A diagnostic approach to the development of scientific thinking in education professionals

Abstract

The teacher's management is very important in the development of students' scientific thinking; but for this to be the case, it is necessary for teachers to achieve this type of reasoning, the main characteristics of which are considered to be its strategic, critical, deep and complex nature. The objective of the article is to expose the results of an exploration of the thinking of a sample of 27 recently graduated teachers and seven in the last years of the Pedagogy-Psychology career to know to what extent their thinking styles were close to or far from scientific. Considering that problems challenge people's thinking, two instruments were used: a professional problem and a general social problem; the respondents had to explain how they would proceed to solve them. The results point to weaknesses in the strategic nature, depth, criticality and complexity in the way of thinking of the respondents. Other investigations consulted coincide with what was obtained and postulate the importance of the teaching-learning process being oriented towards supplying these deficiencies. It is concluded that, as a trend, the thinking of the people in the sample moves away from what they theoretically call scientific thinking.