Abstract:

The issue of developing critical and creative thinking is currently an important socio-scientific phenomenon in Slovakia. Consequently, requirements increase for improvement of pre-gradual training of future teachers. Graduates should be equipped with essential competencies and strategies that impact the development of personality and critical thinking within pupils. This paper describes the partial results of the research project APVV-15-0368 - Practical Training in the Centre of Field Didactics, the Field Didactics in the Centre of Practical Training, the objective of which was to find what critical/creative thinking strategies within technical subjects on lower secondary level are considered important by students (future teachers of technical subjects) and to what extent these are being applied throughout their teaching practice. The results have shown that future teachers mainly focus on practical activities applying various technical materials and tools, they use a spectrum of teaching resources and encourage the pupils to experiment with ideas, techniques, materials, and technology. Furthermore, future teachers lead pupils to take responsibility for the outcomes of their work. This article builds on the previous study of Critical and Creative Thinking Strategies in Teaching Technical Subjects which focuses on the practical application of said strategies by teachers.

Keywords:

Future teachers, critical thinking, creative thinking, practice, technical subjects.