EXPLORING PRACTICES OF TEACHER EDUCATORS AND STUDENTTEACHERS FOR LEARNING HIGHER-ORDER THINKING SKILLS IN PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION

Abstract

This paper aims at scrutinizing teaching and assessment practices to foster Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) amongst students enrolled in pre-service teacher education B.ED 4 Years program. It also covers the practices of Teacher Educators and Student-teachers in pre-service teacher education programs. Learning of HOTSs (critical, creative, problem-solving) enables individuals to think logically and respond to the challenges of the 21st century. Mixed method research was applied to collect data in two phases. In the first phase, quantitative data gathered applying the Observation Scale (OS) from Teacher Educators that was triangulated by Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) with Student-teachers and indepth interviews with the Teacher Educators in the second phase of the study. The purposive and criterion sampling techniques were used to select participants from the institutions offering pre-service teacher education programs in Pakistan.