Chris Redmond, PhD

Time to Take a Good Look in the Mirror: promoting reflective thinking in the classroom

PREVIEW:What will we explore today?

• What do we mean by reflective thinking?

• Why is it important?

• What are the factors that either hinder or promote its development in our classrooms?

• How can we further develop students’ reflective thinking capacity?

Your thoughts and questions about reflective thinking and

metacognition

Let’s begin with…

How did we get to here?

“neuronnarrative.”wordpress.com. Web. 18 Nov 2009 “David Baddiel.”comedy.co.uk. Web. 18 Nov 2009

“Bus sign at bus stop.” fredrikmedia.Web. 18 Nov 2009

“Tea bag.” pun.org/josh/archives/2005/10. Web. 18 Nov 2009

So, what do we mean by reflective thinking?

Reflective thinking is, “…active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends… it is a conscious and voluntary effort to establish belief upon a firm basis of reasons.”

John Dewey quoted in Cam (1999)

ACTIVE THOUGHTFUL PERSISTENT CRITICAL EVALUATIVE

“Metacognition is the internal managing processes that we use to take charge of and direct our own thinking so that it is no longer determined by impulse and association but by what we should do as skilful thinkers.” (Swartz et al, 1998 in McGregor, 2007)

And, what about metacognition?

internal managing

take charge our own thinking

“Metacognitive processes are presumed to take place when we think about our own thinking, for example, when we reflect upon whether we know something, whether we are learning, whether we have made a mistake.” (Smith,1994 in McGregor, 2007)

Metacognition

thinking about thinkingreflecting

self regulating

Being a skillful reflective thinker helps towards being:

•a more critically thinking citizen;•a self-aware and empowered learner;•able to solve problems in an innovative and flexible way;•a more persistent learning;•being able to retain and recall information more effectively

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

critical self aware empowered innovative flexible persistent effective

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

1) “If you are hopeless at something you lack the skills to know that you are hopeless at it.”

John Cleese

2) “If you really knew how your brain worked it would work much better.”

Student quoted in Robert Fisher(2005)

1+2= ?

What factors seemed to be hindering reflective thinking?

•Time•Pace•Language•Developmental level of students•Own level of understanding and skill

Because, meanwhile, back in the REAL WORLD

Back to why it’s important to tryAn example: Self advocacy for learning

support students at ISB

Learning Objective: for High School Learning Support Students to develop their Individual Learning Plan

Identify their learning stylesIdentify learning strategies that work for themSet SMART learning goalsVisualize what success looks like

Research suggests that this approach empowers adults with special learning needs to better self advocate for the support they need

How does this connect with our broader learning goals?

It’s all about learners andlearning

Where might I begin?

A Multiple Intelligences Quiz

•Infusion time and opportunities•Making thinking visible•A precise vocabulary •Teacher modeling•Scaffolding•Prompted practice•Enskilling learners•Open, supportive and challenging culture of learning •Recognize the affective dimension •Specific thinking routines

What factors support reflective thinking?

InfusionMaking reflective thinking part of every lesson: •The Review Preview Connecting to prior learning

•WALT board•Big questions What makes you say that?

How did you do that? Is it my best effort?

•Metacognition strategies•Progressive vocabulary development •Participative Review + Record

Self-Directed Learning Review

•Get to go at your own pace•Mini Lessons help gain better understanding•Get to choose what to focus on (independent access to resources)

Student feedback:

What do we want our students to learn?

How will our students learn?

Global Perspectives

Reflectivethinking

Infusion Throughout the Curriculum

“Afghan Girl (photo).” Wikipedia. Web. 18 Nov 2009

All Learners are Visual Learners

“Much of the trouble students have with learning is due to its invisible nature.”

When we can make thinking visible we make learning: •CONCRETE•PUBLIC•ACCESSIBLE•FLEXIBLE (EASIER TO MANIPULATE)

Adapted from EyeQue (2002)

Harvard’s Making Thinking Visible

Reflection Sketches

WHAT?WHEN? WHY?HOW? WHO?

Reflection Sketches

For learners to be reflective thinkers “…they need to have internalized the two roles of listener and problem solver to such an extent that they become automatic.” (Lochhead, 2001)

The Power of Conversation

reflective thinkers

internalizedlistening

problem solver automatic

= +

Tech Integration for Facilitating Conversation

Voice Thread

Blogging and e-portfolios

Personal Capacity Building

Learning About Learning

Image Source: http://www.det.nt.gov.au/education/special_education

Action research is essentially an evidence based form of enquiry or problem solving that involves a spiral cycle of reflecting,planning and taking action:

Learning Focused Action Research

But most of the time, most teachers don’t do it…

Engaging teachers in structured, conversations about learning,

Data wise, teachers as key resources

Make copies of full research approach and copies of learing instiutes stuff

A sustainable approach to action research needs to:

be REALISTIC

be RIGOROUS

be a LOGICAL EXTENSION of teachers’ everyday practice

SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE student and teacher LEARNING

Professional learning that is a natural extension of classroom learning

These get to the essence of the subject, generating deep understanding through reflection, discussion, data collection and action.

A possible response: the LOOK, THINK, ACT model of action

research

Each stage clearly defined and expressed as a set of essential questions.

GOAL!

“David Beckham.” usatoday.com/sports/soccer. Web. 23 Nov 2009

“Vygotsky insisted that a human psychology not be concerned with particulars but with unities- the unity of the person; the unity of the person and its social relations…

“Rather than isolating one from the other, Vygotsky proposed that “there exists a dynamic meaningful system that constitutes a unity of affective and intellectual process.” (original emphasis)

Holzman (2009)

UNITY AFFECTIVE INTELLECTUAL

PROCESSES

The Affective

A Reminder

“Without reflective thinking we remain lost in a mental fog that we cannot see and have no reason to believe exists. Therefore until we can think reflectively, we have no idea what we have been missing.”

(Lochhead, 2001)“Theresa Descending.” skicambridge.com. Web. Nov 18 2009

SO WOT?

Reflective Thinking WIKI

http://isbrussels-reflective-thinking.wikispaces.com/

CEC

CONNECT How are the ideas presented today connected to what I already knew?

EXTEND What new ideas did I get that extended or pushed your thinking in new directions?

CHALLENGE What is still challenging or confusing for me to get my mind around? What questions, wonderings or puzzles do I now have?

The International School of Brussels - Kattenberg 19, 1170 Brussels. Belgium - Tel: 00 32 (2) 661 42 11 - Fax: 00 32 (2) 661 42 00

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redmondc@isb.beLinkedIn