Abstract

Religious education has always been identical to the cultivation of dogmatic teachings that make one accept them without protest. Some people consider spiritual lessons to be rigid and very monotonous. This study aimed to analyze the components of the instruments designed by teachers for measuring the critical thinking skills of pupils in high school Catholic religious lessons. The main question in this study is whether Catholic education in schools allows students to think critically. To answer the question, the researchers gathered information from 209 Catholic education teachers across 3 districts bordering the state of Timor-Leste. One hundred twenty-five teachers (125) filled out a questionnaire distributed through a WhatsApp group and statistically analyzed the given question items. The study found that 69.288 percent of teachers are still focused on memorizing and understanding concepts, while critical thinking and the ability to apply concepts are not often taught in Catholic education. To enhance necessary thinking skills, teachers must use student-centered learning patterns employing contextual learning models based on collaborative learning. This model is a breakthrough in Catholic education, where students are allowed to work with other friends to solve problems that they face in real life.