Abstract
The article presents definitions and aspects of the concept of critical thinking, considered by various researchers, based on content analysis. According to numerous definitions, critical thinking includes the basic concept of analysis, synthesis, evaluation and judgment; also, the acquisition of skills such as analyzing the quality of relevant information, considering the problem as a whole and clarifying it, establishing cause-and-effect relationships, making arguments and logical conclusions, developing one's position on the issue under study, etc. The article contains the results of the authors' research who studied critical thinking in the context of the characteristics of a critical thinker; the relationship of critical thinking with information literacy; its role in education; as well as the importance of critical thinking for achieving professional success by future specialists in their field. According to the results of the study, it is concluded that critical thinking is the most demanded skill for students at the stage of accessibility and rapid updating of modern information, and that the formation and development of this skill is one of the main tasks of educational institutions. As a scientific novelty of the research, the authors give their own definition of the concept of "critical thinking" in the context of the educational process.