The aim and focus of education has shifted from teaching what to think (transmission of knowledge) to teaching how to think (promotion of thinking skills and strategies). Lipman (1988, p. 43) justifies this shift by saying, “We want students to think for themselves, and not merely to learn what other people have taught.” Likewise, Dewey (as cited in McGregor, 2007) states that schools need to cater to pupils’ needs in terms of development of thinking.  Thus, there seems to be agreement that contemporary education should help students think well and to think for themselves, which is at the core of criticalthinking (Pithers, 2000). Critical thinking is regarded as being at “the heart of well-conceived educational reform and restructuring, because it is at the heart of the changes of the 21^st century” (CTC, 2007).

According to Vaughn (2009, p. 6) critical thinking is “the careful deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment about a claim” (Moore & Parker, 1989). It involves the ability to understand and evaluate arguments, the ability to make well-reasoned decisions, and the tendency to be fair-minded (Thomson, 2002). In brief, it “…is reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do” Ennis (2002).

Despite various definitions of critical thinking in related literature, there seems to be consensus worldwide that education, in all disciplines and at all levels, should embrace the mission of providing appropriate learning conditions for students to engage in critical thinking and enhance their critical thinking ability (Pithers, 2000).

In teaching for critical thinking, the role of the teacher is crucial. To be able to teach critical thinking effectively, it is agreed by many scholars that teachers need to think critically themselves. Modeling critical thinking within the classroom is cited as one of the effective strategies in teaching critical thinking (Halpern, 1988; Kincheloe, 2004). Another antecedent to effective critical thinking instruction is teacher attitude.  According to Gibs (2002), teachers need to develop a positive attitude and be willing to teach and act in certain ways. Thus, if teachers are expected to teach for critical thinking, their efficacy in doing so would be strengthened if they hold a positive attitude towards it. Additionally, Gibs believes that teacher self efficacy is a powerful predictor of how a teacher will act. Teacher with a strong sense of self efficacy tend to have confidence in their future teaching conducts and tend to use new teaching approaches (Gibson & Dembo, 1984).

Thus, this study aimed to examine and describe Turkish pre-service teachers’ critical thinking levels, attitudes towards teaching for critical thinking and their sense of self-efficacy in teaching for critical thinking skills.

Specifically, this study aimed to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the Turkish pre-service teachers’ critical thinking levels?

2. What are the Turkish pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards teaching for critical thinking?
3. What are the Turkish pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy levels in teaching for critical thinking in terms of (i) personal efficacy and (ii) outcome efficacy?

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