In contemporary education, cultivating students’ critical thinking is central to preparing them for civic life, ethical decision-making, and adaptive problem-solving. This paper examines how critical theory, primarily through the contributions of Paulo Freire, Jürgen Habermas, and Herbert Marcuse, illuminates strategies that develop critical thinking across learning contexts and, in particular, within Physical Education (PE). Adopting a narrative review methodology, the paper synthesizes key ideas and pedagogical approaches such as problem-posing education, dialogic learning, community engagement/service learning, emancipatory pedagogy, and action-oriented tasks. It translates these into concrete PE practices that foster agency, equity, and social justice while enhancing motor learning, tactical decision-making, teamwork, and wellbeing. The discussion highlights benefits and tensions of applying critical theory in PE, followed by practical recommendations for teachers, school leaders, and policy makers. In doing so, the paper emphasizes education’s catalytic role in transforming individuals and communities.