“History Teaches …”

The author conducted research in Jordan, where he interviewed secondary school social studies teachers about their perspectives on teaching critical-thinking skills in their classrooms. All interviews were audiotaped or videotaped in Arabic and later translated into English. The author qualitatively analyzed data, including the translations of the interviews, the Ministry of Education's teaching guidelines, and textbook teacher manuals. The study's results indicate that Jordanian secondary school social studies teachers have little familiarity with the definition and teaching strategies of critical thinking; the Jordanian Ministry of Education requires teachers to teach critical thinking only to a small extent. In addition, teacher's manuals for the state-required textbooks provide detailed content information, with only minor references to teaching critical thinking. Previous research, conducted by the author on middle and high school students in Jordanian public schools, supports the finding that students do not acquire critical-thinking skills from their public school education in Jordan.