The relationship between the moral maturity and critical thinking tendencies of primary school 4th grade students

The aim of this study is to reveal the relationship between moral maturity and critical thinking tendencies of 4th grade primary school students. In addition, it was aimed to determine whether there were significant differences in moral maturity levels and critical thinking tendencies of students according to various demographic variables such as gender, number of siblings, type of school, education status of parents and perceived income level. The research was based on the relational screening model as a quantitative method. The universe of the study consisted of 1197 students studying in 4th grade of all primary schools in Erenler district of Sakarya province. 357 students determined by simple random sampling method constituted the sample of the study. Demographic Characteristics Form, Moral Maturity Scale (MMS) and Critical Thinking Tendencies Scale (CTTS) were used as data collection tools. Data analysis was done with a statistical package program and the reliability of the scales was determined by Cronbach Alpha coefficient. In the analyzes, the data were evaluated using appropriate tests after the normality test. As a result, it was determined that the students' moral maturity levels were high and their critical thinking tendencies were above the medium level. A positive medium level relationship was determined between moral maturity and critical thinking tendencies, and a high level of positive relationship was found between the MMS total score and the ''Open-Mindedness'' sub-dimension of the MMS, and a very high level of positive relationship was found between the MMS ''Self-interest'' sub-dimension and the ''Open-Mindedness'' sub-dimension of the MMS. While the students' moral maturity levels did not show any significant difference according to the variables of school type and number of siblings, significant differences emerged according to variables such as gender, perceived income level, and mother and father's education status. In critical thinking tendencies, significant differences were found according to gender and school type, but no significant difference was found according to the variables of mother and father's education status and number of siblings. It was observed that critical thinking tendencies differed only in the sub-dimension of CTTS "Curiosity" according to the perceived income level. Since moral maturity and critical thinking tendency were found to be related in the study, it is recommended that educational programs supporting critical thinking should be structured by taking into account moral maturity skills.