FORMATION OF CRITICAL THINKING OF PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
Introduction. The process of finding effective mechanisms for managing educational activities is carried out at all levels of educational system of our country, starting with preschool and ending with higher education, which should be reflected in professional training of pedagogical universities students. Materials and methods. The main research methods are analysis of scientific literature devoted to the problem of critical thinking formation, as well as diagnostic methods, including observation, description, conversation, questionnaires, testing, and methods of statistical data processing. Results. A model of critical thinking formation of pedagogical university students has been created, and methodological foundations such as system, activity and environmental approaches have been revealed. The proposed educational model consists of target, content, process and performance components, which correspond to planning stage (design function), content-activity stage (organizational function) and reflexive and correctional stage (control function), which are to form critical thinking of pedagogical university students. Discussion. It is emphasized that critical thinking, being necessary for a modern university graduate, in some cases can be an obstacle to algorithmic assimilation of the studied material. Conclusion. It is concluded that the implementation of the model of university students’ critical thinking formation will contribute to a competitive personality development, oriented in modern educational space. Highlights: The features of the process of forming critical thinking of pedagogical university students are determined; A process model of critical thinking formation of pedagogical university students has been developed, which contributes to conditions creation for effective educational process organization; Various methods, techniques and means of forming critical thinking of pedagogical university students are presented.