By implementing a learning model that cultivates 21st-century skills, students’ critical thinking skills can be enhanced. One of the alternative learning models that can be used to accommodate this is the WE-ARe learning model. This study is quasi-experimental, with a pretest-post-test control group design. The participants consisted of all biology education students from IAIN Ternate and STKIP Kie Raha in Ternate City, North Maluku, Indonesia. The research sample consisted of sixty biology education students. Essay test questions were used to evaluate participants’ critical thinking skills. The significance level for the covariate analysis (ANCOVA) was set at 5%. The analysis revealed that the WEARe learning model positively influenced the critical thinking skills of pre-service biology teachers, where the experimental group obtained a higher mean score (81.714) than the positive (66.9995) or negative control (33.858) groups. Future use of the WE-ARe learning model as an alternative learning model to prepare students with 21st-century skills and life skills is anticipated at both the secondary and undergraduate levels.