Experience of Pre-Service English Teachers' Challenges and Strategies in Developing Students' Critical Thinking Skills: A Narrative Inquiry

Abstract

Higher order thinking skills (HOTS) among students are very important to develop in the education system to prepare students for the 21st century situation and fulfill student potential. Critical thinking skills must be taught and familiarized from an early age but students' critical thinking skills will not just happen. There needs to be effort and intention, one of which is when daily learning in the classroom that can train students to develop critical thinking skills continuously. This study aims to investigate the challenges faced and strategies used by pre-service teachers during teaching practice. This study was conducted using a qualitative research design. The instrument used was interviews with two pre-service teachers who have conducted teaching practice. The findings of this study show that some of the challenges faced by prospective teachers include teacher knowledge, where teachers are still confused about designing lesson plans. Second, teacher preparation, teachers must prepare teaching activity strategies that contain hots. Third is the different abilities of students. While the first strategy used by teachers is preparing relevant lesson plans, teaching strategies through questions are very effective to see the effectiveness and understanding of students and practice before assessment. Key Words: challenges, strategies, students’ critical thinking