The Extent of Educational Readiness of Using Thinking Skills Strategy among Teachers at the Ministry of Education, Saudi Arabia: A Field Study (Arts for Educational & Psychological Studies; Vol.5, No.3)

This study aimed to identify educational readiness and willingness of teachers affiliated to the Ministry  of  Education  to  use  critical  thinking  in  their  teaching,  in  Saudi  Arabia.  To  achieve  the  study objectives, the descriptive survey method was adopted, and a questionnaire was used  to collect  data from  the  study  sample  which  consisted  of  (733)  male  and  female  teachers,  randomly  selected  from education  directorates  of  Makkah,  Jeddah,  Taif,  Al-Baha,  Asir,  Jazan,  and  Najran.  The  questionnaire included three main dimensions;and after testing its validity, and reliability, it was administered to the sample.  The  study  results  showed  that  teachers’  educational  readiness  scored  a  high  degree  of awareness  that  would  allow  achieving  the  goal  of  teaching  by  using  critical  thinking  in  schools  as  a teaching   strategy   approved   by   the   Ministry   of   Education.   The   teachers   also   showed   their understanding  of  the  characteristics,  skills  and  educational  effects  of  the  application  of  the  critical thinking strategy in schools. The study recommended conducting future studies on the challenges and advantages of applying the critical thinking strategy from the perspective of students and teachers.Keywords: Extent   of   educational   readiness, Critical   thinking,   Educational   effects,   School teachers.