A BIBLIOMETRIC AND CONTENT ANALYSIS OF CRITICAL THINKING IN PRIMARY EDUCATION

Critical thinking is an effective skill that allows students to be successful in the continually changing world by playing a role in their thinking development. Although the significance of critical thinking in primary education has been discussed in many studies, the number of studies conducted on the subject is limited. This study aims to systematically review and analyse the literature by taking a holistic approach to previous studies in order to clearly identify the gaps in the field and the steps to be taken for future studies. In this context, two different analysis methods were employed in the study. This review aims to reveal information that has not been fully captured or evaluated previously, including information related to important sources, documents, countries, and keywords used in the field. According to the results obtained from the study, the country with the highest publication performance is the United States of America, and the most cited publication source is the Journal of Thinking Skills and Creativity. The most frequently studied concepts in the documents are identified as 21st century skills, assessment, creativity, learning, teaching, teacher, education, and primary school. Another result obtained reveals that articles on critical thinking, which increased between 2015 and 2020, mostly discussed critical thinking in the fields of mathematics and science education. Studies that examine the development of critical thinking skills through the implementation of different teaching methods are particularly in the majority. According to the analysis results of the article methodologies, it is revealed that the majority are based on the qualitative research approach, the criterion sampling method is used with small sample groups, and the most preferred data collection tool is the document. In addition to revealing the current status regarding the research tendencies of critical thinking in primary education, these results have the potential to guide researchers, countries and primary school teachers working in the field.