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A 24 week program on the explicit teaching of critical and lateral thinking to children 5 - 8 years old

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!THINKING FOR DOING

The Bong Montesa Thinking School

Overall Purpose

The overall purpose of TFD is to explicitly teach thinking skills to children. This is done by teaching them fundamental thinking tools which they can use in their everyday lives.

The Benefits for the Students

After finishing TFD, the pupils will enjoy the following benefits: • Know how to be open-minded • Be able to see opportunities • Be better at solving problems • Enjoy making decisions • Be more effective in planning • Find it easier to be creative • Be able to take advantage of changes in circumstances • Get things done • Develop leadership skills • Own the skill of setting goals more clearly • Think more efficiently and worry less • Own a basis for higher communication with others • Own the general transferable skill of thinking • Raise the level of awareness and effectiveness • See information in a new and more useful ways • Improve their operacy skills !

With TFD, pupils will regard themselves as thinkers who are able to use their thinking skills with confidence, at will and in any direction.

TFD aims to rescue children from poor thinking practices and attitudes like automatic thinking, reflex responses, prejudice, bias, cliché, stereotyping, tunnel-visioning, sloganeering, and short sightedness. How well the thinking is carried out is actually of less importance than the willingness to use thinking as a deliberate skill.

In an evolving information-based economy of the future, the skill of thinking will be the most valuable life skill that every pupil should learn. More than being learners, children must be thinkers – using their minds deliberately for a purpose and can get things done.

Thinking is treated as a separate subject is the answer to the felt need that something essential is missing in the school system – the deliberate teaching of thinking as a skill.

TFD is the first of its kind in the Philippines. It is not embedded in some other subject like Science, Math or Communication Arts. TFD is modelled after Dr. Edward de Bono’s CoRT Thinking Program which has been successfully implemented in countries like Venezuela, Singapore, United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.

General Objectives 1. That each pupil is given the opportunity to express and discuss ideas about specific topics without

being required to use reading or other clerical skills.

2. That each pupil is encouraged to broaden their imaginative, creative and cognitive processes free from the pressure to read, spell, write or use spoken language correctly.

3. That the pupil experiences his/her ideas and conceptual expression in a drawn and written form equally evaluated without comparison to the work of others, in a medium that is expressive and which encourages cognitive contributions not literary or technical skill prowess.

4. That each lesson be developed and devised so that both gifted learners and average/learning-disabled/below average learners can share in a learning unit, without either the gifted being less challenged, or the non –gifted placed at an academic disadvantage or in an embarrassing position.

5. That the pupil develops skills through the program which he/she can transfer to life in general and also use the same in any other curricular area, without encountering application or transfer problems.

6. That the pupil enjoys thinking and regards himself or herself as a skilled thinker who can use his/her thinking skills on demand.

!Skill Area Objectives 1. Provide each student with an opportunity to develop and maximize his/her cognitive and creative

abilities to the fullest and within the framework of each task. 2. Encourage the expression of individual creativity and provide encouragement, stimulation and success

opportunities for a wide student ability range within each task or lesson module. • Develop student expertise in the following cognitive areas: • Machine design; • Fitting a design or idea to the task for which it is needed or required; • Analyzing a plan, project or proposal, and the • Sequencing of an activity, plan or proposal in a behaviorally logical way.

3. Encourage growth and provide practice in the following areas: • Verbal reasoning and relating reasoning to a specific situation, issue, problem, etc. • Language development, • Synthesis and evaluation • Analysis, learning organization and decision-making skills.

!Subject Format

Cognitive Thinking Skills (CTS) The following cognitive thinking skills shall be taught to the pupils:

1. PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting) - Each child should be able to identify, from a given selection, which are the good, bad and interesting points about an idea or suggestion posed. Given the same idea, the child should also be able to generate the good, bad and interesting points of an idea and explain the reason behind his or her thinking.

2. CAF (Consider All Factors) – When presented with an idea, proposal or topic, each child should be able to explain what a factor is and come up with some factors which need to be considered. The child should be able to distinguish between factors to be considered and the plus, minus and interesting of the PMI.

3. AGO (Aims, Goals, Objectives) – Each child should be able to articulate the reasons why someone might act in a particular way or choose to take a particular course of action in a situation. Given an idea or problem, he/she should be able to explain one reason why something might be chosen, take place, etc.

4. FIP (First Important Priorities) – Each child should be able to assist in the development of a list of the most important aspects or features to consider, in examining a problem, issue or situation, etc. He/she should be able to distinguish the less important points from the more important aspects or implications in a given situation.

5. APC (Alternatives, Possibilities, Choices) – As related to a specific situation, plan, idea, etc. the child should be able to verbalize the possible explanations for or a way of dealing with it. From a list of possible explanations, the child should be able to choose the one that is realistically possible way of dealing with or explaining the situation given.

6. RULES – Each child should be able to explain the concept of rules as “designed to make life easier and better for most people”. The child must come up with useful rules concerning a topic, situation, idea, etc. Each child should further understand and be able to express something about the difference and relationship between a rule and a punishment or reward, as well as between a rule and an order given to someone.

7. C&S (Consequence and Sequel) – Each should be able to explain what the word “consequence” means and be able to articulate possible consequences or result given a specific problem, situation, issue, etc. Given a sequence of events, the child should be able to explain something about what would “happen next” or “happen as a result of…” with reasonable logic.

8. OPV (Other People’s Views) – Given a specific situation, problem, etc., each child should be able to explain what other persons are thinking and/or feeling in a situation. He/she should be able to explain something about why every other person in a situation feels or thinks this way.

9. Planning – Each student should be able to explain what the word “plan” means, as well as be able to apply the concept of planning to a specific situation, etc. S/He should further understand that a plan may be a drawn and/or pictured idea to be carried through or a verbalized idea about how something is to be or might be done.

10. Decisions – Given a specific situation, the student should be able to come up with at least two things which need to be considered, make a decision about the situation given and explain why s/he made that particular decision. Each student should also understand something about the relationship between the former lesson units and the processes of making a decision.

Lateral Thinking Skills (LTS)

The term “lateral thinking” describes a situation in which all sorts of offshoots and aspect in a situation would be explored in a creative and lateral manner. Thus, in addition to the Cognitive Thinking Skills, the students will also be given lateral thinking exercises that will hone and develop their creativity, imagination and problem solving skills.

Duration

TFD is taught as a separate thinking subject once a week for 24 weeks. Each session runs for 90 minutes.

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Schedule (SY 2014 - 2015)

Session Date Cognitive Thinking Tool Exercises

June 14, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM PMI 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

June 21, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM PMI 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

June 28, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM CAF 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

July 05, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM CAF 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

July 12, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM AGO 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

July 19, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM AGO 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

August 02, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM APC 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

August 09, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM APC 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

August 30, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM FIP 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

September 06, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM FIP 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

September 13, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM Rules 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

September 27, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM Rules 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

October 04, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM C&S 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

October 11, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM C&S 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

October 18, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM OPV 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

October 25, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM OPV 3 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

November 15, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM PMI, CAF 4 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

November 22, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM AGO, APC 4 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

November 29, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM FIP, RULES 4 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

December 06, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM C&S, OPV 4 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

December 13, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM Planning 2 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

January 10, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM Planning 2 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

January 17, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM Decisions 2 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises

January 24, 2014; 9:00-10:30 AM Decisions 2 CTS Exercises, 2 LTS Exercises