The Teachers 'Perceptions of Elementary School Students' Critical Thinking Skills in Social Studies Learning

Critical thinking is a fundamental competency that requires systematic cultivation from the elementary school level, including through social studies instruction, which is closely related to students' social lives. This study aims to describe teachers' perceptions of elementary school students' critical thinking skills in social studies instruction. Employing a descriptive qualitative approach, this study involved seven fifth-grade teachers across five elementary schools in School Cluster X, Purwakarta District. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews based on four critical thinking indicators adapted from Facione: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that students' critical thinking skills have begun to develop but have not yet reached a fully independent level. Students demonstrate greater ease in comprehending, analyzing, evaluating, and drawing conclusions when material is presented concretely, visually, and connected to everyday experiences. The principal obstacles identified include low reading interest, limited vocabulary, difficulty processing extended texts, and reliance on teacher validation. These findings underscore the importance of the teacher's role in designing contextual, interactive, and problem-based social studies instruction to effectively support the development of students' critical thinking competencies.