Concept Mapping and Critical Thinking Pedagogy in School Education: A Qualitative Study of Secondary School Teachers’ Perceptions and Classroom Experiences

Abstract

Critical thinking has become an important educational priority in contemporary school education, particularly in the context of competency-based and learner-centred approaches advocated by the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023. Concept mapping is a visual and knowledge-organising strategy that enables learners to represent concepts and the relationships among them through nodes, linking words, propositions, hierarchies, and cross-links. Such processes can create opportunities for learners to analyse information, compare ideas, identify relationships, evaluate understanding, and reorganise existing knowledge. The present study explored teachers’ perceptions and classroom experiences regarding the potential of concept mapping to support critical thinking among school students. A qualitative-descriptive design was adopted, and data were collected from 76 secondary school teachers working in government and private schools affiliated with the State Board and Central Board of Secondary Education through a semi-structured questionnaire. Thematic analysis was used to identify recurring patterns in teachers’ responses. The findings indicated that teachers generally perceived concept mapping as a useful learner-centred strategy for promoting conceptual understanding, analytical engagement, reflection, and collaborative learning. Teachers also reported that concept maps could help students visualise relationships among ideas and identify gaps or misconceptions in their understanding. However, limited instructional time, inadequate teacher training, large class sizes, and insufficient technological support were identified as important implementation challenges. These findings are consistent with broader empirical literature indicating the positive potential of concept mapping for learning and critical thinking, while recent reviews also caution that its effectiveness depends on how mapping activities are designed and implemented. The paper argues that concept mapping should not be treated as an isolated technique but as part of a structured pedagogical process involving questioning, evidence evaluation, explanation, reflection, and discussion.