Metacognitive Awareness and Critical Thinking Dispositions Among Pre-Service Teachers in Kogi State

This study examines the relationship between metacognitive awareness and critical thinking dispositions among pre-service teachers at colleges of education in Kogi State, North Central Nigeria. Effective teaching requires not only content knowledge but also the capacity for reflective thinking about one's own cognitive processes and the reasoned evaluation of educational problems. Despite their central importance to teacher quality, the metacognitive and critical thinking profiles of Nigerian pre-service teachers remain empirically undercharacterised. The study employs a cross-sectional survey design, recruiting 300 final-year education students from two colleges of education in Lokoja and Kabba. The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory and the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory were used as instruments. Data were analysed using Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and structural equation modelling. Results indicate a significant positive relationship between metacognitive awareness and critical thinking dispositions, with knowledge of cognition being the metacognitive dimension most strongly associated with truth-seeking and analytical dispositions. Students trained in specialised education tracks such as early childhood and special education showed stronger metacognitive profiles than general education students. Academic year moderated the relationship, with final-year students demonstrating stronger associations between metacognition and critical thinking. These findings contribute to Nigerian teacher education research and suggest that explicit metacognitive instruction should be embedded throughout the college of education curriculum. The Kogi State College of Education system is advised to restructure education courses to include structured metacognitive reflection activities. Keywords: metacognitive awareness, critical thinking, pre-service teachers, college of education, Kogi State.