Özet:
This study aims at investigating the use of critical thinking in high school social
science textbooks based on Fars Province teachers' attitudes in order to present a
model for textbook development. To achieve this goal, the use of the following
skills in the social science textbooks was analyzed: reasoning, questioning,
assessment of examples and statements, group work, interpretation, true judgment
about issues, analysis and evaluation, logicality, and explicitness. It is a field study
which was conducted in several high schools of Fars Province in Iran. The
population of this study included 568 social science teachers. The sample was
selected based on the stratified random sampling procedure so that 153 teachers
participated in this study. The data were collected using a forty-four-item
questionnaire based on Likert-scale, which was developed and validated by the
researcher himself and some experts. The reliability coefficient was also estimated
as 0.86. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics (frequency,
percentage, standard deviation, and coefficient of variations) and inferential
statistics (Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis Non-parametric tests). The result
showed that the teachers of the Social Studies Textbook evaluated assessment of
examples and statements, and analysis and evaluation skills as not satisfactory
respectively. They evaluated the other skills as fairly satisfactory. Teachers of
Sociology Textbook 1 evaluated explicitness, assessment of examples and
statements, analysis and evaluation, and interpretation skills as not satisfactory
respectively. They also evaluated other skills as fairly satisfactory. Teachers of
Sociology Textbook 2 evaluated explicitness as not satisfactory, logicality as
satisfactory, and other skills as fairly satisfactory. Therefore it is possible to rank
order the social science textbooks of high school as satisfactory and not
satisfactory with regard to the use of critical thinking. In other words, Sociology
Textbook 2, Social Studies Textbook, and Sociology Textbook 1 were ordered on
a continuum of satisfaction from satisfactory to unsatisfactory, respectively.
