Critical thinking dispositions of primary and secondary school teachers and affecting factors of these dispositions (İstanbul province sample)

Critical thinking is an organized and active mental process aiming to make possible to understand ourselves and events that happening in our environment, as being aware of our thinking processes, with taking into consideration to others thinking processes, and with applying what we have learned. Purpose of this research is; to identify critical thinking dispositions of primary and secondary school teachers and affecting factors of these dispositions. This research is a descriptive research in relational model. Sample of the study formed by 468 teachers of primary and secondary public schools which are accessible and existing many teachers, in İstanbul province, Fatih, Kadıköy, Eyüp, Şişli, Gaziosmanpaşa, Sultangazi and Arnavutköy districts during 2014-2015 Fall semester. As data collection tools we used, "Personal Information Form" which prepared by researcher and "California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory". The obtained data, analyzed with the help of statistical software package and results were evaluate According to results of the research we reached that primary and secondary school teachers' critical thinking dispositions average is "low" under the standard scoring system of the inventory. In addition we reached that; age, mother's education level, working time, general structure of the family makes significant differentiation on critical thinking dispositions averages. With not making significant differentiation, there could be understand that participating in social activities and in scientific activities are affecting critical thinking dispositions averages. And also in this thesis reached that these variables; gender, marital status, total brothers and sisters, his/ her ordinal between brothers and sisters, father's education level, mother's vocation, father's vocation, the residential unit lived before bachelor's degree, teaching level, branch (by field),region of graduated university don't make significant differentiation on critical thinking averages. In this context results of research are discussed on studies with similar objectives in the literature, and various proposals have been made. Keywords: Critical Thinking, Primary School, Secondary School, Factor, Teacher