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Thinking Skills
Robert Fisher
A version of this paper is to be published in Arthur J, Grainger T &
Wray D (eds) (in press) Learning to teach in primary school, Routledge
Faler
We need to think better if we are to become better people. Paul, aged
10
Introduction
In recent years there has been growing interest across the world in
ways of developing childrens thinking and learning skills (Fisher
00!"# $his interest has been fed by new knowledge about how the
brain works and how people learn, and evidence that specific
interventions can i%prove childrens thinking and intelligence# $he
particular ways in which people apply their %inds to solving proble%s
are called thinking skills# &any researchers suggest that thinking skills
are essential to effective learning, though not all agree on the
definition of this ter%# If thinking is how children %ake sense of
learning then developing their thinking skills will help the% get %ore
out of learning and life# $his chapter looks at the i%plications of
research into ways to develop thinking children, thinking classroo%s
and thinking schools#
Objectives
$he ai%s of this chapter are to enable you to'
infor% your understanding of (thinking skills and their role in learning
understand so%e key principles that e%erge fro% research into
teaching thinking
know the %ain approaches to developing childrens thinking
see how you %ight integrate a (thinking skills approach into
classroo% teaching
)hat are thinking skills*
$hinking skills are not %ysterious entities e+isting so%ewhere in the
%ind# ,or are they like %ental %uscles that have a physical presence
in the brain# )hat the ter% refers to is the hu%an capacity to think in
conscious ways to achieve certain purposes# -uch processes include
re%e%bering, .uestioning, for%ing concepts, planning, reasoning,
i%agining, solving proble%s, %aking decisions and /udge%ents,
translating thoughts into words and so on# $hinking skills are ways in
which hu%ans e+ercise the sapiens part of being homo sapiens#
0 skill is co%%only defined as a practical ability in doing so%ething or
succeeding in a task# 1sually we refer to skills in particular conte+ts,
such as being (good at cooking but they can also refer to general
areas of perfor%ance, such as having a logical %ind, good %e%ory,
being creative and so on# 0 thinking skill is a practical ability to think in
ways that are /udged to be %ore or less effective or skilled# $hey are
the habits of intelligent behaviour learned through practice, for
e+a%ple children can beco%e better at giving reasons or asking
.uestions the %ore they practice doing so#
If thinking skills are the %ental capacities we use to investigate the
world, to solve proble%s and %ake /udge%ents then to identify every
such skill would be to enu%erate all the capacities of the hu%an %ind
and the list would be endless# &any researchers have atte%pted to
identify the key skills in hu%an thinking, and the %ost fa%ous of these
is 2loo%s $a+ono%y (see Fig 1"#
2loo%3s ta+ono%y of thinking skills (what he called (the cognitive goals
of education" has been widely used by teachers in planning their
teaching# 4e identifies a nu%ber of basic or (lower order cognitive
skills 5 knowledge, co%prehension and application, and a nu%ber of
higher order skills 6 analysis, synthesis and evaluation# $he following
are the various categories identified by 2loo% and processes involved
in the various thinking levels#
Blooms Taxonomy (-ource' 2loo% 7 8rathwohl 19!:"
Cognitive goal ------------------------- Thinking cues
1 8nowledge 55555555555555555555555555555-ay what you know, or re%e%ber,
describe, (knowing and re%e%bering" repeat, define, identify, tell who,
when, which, where, what
;o%prehension 5555555555555555555555 <escribe in your own words, tell
how you feel (interpreting and understanding" about it, what it %eans,
e+plain, co%pare, relate
= 0pplication 55555555555555555555555555554ow can you use it, where does it
lead, apply (applying, %aking use of" what you know, use it to solve
proble%s, de%onstrate
> 0nalysis 55555555555555555555555555555555 )hat are the parts, the order, the
reasons why, (taking apart, being critical" the
causes?proble%s?solutions?conse.uences
! -ynthesis 55555555555555555555555555555 4ow %ight it be different, how else,
what if, (connecting, being creative" suppose, put together, develop,
i%prove, create your own
: @valuation 5555555555555555555555555555 4ow would you /udge it, does it
succeed, will it (/udging and assessing" work, what would you prefer,
why you think so
Aou could plan or analyse %any learning activities in ter%s of the
above categories# For e+a%ple when telling a story, a teacher %ight
ask the following kinds of .uestions,
1 8nowledge What happened in the story?
;o%prehension Why did it happen that way?
= 0pplication What would you have done?
> 0nalysis Which part did you like best?
! -ynthesis Can you think of a different ending?
: @valuation What did you think of the story? Why?
2loo%s ta+ono%y built on earlier research by Piaget and Bygotsky
that suggested that thinking skills and capacities are developed by
cognitive challenge. $eachers need to challenge children to think %ore
deeply and %ore widely and in %ore syste%atic and sustained ways#
Cr as $o%, aged 10 put it' (0 good teacher %akes you think ### even
when you dont want to# Cne way inwhich you, as a good teacher, can
do this is by asking .uestions that challenge childrens thinking#
TASK 1: Questions for thinking
;hoose a story, poe%, te+t or topic that you would like to use with
children as a sti%ulus for their thinking# 1sing 2loo%s $a+ono%y
create a series of .uestions to think about and discuss after you have
shared the sti%ulus with the%# Dist your .uestions under 2loo%s si+
categories' knowledge, co%prehension and application, analysis,
synthesis and evaluation#
h! are thinking skills i"#ortant$
$hinking skills are i%portant because %astery of the (basics in
education (literacy, %aths, science etc#", however well taught, are not
sufficient to fulfil hu%an potential, or to %eet the de%ands of the
labour %arket or of active citiEenship# ;ountries across the world are
recognising that a broad range of co%petencies are needed to
prepare children for an unpredictable future# $hese (higher order
thinking skills are re.uired, in addition to basic skills, because
individuals cannot (store sufficient knowledge in their %e%ories for
future use# Infor%ation is e+panding at such a rate that individuals
re.uire transferable skills to enable the% to address different proble%s
in different conte+ts at different ti%es throughout their lives# $he
co%ple+ity of %odern /obs re.uires people who can co%prehend,
/udge and participate in generating new knowledge and processes#
&odern de%ocratic societies re.uire its citiEens to assi%ilate
infor%ation fro% %ultiple sources, deter%ine its truth and use it to
%ake sound /udge%ents#
$he challenge is to develop educational progra%%es that enable all
individuals, not /ust an elite, to beco%e effective thinkers because
these co%petencies are now re.uired of everyone# 0 (thinking skills
approach suggests that learners %ust develop awareness of
the%selves as thinkers and learners, practise strategies for effective
thinking and to develop the habits of intelligent behaviour that are
needed for lifelong learning# 0s Paul, aged 10, put it' ()e need to think
better if we are going to beco%e better people#
hat does research tell us about thinking$
Research in cognitive science and psychology is providing a clearer
picture of the brain and the processes associated with thinking (-%ith
00"# $his brain research has so%e i%portant i%plications for
teachers# For e+a%ple we now know that %ost of the growth in the
hu%an brain occurs in early childhood' by the age of si+, the brain in
%ost children is appro+i%ately 90F of its adult siEe# $his i%plies that
intervention, while the brain is still growing, %ay be %ore effective
than waiting until the brain is fully developed# ;ognitive challenge is
i%portant at all stages, but especially in the early years of education#
Psychologists and philosophers have helped to e+tend our
understanding of the ter% (thinking, including the i%portance of
dis#ositions, such as attention and %otivation, co%%only associated
with thinking (;la+ton 00"# $his has pro%pted a %ove away fro% a
si%ple %odel of (thinking skills as isolated cognitive capacities to a
view of thinking as ine+tricably connected to e%otions and
dispositions, including (e%otional intelligence, which is our ability to
understand our own e%otions and the e%otions of others (Gole%an
199!"#
$here is also a growing realisation that we need to teach not only
cognitive skills and strategies but also develop the higher
(%etacognitive functions involved in %etacognition# $his involves
%aking learners aware of the%selves as thinkers and how they
process?create knowledge by (learning how to learn (see sections on
(-elf 0wareness in the Pri%ary ,ational -trategy, <f@- 00>"#
%etacognition involves thinking about ones own thinking#
&etacognition includes knowledge of oneself, for e+a%ple of what one
knows, what one has learnt, what one can and cannot do and ways to
i%prove ones learning or achieve%ent# &etacognition also involves
skills of recognising proble%s, representing features of proble%s,
planning what to do in trying to solve proble%s, %onitoring progress
and evaluating the outco%es of ones own thinking or proble%5solving
activity#
&etacognition is pro%oted by helping pupils to reflect on their thinking
and decision5%aking processes# &etacognition is developed when
pupils are helped to be strategic in organising their activities and are
encouraged to reflect before, during and after proble%5solving
processes# $he i%plication is that you need to plan ti%e for debriefing
and review in lessons to encourage children to think about their
learning and how to i%prove it# $his can be done through discussion in
a plenary session, or by finding ti%e for reflective writing in their own
thinking or learning logs#
$he hu%an %ind is %ade up of %any faculties or capacities that
enable learning to take place# Cur general capacity for understanding
or intelligence was once thought to be innate and un%odifiable# 0s a
child once put it' (@ither youve got or you havent# $he notion of
inborn intelligence which do%inated educational practice until the %id5
0 th century was challenged by Bygotsky, Piaget and others who
developed a constructivist psychology based on a view of learners as
active creators of their own knowledge# -o%e researchers argue that
intelligence is not one generic capacity but is %ade up of %ultiple
intelligences (Gardner 199="# 4oward Gardners theory of %ultiple
intelligence has had a growing influence in recent years on
educational theory and practice, although not all are convinced of its
clai%s# )hether intelligence is viewed as one general capacity or
%any, what researchers are agreed upon is that it is %odifiable and
can be developed#
8ey principles that e%erge fro% this research include the need for
teachers and carers to provide'
cognitive challenge , challenging childrens thinking fro% the earliest
years
collaborative learning , e+tending thinking through working with
others
metacognitive discussion , reviewing what they think and how they
learn
$his research and the pioneering work of Feuerstein, who created of a
progra%%e called Instru%ental @nrich%ent, &atthew Dip%an, who
founded Philosophy for ;hildren, and other leading figures such as
@dward de 2ono, creator of (lateral thinking, have inspired a wide
range of curriculu% and progra%%e develop%ents (Fisher 199!"#
$hese include a range of teaching approaches that you could use,
including (cognitive acceleration, (brain5based approaches (such as
(accelerated learning" and (philosophical approaches that ai% at
developing the %oral and e%otional as well as intellectual aspects of
thinking 5 caring and collaborative as well as critical and creative
thinking# $hese are discussed below#
2y the end of the twentieth century there was a widespread realisation
that (key or (core skills of thinking, creativity and proble%5solving lay
at the heart of successful learning and should be e%bedded in pri%ary
and secondary school curricula# )hen the <f@@ in @ngland
co%%issioned ;arol &cGuinness to review and evaluate research
into thinking skills and related areas, key points that e%erged fro% her
study were that'
pupils benefitted fro% being coached in thinking
not one %odel, but %any approaches proved effective
success was due to pedagogy (teaching strategies" not specific
%aterials
strategies were needed to enable pupils to transfer thinking to other
conte+ts
teachers needed professional support and coaching to sustain
success
&cGuinness (1999" points out that the %ost successful interventions
are associated with a (strong theoretical underpinning, well5designed
and conte+tualised %aterials, e+plicit pedagogy, teacher support and
progra%%e evaluation (p1="#
In @ngland the revised ,ational ;urriculu% (<f@- 1999" included
thinking skills in its rationale, stating that thinking skills are essential in
(learning how to learn # $he list of thinking skills identified in the
@nglish ,ational ;urriculu% is si%ilar to %any such lists' infor%ation
processing, reasoning, en.uiry, creative thinking and evaluation# 0ny
good lesson or learning conversation will show evidence of so%e or all
of these ele%ents# $hey focus on (knowing how as well as (knowing
what, not only on curriculu% content but on learning how to learn#
$hey can be related to 2loo%s ta+ono%y in the following ways'
Thinking skills in the &ational Curriculu" in 'ngland
(1)))*
Infor%ation5processing
@n.uiry
Reasoning
;reative thinking
@valuation
$he ,ational ;urriculu% in @ngland, as elsewhere, is no longer to be
seen si%ply as sub/ect knowledge but as being underpinned by the
skills of lifelong learning# Good teaching is not /ust about the achieving
particular curriculu% ob/ectives but also about developing general
thinking skills and learning behaviours# -ince the &cGuiness review
and the e+plicit inclusion of thinking skills in the ,ational ;urriculu%,
interest in the teaching of thinking has burgeoned in the 18# Research
has shown that interventions work if they have a strong theoretical
base and if teachers are enthusiastic and well trained in the use of a
progra%%e or strategy# $eachers are developing (teaching for thinking
approaches in new directions, integrating the% into everyday teaching
to create (thinking classroo%s, and developing whole school policies
to create (thinking schools#
TASK +: Identif!ing thinking skills
Identify in a lesson plan, or observation of a classroo% lesson, the
thinking skills that are being developed as general learning ob/ectives#
Dook for evidence that the children are engaged in infor%ation
processing, reasoning, en.uiry, creative thinking and evaluation#
0 profor%a could be used for recording the evidence, such as the one
below#
Identif!ing thinking skills
)hat thinking skills are being used or developed in this lesson*
Identify e+a%ples of'
Infor"ation #rocessing
Finding relevant infor%ation
Crganising infor%ation
Representing or co%%unicating infor%ation
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHH
,easoning
Giving reasons
&aking inferences or deductions
0rguing or e+plaining a point of view
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHH
'n-uir!
0sking .uestions
Planning research or study
@ngaging in en.uiry or process of finding out
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHH
Creative thinking
Generating ideas
I%agining or hypothesising
<esigning innovative solutions
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHH
'valuation
<eveloping evaluation criteria
0pplying evaluation criteria
Iudging the value of infor%ation and ideas
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HH
.o/ do /e teaching thinking in the classroo"$
Researchers have identified a nu%ber of teaching strategies you can
use to help sti%ulate childrens thinking in the classroo%# $hese
approaches to teaching thinking can be su%%arised as'
;ognitive acceleration approaches 2rain5based approaches
Philosophical approaches
$eaching strategies across the curriculu%
10 Cognitive acceleration a##roaches
CASE
Philip 0dey and &ichael -hayer developed the original ;ognitive
0cceleration $hrough -cience @ducation (;0-@" pro/ect in the 19J0s
and early 1990s for 8ey -tage = -cience# $heir work now e+tends into
other sub/ects and age groups and has perhaps the best research and
%ost robust evidence of the i%pact of thinking skills in the 18 (for a
su%%ary see -hayer and 0dey, 00"#
$he following is a typical for%at of a ;0-@ lesson for thinking for%at
that builds in ti%e for cognitive and %etacognitive discussion'
1# ;oncrete preparation sti%ulus to thinking, introducing the ter%s of
the proble%
# ;ognitive conflict creates a challenge for the %ind
=# -ocial construction dialogue with others, discussion that e+tends
thinking
># &etacognition reflection on how we tackled the proble%
!# 2ridging reviewing where else we can use this thinking and learning
;0-@ lessons have also been developed for young children, called
(Dets $hinkK which ai%s to raise achieve%ent by developing Aear 1
pupils3 general thinking patterns and teachers understanding of
childrens thinking#
<uring (Dets $hink lessons young children work with a teacher in
groups of si+ and each activity takes about =0 %inutes# $he session is
co%pletely oral, with discussion based on a range of ob/ects# 0t the
beginning of the session the teacher helps agree a co%%on language
to describe the ob/ects being used# 4aving established the
vocabulary and the concepts involved, the teacher sets the challenge
of the activity# Cne popular activity in this sche%a is called the (hoop
ga%e when children are re.uired to put orange toy dinosaurs in one
hoop and $5Re+ dinosaurs in another hoop# $he challenge is that one
of the dinosaurs is an orange $5Re+# $his is very perple+ing for our
preoperational children because they have to utiliEe two pieces of
infor%ation about the dinosaur and find a solution to the proble%# $he
children work together as a group to co%e to a solution or a nu%ber of
possible solutions to solve the task# $hey discuss their ideas and
%ake suggestions# $he teacher guides the%, without being obvious,
towards the idea of overlapping the hoops and putting the wayward
dinosaur in the intersection#
0s in other discussion5based approaches children are encouraged to
state whether they agree or disagree with each other by giving a
reason# For e+a%ple, they are taught to say, (I thinkL because or (I
disagree with you becauseL $he activities are designed as proble%s
to be solved thus creating a conte+t for developing thinking # ;hildren
are given a challenge, are re.uired to work collaboratively M to plan
and evaluate their own and others thinking strategies, and the teacher
then gets the children to think about their thinking (%etacognition"
through asking such .uestions as ()hat do you think we are going to
have to think about* and (4ow did you get your answer* rather than
(Is your answer correct* Cf course you do not need the (Dets $hink
%aterials to apply this teaching strategy to any area of the curriculu%#
)hat the (Dets $hinkK approach ai%s to do is to accelerate cognitive
develop%ent between two types of thinking# $he first type of thought is
what Piaget (19!=" called (pre5operational, when children still find it
difficult to engage in what adults perceive as rational thought# $he ne+t
stage, which Piaget described as (concrete operational, involves
%anipulating at least two ideas in order to produce a third, new idea,
which is what the sessions encourage the children to do# (Dets $hink
ai%s to accelerate the transition between the two types of thought in
order to help pupils %ake better sense of their learning and i%prove
general achieve%ent# $hey do this, as you %ight, by ensuring their
teaching includes cognitive challenge, collaborative activity and
children thinking about how they think and learn#
($hinking %aths lessons for pri%ary children are part of a related
pro/ect called ;0&@ ( ;ognitive 0cceleration of &athe%atics
@ducation "# $hese lessons involve discussion5based tasks in %aths
that ai% to develop childrens conceptual thinking rather than the
%echanics of doing the %aths# $hey differ fro% open5ended
investigations in that each lesson has a specific concept to develop#
$he activities are planned to generate group and whole class
discussion rather than written work with an e%phasis on how did you
get your answer rather than what is the answer# 0s the ;0&@
approach suggests if your e%phasis in teaching is' (4ow did you get
your answer* rather than (Is your answer correct* it is a far %ore
productive way of generating childrens thinking and learning#
+0 12rain-based3 a##roaches
&any educationalists are influenced by recent research into how the
hu%an brain works and draw on so%e of the i%plications of this
research for teachers and schools# 0ccelerated Dearning and &ultiple
Intelligence approaches all draw on these broad ideas together with
research into learning styles# $he co%%on feature is the reliance on
brain research to inspire teaching techni.ues in the classroo%#
$here are %any theories of learning styles# $hey are rooted in a
classification of psychological types and the fact that individuals tend
to process infor%ation differently# <ifferent researchers propose
different sets of learning style characteristics, but %any re%ain
unconvinced by their clai%s children learn best through using one
preferred style (;offield 00>"#
Accelerated learning
0ccelerated learning approaches include applying B08 5 visual,
auditory and kinaesthetic learning styles to teaching # B08 stands for'
visual 6 learning best through pictures, charts, diagra%s, video, I;$
etc#
auditory 6 learning best through listening
kinaesthetic 6 learning best through being physically engaged in a
task
For e+a%ple in teaching her class to spell a word a teacher %ight
show the% how to chunk the word into three pieces, and e%phasise
this by using different colours for each section of the word and to
visualise it in their heads# -he %ight also ask the% to write the word in
the air with their fingers# (0ccelerated learning e%phasises the
i%portance of including a range of learning e+periences, visual, verbal
and physical, in your teaching, so that children are challenged to think
in different ways#
$hese and other (brain5based teaching strategies such as (2rainGy%
(which usesi%ple but challenging aerobic e+ercises to focus the %ind
and sti%ulate the brain" offer %uch scope for your own research in the
classroo%#
4e 2ono
0ccording to @dward de 2ono we tend to think in restricted and
predictable ways# $o beco%e better thinkers we need to learn new
habits# 4is teaching strategy known as (thinking hats helps learners
try different approaches to thinking# @ach (thinking (hat represents a
different way to think about a proble% or issue# ;hildren are
encouraged to try on the different (hats or approaches to a proble% to
go beyond their usual thinking habits (de 2ono 1999"# $he (hatsor
thinking approaches, together with .uestions you %ight ask, are as
follows'
)hite hat N infor%ation What do we know?
Red hat N feelings What do we feel?
Purple hat N proble%s What are the drawbacks?
Aellow hat N positives What are the benefits?
Green hat N creativity What ideas have we got?
2lue hat N control What are our aims?
<e 2ono clai%s the techni.ue is widely used in %anage%ent but little
research has been published on its use in education# -o%e teachers
have found it a useful techni.ue for encouraging children to look at a
proble% or topic fro% a variety of perspectives# It encourages us, and
our children, to think creatively about any topic and to ask' (Is there
another way of thinking about this*
50 6hiloso#hical a##roaches
0 pioneer of the (critical thinking %ove%ent in 0%erica is the
philosopher &atthew Dip%an# Criginally a university philosophy
professor, Dip%an was unhappy at what he saw as poor thinking in his
students# $hey see%ed to have been encouraged to learn facts and to
accept authoritative opinions, but not to think for the%selves# 4e
beca%e convinced that so%ething was wrong with the way they had
been taught in school when they were younger# 4e therefore founded
the Institute for the 0dvance%ent of Philosophy for ;hildren (I0P;"
and developed with colleagues a progra%%e is called Philosophy for
;hildren, used in %ore than >0 countries around the world#
Dip%an believes that children are natural philosophers because they
view the world with curiosity and wonder (Dip%an 00="# ;hildrens
own .uestions for% the starting5point for an en.uiry or discussion,
which can be ter%ed (philosophical# $he I0P; has produced a
nu%ber of novels, into every page of which, strange and ano%alous
points are woven# 0s a class reads a page, with the teacher, the te+t
encourages the% to raise .ueries# $hese .uestions for% the basis of
guided discussions# $he novels provide a %odel of philosophical
en.uiry, in that they involve fictional children engaging in argu%ent,
debate, discussion and e+ploratory thinking#
Stories for Thinking
&any resources have been developed in recent years to adapt
&atthew Dip%ans approach to Philosophy for ;hildren to the needs of
children and teachers in the 18, (-tories for thinking is one such
approach (Fisher 199:"# $he ai%, through using stories and other
kinds of sti%ulus for philosophical discussion, is to create a
co""unit! of en-uir! in the classroo% (see www#sapere#org#uk"#
In a typical (-tories for $hinking lesson the teacher shares a (thinking
story with the class# $hey have 3thinking ti%e3 when they are asked to
think about anything in the story that they thought was strange,
interesting or puEEling about the story# 0fter so%e .uiet thinking ti%e
the teacher asked for their co%%ents or .uestions, and writes each
child3s .uestions on the board, adding their na%e after their .uestion#
$he children then chose fro% the list of .uestions which one they
would like to discuss# $he teacher then invites the children to
co%%ent, and who agreed or disagreed with particular co%%ents
%ade# If children do not give reasons or evidence fro% the story for
their opinions the teacher asked 3)hy do you think that*3 or 34ave you
got a reason for that*3
)hen asked the value of a 3-tories for $hinking3 lesson one child said'
3Aou have to ask .uestions and think hard about the answers#3 0nother
said' 3-o%eti%es you change your %ind and so%eti%es you don3t# 0
third reply was' 3It is better than /ust doing reading or writing because
you have to say what you really think#3 $eachers note that in 3-tories
for $hinking3 lessons, in which they %ay also uses poe%s, pictures,
ob/ects or other te+ts for thinking, the children have beco%e %ore
thoughtful, better at speaking and listening to each other, at asking
.uestioning and using the language of reasoning, %ore confident in
posing creative ideas and in /udging what they and others think and
do and are %ore confident about applying their thinking to fresh
challenges in learning and in life (Fisher 1999"#
What stories or other forms of stimulus could you use to really engage your
children in thinking? How could you create an enquiring classroom?
Task 5: Creating a thinking classroo"
What would a thinking classroom look like?
1# ;ollect words to describe what a thinking classroo% %ight look like#
$hese %ight include so%e reference to the teachers behaviour,
childrens behaviour, classroo% environ%ent or kinds of activity that
help children to think and learn well#
# -ort your ideas into s%all groups and give each group a heading that
you think appropriate#
=# ;hoose one idea fro% each group and consider how you could
develop this in your classroo%#
70 Teaching strategies across the curriculu"
0 growing nu%ber of progra%%es and strategies ai% to help teachers
develop childrens thinking and learning across the curriculu%, such
as the $0-; ($hinking 0ctively in a -ocial ;onte+t" and 0;$-
(0ctivating ;hildrens $hinking -kills"# It is difficult to evaluate the
success of these and other interventions because of the %any
variables involved in the teaching situation# $here is %uch scope here
for your own research into teaching strategies in the classroo% and for
developing new strategies#
0 nu%ber of specific teaching strategies have been identified to help
sti%ulate childrens thinking in different sub/ect areas and %any of
these are included in the Pri%ary ,ational -trategy guidance for
teachers (<f@- 00>"# For e+a%ple 3Cdd Cne Cut3 is a teaching
techni.ue to identify pupils3 understanding of key concepts in different
sub/ects# 0 teacher %ight in a nu%eracy lesson put three nu%bers on
the board, such as 9, ! and 10M or in science three %aterialsM or in
@nglish three characters to co%pare and contrast 5 then ask the
children to choose the 3odd one out3 and to give a reason# $eachers
who use this strategy clai% it can reveal gaps in the knowledge that
she has taught and the knowledge and vocabulary that the children
are then able to use# $he children think of it as a ga%e and are used
to thinking up e+a%ples and ideas which show their thinking in
different curriculu% sub/ects# $his approach encourages creative
thinking and reasoning (4iggins et al 001"# ;an you think of three
things and give reasons why one, two or each of the% %ight be the
odd one out*
Concept mapping
&any approaches include the use of thinking diagra%s or (graphic
organisers or (concept %aps as an aid to %aking thinking visual and
e+plicit#
;oncept %apping is an infor%ation5processing techni.ue with a long
history# $ony 2uEan developed this techni.ue into a version he calls
&ind &apping (2uEan 199="# ;oncept %aps are tools that help %ake
thinking visible 5 and involves writing down, or %ore co%%only
drawing, a central idea and thinking up new and related ideas which
radiate out fro% the centre# 2y focussing on key ideas written down in
childrens own words, and then looking for branches out and
connections between the ideas, they are %apping knowledge in a
%anner which can help the% understand and re%e%ber new
infor%ation# 0 si%ple concept %ap %ight be used to %ap out the
connections between characters in a story# ;hildren %ight also draw
%aps fro% %e%ory to test what they re%e%ber or know# $eachers
have found concept %aps helpful in finding out or revising what
children know and the techni.ue is especially popular when used in
pairs or groups# ;hildren can learn fro% the techni.ue fro% an early
age and %any find it %otivating# 0s one young child put it' (;oncept
%apping gets you to think and try %ore# ;oncept %apping is a useful
teaching and revision techni.ue for e+tending thinking and %aking it
visually %e%orable (;aviglioni 7 4arris 000"#
)hen you are planning your ne+t topic or activity with children think of
ways of %aking your own or your childrens thinking visible, for
e+a%ple by creating a (%ind%ap of a story, a process or collection of
ideas#
Co"#uters and thinking
Research shows that there are several ways in which I;$ could
particularly enhance the teaching and learning of thinking skills# $here
is evidence that the use of co%puters can lead to i%proved
infor%ation5processing skills# I;$ enables %ultiple and co%ple+
representations of infor%ation, allowing learners for e+a%ple to think
with a richer knowledge base# 0s Ia%es aged J said' (I didnt know
there was so %uch to knowK
@ ducational software can act like a teacher to pro%pt and direct
en.uiry through asking .uestions, giving clues and suggesting
avenues of investigation# It can also act as a resource while learners
discuss and e+plore ideas, pro%pting reflection around a si%ulation
for e+a%ple# , etworks via the internet and including video5
conferencing, can allow children to engage directly in collaborative
learning and knowledge sharing with others who are not physically
present#
$he %ain criticis% of the co%puter as a tutor %odel is that directed
co%puter teaching does not allow children to be creative learners,
able to think and %ake connections for the%selves, and so is unlikely
to support the develop%ent of higher order thinking# $his can be
transfor%ed however by collaboration around I;$ activities, which has
been shown to have the potential to enhance the learning of
transferable thinking skills#
@ffective collaborative learning still needs to be structured# Dearners
should be taught how to reason and learn together before they are
asked to work collaboratively with I;$, because having to articulate
and e+plain strategies to others is %ore likely to lead to transfer than
/ust doing things without thinking or talking the% through# For e+a%ple
working with DCGC, is not /ust %anipulating a screen turtle# It is about
reasoning and developing effective proble% solving strategies that can
be achieved %uch better with a learning partner or s%all group
through discussion# In the lesson plenary, by reflecting on this process
of collaborative proble% solving, the teacher can help children to
(bridge their thinking fro% their e+perience with Dogo or co%puter
progra% to different areas of the curriculu%#
;o%puters can help develop childrens thinking skills when used as
part of a larger dialogue about thinking and learning ()egerif 00" #
$he challenge for you as a teacher is to find ways to use the co%puter
to encourage thinking with and discussion between children#
Recent test results show that standards in schools are rising 6 but
slowly# ;ould the teaching of thinking provide a key to raising
achieve%ent* $he e+perience of %any teachers suggests that when
pupils are taught the habits of effective thinking they grow in
confidence, their learning is enriched and they are better prepared to
face the challenges of the future# ;hildren think so too 6 as 0rran,
aged 9, put it' ()hen you get out in the real world you have to think for
yourself, thats why we need to practise it in school#
Good teaching is about helping children to think for the%selves, which
is why it is both a challenge and an adventure#
TASK 7: 6lanning for teaching thinking
;hoose a teaching strategy or approach fro% published %aterials
which ai%s to develop childrens thinking skills#
$hink how you %ight use this strategy or approach in a chosen area
of the curriculu%#
Plan a lesson which incorporates this strategy, identifying a specific
thinking or learning skill in your lesson ob/ectives#
-hare your plan or teaching ideas with others#
$each and evaluate your lesson for thinkingK
Su""ar!
In recent years there has been %uch research into ways of developing
childrens thinking and learning skills# $his has been infor%ed by
growing knowledge about how the brain works, how people learn and
how teaching approaches can help i%prove childrens ability to think
and learn# ($hinking skills is a ter% often used to refer to the %any
capacities involved in thinking and learning# $hese skills are seen as
funda%ental to lifelong learning, active citiEenship and e%otional
intelligence# Research shows that thinking is developed through
cognitive challenge and opportunities for collaborative work and
%etacognitive discussion# -uccessful approaches to teaching thinking
include cognitive acceleration, brain5based and philosophical
approaches# $hese and other teaching strategies can help raise
standards of achieve%ent and create thinking children, thinking
classroo%s and thinking schools#

,eferences
0dey, P# and -hayer, &# (00" !earning "ntelligence 2uckingha%'
Cpen 1niversity Press
2loo%, 2# 7 8rathwohl, <#R# (19!:" #a$onomy of %ducational
&b'ectives handbook () Cognitive *omain. ,ew Aork' <avid &c8ay
2uEan, $# (19O>?199=" +se your head , Dondon' 22; Publications#
-ee also www#i&ind&ap#co%
;aviglioni C# 7 4arris I# (000" ,apwise) accelerated learning through
visible thinking, ,etwork @ducational Press#
;la+ton G# (00" -uilding !earning .ower) helping young people
become better learners, $DC, 2ristol
;offield, F#, &oseley, <#, 4all, @# 7 @cclestone, 8# (00>" /hould we
be using learning styles. What research has to say to practice,
Dondon' Dearning -kills and <evelop%ent 0gency
de 2ono, @# (1999" /i$ #hinking Hats, Dondon' PenguinM
<f@@ (1999" #he 0ational Curriculum) Handbook for primary teachers
in %ngland, Dondon' P;0 (www#nc#uk#net"
<f@- (00>" Pri%ary ,ational -trategy ( www#standards#dfes#gov#uk"
Fisher R# /tories for #hinking (199:", 1ames for #hinking (199O"
.oems for #hinking (199O"2irst /tories for #hinking (1999", 2irst
.oems for #hinking (000" 3alues for #hinking (001" C+ford' ,ash
PollockM
Fisher R# (00=" #eaching #hinking) .hilosophical %nquiry in the
Classroom, Dondon' ;ontinuu%
Fisher R# (00!" ( nd ed" #eaching Children to #hink, ;heltenha%'
-tanley $hornes
Fisher R# (00!" ( nd ed" #eaching Children to !earn, ;heltenha%'
-tanley $hornes
Gole%an < (199!" %motional "ntelligence ,ew Aork' 2anta%
Gardner 4 (199="M ,ultiple "ntelligences) #he theory in practice 2asic
2ooks ,ew AorkM
4iggins, -# 2au%field, B# 7 Deat, < (001" #hinking #hrough .rimary
#eaching ;a%bridge' ;hris 8ington#
Dip%an, &# (00=" (nd @d#" #hinking in %ducation ;a%bridge'
;a%bridge 1niversity Press
&cGuinness, ;# (1999" 2rom #hinking /kills to thinking classrooms) a
review and evaluation of approaches for developing pupils thinking.
Dondon' <f@@, (Research Report RR11!"#
Piaget I# (19!=" #he &rigins of "ntelligence in Children Dondon'
Routledge 7 8egan Paul
-% ith, 0# (00" #he -rains -ehind "t, -tafford' ,etwork @ducation
Press
)egerif, R# (00" !iterature review in thinking skills technology and
learningwww.nestafuturelab.org
About this #a#er
$his paper %ay be .uoted but not reprinted without per%ission# $he
reference for this paper is' Fisher R# (in press" ($hinking -kills, in
0rthur I, Grainger $ 7 )ray < (eds" !earning to teach in primary
school , Routledge Fal%er
Address for corres#ondence:
Prof# Robert Fisher, 4alsbury 2uilding, 2runel 1niversity, 1+bridge
12J =P4, @ngland
Q Robert Fisher