International Journal of Scientific Research and Management (IJSRM) ||Volume||5||Issue||10||Pages||7172-7176||2017|| Website: www.ijsrm.in ISSN (e): 2321-3418 Index Copernicus value (2015): 57.47 DOI: 10.18535/ijsrm/v5i10.02 Dr. Smitha S, IJSRM Volume 05 Issue 10 October 2017 [www.ijsrm.in] Page 7172 Strengthening Critical Thinking Skills of Prospective Teachers Through Applications Of Vedic Mathematics Dr. Smitha S Assistant Professor, Sree Narayana Training College, Nedunganda,Varkala,Thiruvananthapuram,Kerala Introduction Good teachers form the foundation of good schools, and improving teachers‟ skills and knowledge is one of the most important investments of time and money that local, state, and national leaders make in education. Our changing goals for learning, coupled with shifts in curriculum emphasis and a deeper understanding of teacher learning and student thinking, have led to new findings about the impact of teacher professional development and how best to sharpen teachers‟ skills and knowledge. Teachers are expected to teach as per the curriculum, take care of all round development of children, develop abilities such as learning how to learn, problem solving, creative thinking, which are crucial for living effectively in the world rapidly changing with the developments in science and technology. A person who does not possess the skills and competencies required for the tasks expected of the teacher cannot be called a teacher. What matters most is what teachers learn. Professional development should improve teachers‟ knowledge of the subject matter that they are teaching, and it should enhance their understanding of student thinking in that subject matter. Responsibility of Teacher Education Institutions The growth of teacher education institutions in the country has shown mathematical trend-producing graduates who are finding it difficult to find employment. This resulted in a drastic down gradation of the standards in our education system and a high rate of rejection of their products. This is the result why we have such a huge number of qualified teachers un/under employed. We have to ensure quality and accountability in the perspective teachers who are the future social engineers. Unless quality is brought into our education sector, it is going to suffer a major setback in the present race of competition. The new breed of teachers should have all the competencies expected of them for performing the exacting educational tasks of the 21st century. We have to create a system of teacher education which can compete with the best anywhere in the world. Delor‟s report –„Learning: The treasure Within‟ has rightly emphasized on four pillars of education for the 21st century namely learning to know , learning to do , learning to be and learning to live together. Thus the professional preparation of teachers by ultimately ensuring quality and accountability is the need of the hour. Competencies For 21 ST Century According to Benjamin .S. Bloom (1956) learning is the basis of development in the three imaginative domains of an individual viz: cognitive, affective and psychomotor domain. Traditional and modern classroom learning focus on enhancement of knowledge through preliminary concepts that fall under the cognitive domain as described by Bloom. Should we still focusing on these three domains? Definitely not. Apart from developing basic skills, nowadays twenty first century skills are to be inculcated among learners. Hence it is essential to stress the need for the prospective teachers to „leave the institution