Social Science and Human Research Bulletin

The purpose of this paper is to advocate the development of critical thinking skills in colleges of education students in Nigeria. This study is qualitative in nature and philosophical in orientation. It is expository and primarily focused on library sources for its data. It chiefly adopted the analytical and the prescriptive techniques in philosophy to deal with issues and problems such as thinking, critical thinking, indoctrination, and inhibitions, among others. This study found out that many of the graduates of colleges of education in Nigeria handled life issues poorly, some could not further their education, while some could not be gainfully employed because critical thinking skills were not adequately developed in them. The paper reveals that developing critical thinking skills in colleges of education students in Nigeria could serve as a way of preparing the students for issues of life beyond the classroom, preparing them for further education and to be gainfully employed when they graduate. This paper concludes that critical thinking skills need to be promptly and adequately developed in colleges of education students in Nigeria in order to make the students more useful to themselves and the society at large.

Critical thinking skills, indoctrination, inhibitions, rote learning, unemployment.

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