, hence its consideration in this study.

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