Abstract
Critical thinking is a central aim of secondary education, yet sustaining dialogic and participatory classroom practices remains challenging. This study examines the pedagogical, institutional and emotional conditions that enable or constrain dialogue, argumentation and critical reflection in secondary schools in Spain and Chile. A comparative qualitative design drew on 29 classroom observations, 11 semi-structured teacher interviews and five student focus groups. Data were analysed through iterative coding, progressive analytical saturation and triangulation across sources. Teachers consistently associated critical thinking with argumentation, reflection, intellectual autonomy and dialogic participation. However, classroom observations and students’ perceptions revealed that opportunities for open dialogue coexist with pedagogical mediation and recentralisation shaped by curriculum pressure, assessment demands, time and classroom management, and students’ need for validation and perceived safety. The findings suggest hybrid pedagogical ecologies: face-to-face configurations in which dialogic interaction, teacher mediation, institutional regulation and emotional conditions operate simultaneously. Promoting sustained critical thinking therefore requires attention to teaching strategies and to the pedagogical and organisational conditions shaping everyday classroom interaction.