Learning to teach critical thinking: testimonies of three EFL teachers in China

While much research is geared towards helping learners to think critically in language classrooms, scant attention has been paid to how language teachers learn to teach critical thinking (CT). To fill the gap, the present one-year qualitative case study investigated three EFL teachers’ learning experiences in teaching CT in China. The findings revealed that the teachers kept enhancing their professional knowledge and skills in teaching CT through experimenting, reflecting, reading, interacting with others, and participating in formal training. As teacher learning went on, they learned to take into consideration the social, cultural, and educational realities in China and taught CT mainly through a focus on explicit instruction and inquiry-based learning. Implications are provided to prepare and support teachers to teach CT in similar contexts.