Title: Achieving the possible..using the Foundation Strand Strategy to get pupils to really think.
1Achieving the possible..using the Foundation
Strand Strategy to get pupils to really
think. How do we go about creating principles
for teaching thinking?
Phil Smith Foundation Strand Consultant Bury LEA
2In the next 50 minutes we will
How can I develop the skills of independent
thinking in my pupils?
What are the principles for teaching thinking?
3Isnt this a bit new?
No not reallythe National Curriculum has been
referring to this issue for a while.
- The school curriculum should.promote an
enquiring mind and capacity to think rationally. - The key skill of problem solving involves
pupils developing skills and strategies that will
help them to solve the problems they face in
learning and in life. - By using thinking skills pupils can focus on
knowing how as well as knowing what-learning
how to learn.
4But there is also lots of reference to it within
your own subject!
5How do their brains work and stating of objectives
Three brains for the price of one!
1. The reptilian brain (brain stem) deals with
the 5 Fs (i) Fight (ii) Flight (iii)
Flock (iv) Freeze (v) Sex
Think of the intelligence of a newt..stay alive
and try to have sex.or an undergraduate!
6How do their brains work?
2. The limbic system (emotional brain) deals
with emotions (i) Long-term memories (ii)
Experiences emotions
Three brains for the price of one!
7How do their brains work?
3. The neocortex (Thinking Cap) deals with (i)
Speech (ii) Processing new information (iii)
Abstract thought and reasoning
Three brains for the price of one!
8How do their brains work?
- Why is this important?
- Unless the emotional brain registers what the
neocortex learns then it is not really
believed.so when kids cant cope with whats
going on in the classroom they go reptilian. - Brain starts to think of ways of avoiding or
confronting the situation
All learning has an emotional base Plato
9How do you set your tasks?
If you put the emphasis solely on winning people
will first try to cheat. And secondly, they will
try to win with the minimum of effort because
that shows that they are even better. Professor
Cary Cooperclearly seen those lads at the back
of your classroom!
10What does David Beckham have in common with
Albert Einstein?
Einstein
Beckham
11Answer
- He is just as intelligent!
12Flaws when we come to teach pupils
- Their intelligence is fixed. Tends to put C.A.T.
scores in their place! - Their intelligence is a single factor, something
they either have or dont have to varying degrees
13Foundation Strand materials counter this by.
- Helping teachers to teach memory strategies to
some of the most intellectually challenged
studentsthrough helping pupils think about their
thinking.
14Isnt this a bit new?
No not reallythe National Curriculum has been
referring to this issue for a while.
WarningBEFORE we look at these FIVE areas have
YOUR subject at the forefront of your mind.
- (i) Information-processing skills
- (pupils locate and collect relevant information,
to sort, classify, sequence, compare and
contrast, and to analyse part/whole
relationships) - (ii) Reasoning skills
- (pupils give reasons for opinions and actions, to
draw inferences and make deductions, to use
precise language to explain what they think, and
to make judgements and decisions informed by
reasons or evidence)
15Isnt this a bit new?
No not reallythe National Curriculum has been
referring to this issue for a while.
WarningBEFORE we look at these FIVE areas have
YOUR subject at the forefront of your mind.
- Enquiry skills (pupils will ask relevant
questions, to pose and define problems, to plan
what to do and how to research, to predict
outcomes and anticipate consequences, and to test
conclusions and improve ideas). - Create thinking (pupils can generate and extend
ideas, suggest hypotheses, to apply imagination,
and to look for alternative outcomes). - Evaluation skills (pupils evaluate information,
judge whether the value of what they read, hear
and do, to develop criteria for judging the value
of their own and others work or ideas, and to
have confidence in their judgements).
16Edward de Bonos six hats ideas
- Gut reactions and feelings (red)
- Creativity and new ideas (green)
- Organising the thinking (blue)
17Edward de Bonos six hats ideas
- TES 15th November 2002
- Pupils colour their thoughts
- A school in Surrey used this idea to develop
their pastoral system. - It is difficult to say this is the reason why
standards have gone up it is part of the whole
raising standards package. But it just sits so
well with the key stage 3 strategy, is easy to
use, useful, and you get feedback straight away.
Robin Pellatt (Assistant head teacher)
18Edward de Bonos six hats ideas
- These strategies were used to discuss
- Whether parents should be allowed to sit in on
lessons - To develop thinking about science
work/experiments - To handle discuss style questions in exams
- Some Year 11s took in 6 coloured pencils to
remind them of the process and help them apply it.
19Outstanding performance. What might it look
like in your subject?
- Be subject sensitive and rigorous.
- For example
- What will a Year 9 pupil produce in their History
lesson that is outstanding in terms of evidential
understanding? - What will a Year 9 pupil produce in their Music
lesson that is outstanding in terms of listening
and applying their knowledge and understanding? - What will a Year 9 pupil produce in their
Geography lesson that is outstanding in terms of
completing an enquiry on Tourism-good or bad?
20Outstanding performance. What might it look
like in your subject?
21Outstanding performance. What might it look
like in your subject?
22Outstanding performance. What might it look
like in your subject?
23Outstanding performance. What might it look
like in your subject?
24Outstanding performance. What might it look
like in your subject?
- Create thinking
- Generate and extend ideas?
- Suggest hypotheses?
- To apply imagination?
- To look for alternative outcomes?
- Information-processing skills
- Collecting relevant information?
- Sort, classify and sequence?
- Analyse part/whole relationships?
- Reasoning skills
- Give reasons for opinions and actions?
- To draw inferences and make deductions?
- To use precise language to explain what they
think? - To make judgements and decisions informed by
reasons or evidence?
- Evaluation skills
- Evaluate information?
- Judge whether the value of what they read, hear
and do? - To develop criteria for judging the value of
their own and others work or ideas? - To have confidence in their judgements?
- Enquiry skills
- Ask relevant questions?
- To pose and define problems?
- To plan what to do and how to research?
- To predict outcomes and anticipate consequences?
- To test conclusions and improve ideas?
25What is outstanding performance?Some generic
responses
- Seeing patterns in data
- Making links with other topics or areas
- Thinking laterally
- Being creative
- Generalising
- Solving problems
- Checking and refining solutions
- Seeing different viewpoints
- Using existing knowledge
- Knowing a lot
- Having a good memory
- Fast processing of information
- Working with others
26The crucial planning stage
Key Stage 3 and cumulative resonance
27Aristotle on teaching and learning at Key Stage 3
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then,
is not an act but a habit.
or in other words having cumulative resonance at
Key Stage 3!
28Where to start? Creating the BIG picture for
developing pupils thinking
1. Planning for knowledge resonance and
knowledge building E.g How will we use the
series of RE lessons which focus on Where do we
look for God? to make the following series of
lessons What does justice mean to Christians?
more accessible, more enjoyable and more
rigorous? E.g. How will the series of Geography
lessons which focus on Where is our place and
what is it like? make the following series of
lessons How is our place connected to other
places? more accessible, more enjoyable and more
challenging? E.g. How will the series of Art and
Design lessons which focus on Objects and
viewpoints make the following series of lessons
Animating art more accessible, more enjoyable
and more challenging?
29Where to start? Creating the BIG picture for
developing pupils thinking
- 2. Create challenging benchmarks
- e.g. By the end of Year 7 all History pupils will
be able to explain how Parliament is different
from Government using specific examples - e.g. By the end of Year 8 all Geography pupils
will be able to use the organising
words-Political, Social, Economic,
Religious, Cultural, Demographic,
Technological-with ease
30Understanding some of the generic principles of
teaching thinking..how did go about solving this
problem?
- Adults are holding children, waiting their turn.
The children are handed (one at a time, usually)
to a man, who holds them while a woman shoots
them. If the child is crying, the man tries to
stop the crying before the child is shot. Whats
really going on? - A cabin, locked from the inside, is perched on
the side of a mountain. It is forced open, and
thirty people are found dead inside. They had
plenty of food and water.
31Understanding some of the generic principles of
teaching thinking
- A dead man lies near a pile of bricks and a
beetle on top of a book. - 4. A man marries twenty women in his village but
isnt charged with polygamy.
32Using starters to raise the level of thinking
- 5Ws
- Who?
- What?
- When?
- Where?
- Why?
33Understanding some of the generic principles of
teaching thinking
34Understanding some of the generic principles of
teaching thinking
- Design a mammal Handout 11.1
35Understanding some of the generic principles of
teaching thinking
- What came into your minds when starting this
task? - How did your group operate?
- What stages did your individual and collective
thinking go through?
36The Design a mammal and thinking skills
- One model of memory describes the difference
between immediate, short and long-term memory. - The sheep metaphor.
- (i) You round up the sheep-(capturing them in
your immediate memory). Information enters and
exits at high speed.
Since these can enter and exit at high speed,
thats why the activity comes with the
instructions written down so that the brain
cannot hang on to all that information
37The Design a mammal and thinking skills
- By reading some of the cards you start to chase
these details into your short-term memory. But
the gates of the pen open and close and memories
can be lost since the gates are insecure
38The Design a mammal and thinking skills
- The short-term memory does have a limited
capacity before things start to escape from it!
Thats why most people can only think of a
certain number of cards at any one time. Many
low attaining pupils will not be able to link
many pieces of information together in the
short-term memory.
39The Design a mammal and thinking skills
- (i) Everyone will have used knowledge in their
long-term memory to do the task-knowledge of the
Arctic and its animals, including episodic visual
flashes from films, TV programmes and perhaps
personal experience.
40Can we improve our pupils ability to think?
- Cognitive ability is related to three major
factors - Genetic make-up
- Time/maturity
- Environment
41Creating the right kind of classroom
High
Challenge
Low
High
Low
Stress
42The Design Mammal activity achieves this High
Challenge Low Stress zone because
- Pupils have to justify their choice of features
in the light of information about the environment - Thinking about whether the six features actually
fit together to make a sensible animal - Being challenged with questions such as How
would your animal actually catch its prey? or
How would it survive 3 or 4 months of permanent
dark winter? - Presenting information about adaptations of its
prey to avoid predation - Hearing other peoples reasoning
- Being asked Would the animal survive in a
desert?
43The Design Mammal activity achieves this High
Challenge Low Stress zone because
- Just a fun activity?.. or one which forms part
of a bigger picture of learning in which these
skills are revisited, warmed up and developed in
different settings in future lessons over weeks,
months and years? - Good thinking is shared through talk (Vygotsky
and his zone of proximal developmenttranslated
as two heads are better than one!) - Metacognition..thinking about thinkinggetting
pupils to regularly step back from the task and
review progress and strategies they are using
44Points for discussion of handout 11.2
- What do you feel are the key points outlined?
- What type of thinking is common in your subject?
- What implications are there for your own practice?
45Time for a coffee break
46So what can we do to get them thinking together
rather than just chatting?
47What are the common pitfalls?
- Planning frequently focuses on what teachers will
teach and not on what pupils will learn? - Pupil progress is characterised by gains in
knowledge rather than deeper understanding or
extension of skills - Too often the context for extended writing is
narrative or description - There are few opportunities for pupils to analyse
or interpret, compare and contrast, or to develop
their own ideas
48Objectives
- To consider talk as a tool for thinking and
learning - To evaluate and understand ways that pupils talk
together in joint activities - To consider how pupils can be helped to talk and
reason together most effectively
49Famous adults who could have done with the
Thinking together module from the Foundation
Strand
The Evidence Question If you could live
forever, would you and why? Answer I would not
live forever, because we should not live forever,
because, if we were supposed to live forever,
then we would live forever, which is why I would
not live forever Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss
USA Contest
50Famous adults who could have done with the
Thinking together module from the Foundation
Strand
The Evidence..Part Two Smoking kills. If
youre killed youve lost a very important part
of your life. Brooke Shields, during an
interview to become spokesperson for a federal
antismoking campaign
51Famous adults who could have done with the
Thinking together module from the Foundation
Strand
The Evidence..Part Three and four Outside of the
killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime
rates in the country. Mayor Marion Barry,
Washington DC It isnt pollution thats harming
the environment. Its the impurities in our air
and water that are doing it. Former US Vice
President Dan Quayle
52Using talk to get pupils thinking?
Everybodys talking at me I dont hear a word
theyre saying Only the echoes of my mind People
stopping, staring I cant see their faces Only
the shadows of their eyes
53Whats all this talk about talking?
- Whats the point of talk?
- Is it any good?
- Is it making any difference?
54The expectations are certainly high
Expectations for Year 7-9 when it comes to
speaking and listening
Year 7 Use talk as a way of clarifying
ideas Listen for and recall the
main points of a talk Identify and
report the main points emerging from a
discussion
55The expectations are certainly high
Expectations for Year 7-9 when it comes to
speaking and listening
Then in Year 8 Reflect on their ability as a
speaker and identify areas for
improvement Listen for a specific
purpose Use talk to question
hypothesise, speculate, evaluate,
solve problems and develop thinking
about complex issues and ideas
56The expectations are certainly high
Expectations for Year 7-9 when it comes to
speaking and listening
Then in Year 9 Use standard English to explain,
explore or justify an idea Identify the
underlying themes, implications and issues
raised by talk, reading Discuss and
evaluate conflicting evidence to arrive at a
considered viewpoint
57But what can the Foundation Subjects add to this?
Lets be brutally honest. A. Unfocussed
discussion can be mind-numbingly dull especially
for the more able pupil. B. Weakly structured
empathetic work can do more harm than good C.
Can easily lead to more confusion
58But what can the Foundation Subjects add to this?
A pupils perception of speaking and listening in
school Talking things through helps us to
understand. If you only say things in your head
it does not help-you have to get them out.
59Sloppy chatter might be worse than
none Christine Counsell
60What kind of talk do we want?
- When you ask pupils to work and talk together,
what sort of talk do you wish to take place? - If you had to compile a list of up to five rules
that pupils should follow in order to talk
together effectively, what would your rules be?
61Exploratory talk
- In exploratory talk
- pupils and teachers engage critically but
constructively with each others ideas - contributions build on previous comments
- relevant information is offered for joint
consideration - there is speculation
- pupils give reasons for their views and seek them
from others
62Exploratory talk
- reasoning is visible in the talk.
- It is an effective way of using language to
think the process of education should ensure
that every child is aware of its value and be
able to use it effectively - However, observational research evidence suggests
that very little of it naturally occurs in
classrooms when children work together in
groups. - Mercer, N. (2000)
63Ground rules for talk
- Everyone should
- be actively encouraged to contribute
- offer opinions and ideas
- provide reasons for their opinions and ideas
- share all relevant information
- feel free to disagree if they have a good reason
- ask other people for information and reasons
- treat other peoples ideas with respect
- try to come to an agreement
- and
- change their minds if they are persuaded by good
reasoning.
64Transcript 1 Writing a jingle
- In a Year 7 music lesson, Luc and Christina are
composing a jingle on the keyboard for an
advertisement and writing it using musical
notation. - Luc is writing down the music as Christina plays
it. - Christina Just write in the next note.
- Luc Youve got to get it on there. (Points to
keyboard) Yes thats you. Lets just have
a listen to it. - Christina Youve got to let me get some ideas
in sometimes. - Luc Youre playing it!
65Transcript 1 Writing a jingle
- Christina Well you can do some, go on.
- Luc (Writing) In a minute.
- Christina (Mumbles something under her breath)
- Luc Youre playing. (Hums a bit of tune)
- Christina You can play that.
- Luc Why dont you do it?
- Christina No, because you should.
66Pre-course task using collected comments
- So what did the pupils use talk for in class?
- What is the potential educational value of talk
amongst pupils? - What difficulties are there in ensuring that
their task is useful?
67Developing pupils speaking and listening Year 9
example
Pupil 1 But if Hitler had still been in prison
in 1929, the Germans would have had to have
trusted their other politicians Pupil 2 Yes,
but he wasnt. They couldnt trust politicians
who had been in power when their businesses went
bust. They had to hold somebody to account, so
they turned to Hitler's strong ideas. Pupil 3
So youre saying that they wanted somebody who
they knew Jews? Pupil 2 I don't know. I hope
not, but the more important thing seems to me
that Hitler had ideas for giving people their
jobs back. Wouldnt you have voted for him if
you were broke? At least he knew what he wanted.
68Lessons learnt from the Key Stage 3 pilot
- Strategies for helping pupils develop subject
specific concepts as well as their own concepts
and principles - Sorting/classification activities
- (Why did Wilf Smith join the Durham Light
Infantry?...History - Est-ce que Paul doit commencer a fumer?...MFL
- Why is Simon going to Jerusalem? .RE
- Why is Dai Williams involved in the building of a
new Japanese restaurant in Bridgend?....Geography)
69Lessons learnt from the Key Stage 3 pilot
- Strategies for helping pupils develop subject
specific concepts as well as their own concepts
and principles - (ii) Odd one out
- Useful as a starter/full lesson to be developed
later in the lesson - Has worked very well in Design and Technology,
art, music, RE and PE. More recent work has
been done in MFL. - (See Handout 11.1 for further details
- and FS video example
-
70Lessons learnt from the Key Stage 3 pilot
- Strategies for helping pupils develop subject
specific concepts as well as their own concepts
and principles - Maps from memory
- Food technology and flattened individual cereal
box - All sorts of data maps e.g. a map of Rome
demonstration - See RE and Geography examples
-
71Maps from memory
- Each pupil comes up twice so that each group has
eight visits - The group are asked to plan their strategy and
write it down - Pupils look at the map for 10 seconds without pen
or paper - After four visits the group are given the chance
to review and adjust their overall strategy - After eight visits the class reflect on their
strategies
72Maps from memory
- The teacher collates pupils strategies on the
board but also does 3 important things - Suggests there is a pattern-to get the main
outline of the map, divide it into sections and
then focus on the detail - Suggests that this pattern is important in other
contexts, for example in writing - Finally asking the class are asked to apply this
new knowledge to another area, for example
completing a sheet on how you get to know a map
of a new area and what skills you need to pack
when going on holiday
73Lessons learnt from the Key Stage 3 pilot
- Strategies for helping pupils develop subject
specific concepts as well as their own concepts
and principles - Reading photographs and pictures, 5Ws
- See Inference Charts
- Telling/Suggesting word boxes
-
74(No Transcript)
75Telling and suggesting
- The church dedicated to St. Grwst was built in
the early 1400 next to the church is the Gwydyr
chapel, built in 1663 as a burial place for the
Wynne family of Gwydyr castle. - In the centre of the chapel lies the stone coffin
of Llewellyn (the welsh prince) who died in 1240.
Llewellyn the great was originally buried at
Aberconwy abbey and then removed to Meanan abbey
until the time of the dissolution of the
monasteries when the coffin was brought to the
old parish church of Llanrwst. - The tower was built around 1800.
- (Topographical dictionary of Wales 1844)
This tells us when the main part of the church
was built
This suggests that the Wynnes were a wealthy
family
This suggests that the wealthy people of the
valley took care of the coffin of the Welsh prince
This tells us when the chapel was built
This suggests that when Henry VIII had the
monasteries dissolved in England, the same thing
happened in Wales
This tells us when the tower was built
76Investigating the site and the photograph in
Geography for example
77Investigating the site and the photograph in RE
for example
78Investigating Mozarts Symphony No. 40 in Music
for example
I can tell that this part of the piece is played
with violins
I suggest that the mood this creates is
.because
I suggest that one of the feelings Mozart was
trying to create was..
79Lessons learnt from the Key Stage 3 pilot
- Strategies for helping pupils develop subject
specific concepts as well as their own concepts
and principles - Mysteries
- The lost livestock of Loxley Coppice Farm
- Design and Technology Why did the Tai Bridge
collapse? -
80Lessons learnt from the Key Stage 3 pilot
- Spot the Dodgy Data Report
- Numbers employed (000s) in UK farming 1988-1999
Now look at the two statements on your table.
Which may have been produced by the National
Farmers Union and which may have been produced by
the Ministry of Agriculture, fisheries and food?
How did you work this out? Could you write a
better summary of these figures?
81Ready for more?
- Build group talk into your lesson plans.
- Raise pupils awareness of talk.
- With colleagues, plan a coordinated approach to
talk. - Use ICT as a resource for encouraging exploratory
talk.
82Ready for more?
- Build it in dont bolt it on!