Thinking

(it’s not as easy as it looks!)

Where do you see yourself?

bring it on...
IC..huh? amaze me!
 Warm – Up
( Analytical into Creative)

Think of an animal.
As a group complete the following :

THINKING IS LIKE ..... (name of an animal)

BECAUSE 1………..
2……….
3……….
 Do we really want
students to think?

Teacher directed - means nothing changes. The teacher is in control and “has all the knowledge”.
Self directed – gives the students some control over their own learning. They have to think more for themselves and make
their own decisions while the teacher can become a facilitator.

How do we want students to work at school?

To be Teacher directed or Self directed?
Or both?
One of the biggest issues we face is sorting through the various approaches that different people have developed.
Habits of Mind, Multiple Intelligences, Thinking Styles, de Bono’s Hats, Bloom’s Taxonomy and so on.
 Do we really want
students to think?

Teacher directed - means nothing changes. The teacher is in control and “has all the knowledge”.
Self directed – gives the students some control over their own learning. They have to think more for themselves and make
their own decisions while the teacher can become a facilitator.

How do we want students to work at school?

To be Teacher directed or Self directed?
Or both?
One of the biggest issues we face is sorting through the various approaches that different people have developed.
Habits of Mind, Multiple Intelligences, Thinking Styles, de Bono’s Hats, Bloom’s Taxonomy and so on.
 Have you heard of...

Bloom's Original Taxonomy! Anderson's Revised Taxonomy

Knowledge! Remembering
Comprehension! Understanding
Application! Applying
Analysis! Analysing
Synthesis! Evaluating
Evaluation! Creating
 Have you heard of...
Social Cognitive theory Six Hats
Thinker’s Keys

Multiple Intelligences Habits of Mind

Anderson’s revised T.o.m.a.t.o.e.s.

taxonomy S.c.a.m.p.e.r.

S.c.u.m.p.s. Bloom’s Taxonomy

Whole Brain Learning Styles C.a.m.p.e.r.

Theory Divergent thinking model
Extended Brainstorming
Game theory
Bloom's Original Taxonomy! Anderson's Revised Taxonomy
Knowledge! Remembering
Comprehension! Understanding
Application! Applying
Analysis! Analysing
Synthesis! Evaluating
Evaluation! Creating
What can we do to
encourage/promote
student Thinking?
 GROUP BRAINSTORM

STEP 1:
In a circle in the centre of the page, draw
a
symbol
that represents what good thinking is all
about.
 GROUP BRAINSTORM
DIRECTIONS:
Step 2.
Draw lines radiating
from the circumference
of the circle to begin a creativity
simple web, ? ?
At the end of the lines,
write attributes of good ? ?
thinking or some of the
qualities of good thinkers. ? ?
?
 NOW…

As a group, can you decide what

is at the heart of all
good thinking :

What are three essential ingredients?

 If we are going to teach Thinking
what do we need to understand?

We need to understand that the different styles, and combinations of them, can reflect the dominance of different areas of
the brain.
We also need to understand what the different styles mean in terms of teaching and learning.
It is important to understand the expectations of the different styles in terms of learning.

This helps to ensure that a lesson is balanced in terms of addressing the needs of all learners.
The challenge for us!
It is important to recognise that we must be careful not to allow our own Thinking Style preference to dominate the
classroom. We need to learn how to present in all four styles.
 So, what about the Tools
available to support/
provoke student thinking?

Mind Maps & brainstorming

Graphic Organisers
The Internet
Collaborative sites
For Brainstorming etc
 So how do we make sense of all this?

By obtaining an idea of each student’s Thinking Style, we can help them to consolidate their strengths and, hopefully, to
develop their weaker areas.
Earlier I referred to all the different approaches to Learning and Teaching that have been developed.
It is all about challenging your students to think about what they are doing and extend them by developing other ways of
looking at things.
Choose an approach you think you will be comfortable with, but don’t be afraid to try other ideas as you gain confidence.
Of course, one of the greatest challenges we face today is student engagement (or lack of).
It is therefore important to create conditions where students will engage themselves.
By empowering students to take control of their own learning are they more likely to be better motivated?
Creating an awareness, for them, of their preferred Thinking Style as well as encouraging the use of the other styles will
challenge them to become better thinkers and may help motivation.
 WHAT ARE YOUR
THINKING STRENGTHS?
European research has linked responses to visual images to
thinking strengths.

Do you feel you are better at :

Analysing? …..
Creative Thinking? …. or
Critical Thinking??
 INTELLIGENT

CRITICAL THINKING STRENGTHS

STRONG IN DECISION MAKING AREA

 ANALYTICAL THINKERS

WANTS TO SEE ALL SIDES

STRENGTHS – DEFERRING JUDGEMENT

CREATIVE THINKERS
STRONG IMAGINATION

VISIONARY & LEADERSHIP

STRENGTHS
 PRE - OCCUPIED
WITH SEX AND BOOZE

IT’S A WONDER THEY CAN THINK

AT ALL!!!
Mr Osborne may I be excused? My brain is full!