A proposed program to develop teaching for thinking in pre-service English language teachers

Abstract

Students' thinking is an integral part of English language pedagogy. Teachers need the pedagogical competence to teach thinking effectively. This research suggests a program to develop the teaching skills for thinking of pre-service teachers (fourth-year college students) in the English Department of the Faculty of Education at Princess Noura University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The program aims to provide the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary for preparing teachers of thinking to invite, maintain, and enhance students' thinking in the EFL classroom. A classroom observation checklist was developed to assess teaching for thinking skills, to understand the student teachers progress in developing such skills. The program was pilot tested on five fourth-year student teachers during their field experience. Data analysis and results of the pilot test have shown that the proposed program can be effective in developing the pre-service English language teachers' skills in teaching for thinking.