The relationship between critical and lateral thinking dispositions of classroom teacher candidates

The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between critical and lateral thinking dispositions of classroom teacher candidates. The participants of the study consist of 327 teacher candidates educating at the department of the Division of Classroom Education at Abant Izzet Baysal University in the winter term of the academic year of 2016-2017. Correlational research design was used in the study as the research method. As the research tools, "Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale" and "Lateral Thinking Dispositions Scale" were used. The former consists two dimensions as ability and value and developed by Karalı (2012) whereas the latter consists of one dimension including 9 items and developed by Semerci (2016). Independent sample t-test was carried out to investigate the critical and lateral thinking dispositions of teacher candidates according to gender. On the other hand, in order to investigate their critical and lateral thinking dispositions according to grade level and the type of high school graduated from, one-factor analysis of variance was carried out. Moreover, Pearson Correlation Coefficient was calculated to determine the relationship between the critical and lateral thinking disposition scores of the teacher candidates. As a result, it was found that the critical and lateral thinking dispositions of the teacher candidates were at high level and their critical thinking disposition scores differed significantly according to gender, grade level and the type of high school. Although the lateral thinking scores of the teacher candidates did not differ significantly according to grade level and the type of high school, significant difference was obtained according to gender. Moreover, it was also found that there was a significant, positive and moderate relationship between the critical and lateral thinking disposition scores of the teacher candidates.