How is teachers’ critical thinking defined, approached, measured, and evaluated in empirical studies? A methodological review

Abstract

This review systematically analyzes the research methodologies in 98 peer-reviewed articles on teachers’ critical thinking published between 2011 and 2021. The analysis was guided by one overarching research question: How is teachers’ critical thinking defined, methodologically approached, measured, and evaluated in empirical studies? The results show that teachers’ critical thinking 1) lacks a clear definition, particularly with regard to the uniqueness of teachers’ professional work; 2) is mainly studied using quantitative research methodologies and identified as a dependent variable; 3) is measured using multiple types of instruments that exhibit different levels of validity and reliability, including questionnaires, tests, interview protocols, observation forms, and writing tasks; and 4) is predominantly evaluated using within-sample comparisons and criteria-based assessments. These research findings provide a critical description of the methodological landscape of the literature on teachers’ critical thinking and highlight necessary lines of inquiry for future research.