Teaching Thinking Learning HOW to Think Carol McGuinness Queen’s University Belfast Email [email protected] www.sustainablethinkingclassrooms.ac.uk Funded: ESRC TLRP, DENI, CCEA, ELBS First reactions to the idea of teaching thinking.............. ‘You can’t teach thinking – students can either do it or they can’t’ (stems from ideas that reasoning ability/intelligence is fixed) Another reaction............... “You don’t need to teach thinking – children are natural thinkers” (stems from ideas about children’s natural curiosity and their capacity to learn) So what is our goal? To think more skilfully Not just to think...... Thinking is hidden skill…… How can we organise our teaching and our classrooms to become thinking classrooms? Imaging learning to dance when the dancers around us are all invisible. What Kinds of Thinking? Sequencing, ordering, ranking Sorting, grouping, classifying Analysing, identifying parts & wholes. Noting similarities & differences. Finding patterns & relationships. Comparing & contrasting. Making predictions & formulating hypotheses. Drawing conclusions, giving reasons. Distinguishing fact from opinion. Determining bias, reliability of evidence. Relating causes & effects, designing a fair test. Identifying why a decision is necessary. Generating options. Predicting the likely consequences. Weighing up the pros and cons. Deciding on a course of action. Reviewing the consequences. Generating ideas & possibilities. Building & combining ideas. Formulating own points of view. Taking multiple perspectives & seeing other points of view. Identifying & clarifying situations Generating alternative solutions Selecting & implementing a solution strategy. Evaluating & checking how well a solution solves problem. Copyright ACTS II Sustainable Thinking Classrooms What Kinds of Thinking? Making predictions & formulating hypotheses. Drawing conclusions, giving reasons. Distinguishing fact from opinion. Determining bias, reliability of evidence. Relating causes & effects, designing a fair test. Sequencing, ordering, ranking Sorting, grouping, classifying Analysing, identifying parts & wholes. Noting similarities & differences. Finding patterns & relationships. Comparing & contrasting. Planning Monitoring Redirecting Evaluating Identifying why a decision is necessary. Generating options. Predicting the likely consequences. Weighing up the pros and cons. Deciding on a course of action. Reviewing the consequences. Generating ideas & possibilities. Building & combining ideas. Formulating own points of view. Taking multiple perspectives & seeing other points of view. Identifying & clarifying situations Generating alternative solutions Selecting & implementing a solution strategy. Evaluating & checking how well a solution solves problem. Copyright ACTS II Sustainable Thinking Classrooms Infusion throughout the curriculum? To infuse “to introduce into one thing a second thing which gives it extra life, vigour and a new significance” Example of Infusion Lesson English - Poetry Thinking Outcome Compare and Contrast Identify similarities Identify differences Find patterns Reach conclusions Literature Outcome Two winter poems Language used Style and mood Personal preference Curriculum Area English Infusion – a dual focus Learning Intentions Topic or concept Specific Thinking Skill Examples of Lessons • Compare and Contrast – Two winter poems – Two pieces of writing (redrafting) – Properties of materials – Pieces of music • Decision Making – Irish famine story – A bullying story • Generating Possibilities – Measuring the assembly hall – Helping children feel included Examples of Lessons (contd) • Whole/Parts Relationships – Parts of a plant – Parts of a sentence – Ourselves (parts of the body) • Classification – Odd one out (numbers) – Picture Classification • Problem Solving – Attacking a round tower • Reliability of evidence – Measuring wind speed with a wind stick Thinking across the Curriculum Key aspects of Thinking, Problem solving And Decision making Sequencing and ordering Classification (comparing and contrasting) Making predictions Examining evidence (fact & opinion) Causal reasoning Opinions and conclusions Generating possibilities and solving problems Examining options (pros & cons) and making decisions Science Maths Geog History Music English Learning Intentions Topic/Thinking Planning Launching Success Criteria Reviewing at the level of thinking process Thinking Actively Challenging Task Thinking Diagram Pair/Group Work Dialogue/Questioning Making Thinking Visible Explaining Questioning Disputing Thinking about Thinking Reflecting Evaluating Applying Thinking Making connections Example Parts-whole thinking Skillful Parts Whole Thinking 1. What smaller parts make up the whole part? 2. What would happen if each of these parts were missing? 3. What is the function of each part? 4. How do the parts work together to make this whole object what it is or do what it does? DETERMINING PARTS-WHOLE RELATIONSHIPS THE WHOLE OBJECT PARTS OF THE OBJECT PART CONSIDERED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THE OBJECT IF THE PART WERE MISSING? WHAT IS THE FUNCTION OF THE PART? Example Comparing and Contrasting What is m purpose? OPEN COMPARE AND CONTRAST HOW ALIKE? HOW DIFFERENT? What are the similarities? What are the differences? WITH REGARD TO What are the patterns? What do they mean? PATTERNS OF SIGNIFICANT SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES: CONCLUSION OR INTERPRETATION: Copyright ACTS II Sustainable Thinking What can I conclude? What is my interpretation A B Similarities Differences In relation to …………………………. In relation to …………………………. In relation to …………………………. In relation to ………………………………… What do you notice about the most important differences and similarities? What conclusions can you draw? After Swartz and Parks (1994). COMPARE AND CONTRAST (b) (a) Similarities Differences What do you notice? How are they the same? How are they different? Comparing and contrasting Venn Diagrams ART Compare and contrast ……………….. & ………………. Possible sentence starters They both… They also… As well as… In addition… Likewise… Similarly… However… On the other hand In contrast… Unlike… Yet… Conversely… Possible endings In conclusion… Finally… Therefore… Having looked at.. Example Decision-making Skillful Decision-Making 1. What makes a decision necessary? 2. What are my options? 3. What are the likely consequences of each option? What are the pros and cons? 4. How can I weigh them up? 5. What is the best course of action in the light of the likely consequences? Why is the decision necessary? CHOOSING OPTIONS What are my options? Can I think of any more? What are the likely consequences of THIS option? YOUR OPTION RESULTS PRO CON THINK ABOUT THE PROS AND CONS What are the pros and cons? Weigh up the pros and cons? CHOICE Is it a good decision to make? Is it a good choice? CHOICES What can we do? CHOOSE ONE OPTION PROS Is this a good choice? ___________________________ Give a reason for your answer? ____________________ CONS Developing an argument Example Statement of opinion Supporting reason Example Opposing thoughts My Defence Thinking frames Imaging learning to dance when the dancers around us are all invisible. • Place the focus on the thinking process • Give teachers a tool to teach directly for thinking • Give pupils a scaffold to guide their thinking – one step at a time • Slow down thinking • Make it visible • Provide an external record, for evaluation & reflection Talking and Thinking: What’s the connection? Making the process of decision-making explicit T: To help us make the decision we are going to use the method of the thinking diagram… .we have used this before (teacher picks up diagram and shows it to the class). What’s the first thing we have Recall of to do…? (points to the diagram) process P1: Brainstorm……. T: The first step is to brainstorm and to get the ideas ….and then we have to get the ideas down……..then what do we do…..Martin? P2 (Martin): We will vote and see what is best…… T: And how do we decide which one is best……? P2 (Martin): By getting the vote….. T: Before you do that…..Martin? P2 (Martin): do the pros and cons…. Use of thinking language T (returning attention to the whole class): Pros and cons are two new words for us this year, can you give me another way of saying pros….? P3: ….the positive P4: ….the pluses Use of thinking language T : …pluses…., the good points, the positive things that can happen…… the cons are what…? P3: ….the minuses P5: the bad things…. Summary of thinking process T: …the bad things. So let’s go through that again. We are going to write down as many things as we can that can happen…, we then have to discuss them…., and then pick one, and then we are going to do the good points and bad points about it and that will help us make up our minds if that might be a good decision ……or not. Collaborative Thinking Groups Key Group Roles Facilitator/Chair Does everybody understand the task? Has everybody got something to do? Has everybody had a chance to speak/contribute? Are we still “on-task”? Recorder REPORTER What information needs to be recorded? Have all points of view been recorded accurately? Can I summarise the key points? Are the key points agreed. What am I going to report back? To whom? What are the key points? How can I articulate the views of the group. How long do I have? TIMEKEEPER How long do we have? Do we need to break it into sections? How much time is left? ENCOURAGER/CHECKER What else have we got to do? Are there key questions still need to answer? Are we happy with our efforts? Explicit examination of a thinking process T: …..four cons and four pros…..did it work out like that or did you Teacher try to get four pros and four cons…? challenges P1: ….it just worked out.. thinking T: Is it important that it just works out like that..? P2: ..unless you get one pro……there is no point in doing it…. T: There’d be nothing positive….do you have to get four cons..? Ps (chorus): No….. T: Why not…? Use of P3 (who hadn’t spoken before): One…. thinking T: What do you mean …one? language P3: You could have one con and lots of pros…. T: Yes…and the pros would win then….? P3: No….. P4 (another child chips in): …it could be so bad, like getting evicted or you could die…. Sustained T: It could be so bad that 10 pros wouldn’t be good enough…. dialogue (teacher gets distracted by something else in the room) Are we nearly finished…? P5: …even a thousand pros would not be good enough. Making connections about parts/whole thinking T: Can you think of another time, or another topic we did or maybe something outside, where the parts have to work together to make Asks for …John? connection the whole work properly, can you think of something like that P1: The circuit , you have to made the circuit for the battery and we had the different parts of the electrical circuit – well Asks T: forYes, a prediction done John – and we had to have all the parts working, if we hadn’t all the parts working, what would have happened…? P1: It would just get lost, you would have no electricity… T: You would have no electricity, remember we said that if you can’t make a circuit it wouldn’t even get started… P2: If it can’t find its way back home then it would break T: Excellent ……..is there another example you can give me where Another connection the parts work together? P3: A football team T: Ok, tell me about that P3: All the different positions need to work together and pass the ball Another prediction T: Right and what will happen if they do that? P3: They will win T: Well, you might not win, but what would you have..? P4: a good team M cog Thinking about Thinking • Helping pupils recognise the kind of thinking they are engaged in • Asking them to describe their strategy before beginning a task and to review it when completed • Comparing different approaches to the same task • Getting them to evaluate their plans & thinking skills and suggest improvements What we were good at ? What have we learned for next time? What was I good at? What have I learned for next time? Self-Assessment • I help select and sort the most important pieces of information • I can break the task down into smaller parts and plan what to do next • • • • I can spot the similarities and difference I offer ideas about how to find the answer I can check to see if my evidence is reliable I can look back and see if we need to come up with a different solution • I listen and talk to others in my group to help do the task • I can take on different roles in a group • I suggest a different way of doing the task • I can see links between bits of information that no one else can • I can explain the actions and viewpoints of each character Value Thinking Think about Thinking Design thinking lessons Review thinking Plan time for thinking Evaluate thinking Arrange classroom for thinking Connect thinking to new contexts Welcome thinking Pedagogy for Thinking Classrooms Think Collaboratively Encourage joint work Encourage talking about thinking Sustain dialogue about thinking Scaffold thinking Make Thinking Visible Develop thinking vocabulary Use thinking diagrams Model thinking Activate Thinking Give challenging tasks Give time to think Ask questions for thinking Encourage dispositions for thinking Use thinking wall displays Northern Ireland Framework for Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities Thinking, Problem-Solving & Decision-Making Being Creative Managing Information & Working with Others Self-Management Links http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/key_stages_1_and_2/skills_and_capabilities/