The Approach
The success of the approach is that schools take a whole-school approach to the teaching of thinking. This means that thinking becomes central and explicit and all teachers and students develop a common thinking language and toolbox.
As students move from lesson to lesson and teacher to teacher they will be using the same tools and strategies as part of a coherent and well-planned approach. This applies to both primary and secondary schools.
Each school will identify and select specific thinking tools which can be used across the curriculum. These tools will develop specific types of thinking and thinking processes. The students will develop an understanding of how they think and be able to articulate how they think. Teachers will talk about thinking with their students.
The partnership between the Cognitive Education Centre (CEC) at the University of Exeter and Kestrel Education means that the combined expertise can be used to best effect. The CEC provides support in the form of evaluation, action research, individual professional development and of course assessment. Kestrel Education provides consultancy support to help with planning and training.
Together CEC and Kestrel have worked with hundreds of schools across the UK and increasingly abroad.
A network of schools now exists across the UK and there are regular network conferences and workshops. Schools share ideas and expertise and provide opportunities to visit one another. The experiences of these schools is proving very valuable and shaping future development.
For teachers with responsibility for the teaching of thinking in their school. Click here for details of the Leading a Thinking School workshop.