Helping Young Learners to Develop Super Minds

Andrzej Raczkowski

Teacher Trainer

Cambridge University Press ELT

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‘A good teacher makes you think, even when you don’t want to.’ Tom, aged 10

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What experts say

‘Thinking skills are not an addition to the curriculum but are embedded in all subjects in the curriculum. They are present in all good teaching and learning. They are the foundation of personal development as well as making an important contribution to social and economic development by helping to develop students who have the capacity to think and act creatively, to meet challenges positively and effectively, and show initiative and enterprise in how they think and learn.’

(Fisher 2000: 3)

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Cognitive goals (Bloom) Thinking skills

knowledge information-processing skills

comprehension and application

enquiry and problem solving skills

analysis critical thinking and reasoning skills

synthesis creative thinking skills

evaluation evaluation skills

(Fisher 2000: 3)

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Creating challenge

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Information-processing skills

• Locate, collect and recall relevant information

• Interpret information to show understanding of relevant concepts and ideas

• Analyse information, e.g. sort, classify, sequence, compare and contrast

• Understand relationships, e.g. part/whole

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UNIT 1 Thinking skills ● Interpreting visual information ● Logical- mathematical thinking ● Selecting and Classifying

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UNIT 1 Thinking skills ● Interpreting visual information ● Logical- mathematical thinking ● Selecting and Classifying

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Enquiry skills

• Ask relevant questions

• Pose and define problems

• Plan what to do and ways to research

• Predict outcomes and test conclusions or improve ideas

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UNIT 5 Thinking skills ● Reflecting and analysing

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Reasoning skills (critical thinking)

Who, what, why, how, where and when?

• Give reasons for opinions

• Draw inferences and make deductions

• Use precise language to explain what they think

• Justify beliefs by the use of reasons and/or evidence

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UNIT 6 Thinking skills ● Interpreting and giving reasons ● Analysing and applying world knowledge ● Sequencing and remembering

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Creative thinking skills

• Generate and extend ideas

• Suggest possible hypotheses

• Apply imagination to their thinking

• Look for alternatives in explanations and outcomes

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UNIT 7 Thinking skills ● Matching auditory with visual information ● Predicting and checking

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Evaluation skills

• Evaluate information

• Judge the value of what they read, hear and do

• Develop criteria for judging their own and other’s work

• Have confidence in their personal judgements, forming their own points of view

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UNIT 8 Thinking skills ● Comparing and evaluating ● Evaluating and selecting

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Bloom and storytelling When telling a story, a teacher might ask the following questions:

1. Knowledge What happened in the story?

2. Comprehension Why did it happen that way?

3. Application What would you have done?

4. Analysis Which part did you like best?

5. Synthesis Can you think of a different ending?

6. Evaluation What did you think of the story? Why?

(Fisher 2010: 72)

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What happened in the story?

Why did it happen that way?

What would you have done?

Which part did you like best?

Can you think of a different ending?

What did you think of the story? Why?

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References

Fisher, R. (2000) Thinking Skills: adding challenge to the curriculum. Published by the Scottish Network for Able Pupils.

Fisher, R. (2010) Teaching Thinking in the Classroom, Education Canada Vol. 47 (2), Canadian Education Association (www.cea-ace.ca)

Puchta, H. et al. (2012) Super Minds Teacher’s Book 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.