Approaches to Learning: Year 1 Semester 2 Lead Lecture Making up your mind: children thinking Geoff Anderson March 2010.

Approaches to Learning: Year 1 Semester 2 Lead Lecture

Making up your mind: children thinking

Geoff Anderson March 2010

Outcomes:-• to know some key principles

relating to how critical thinking affects learning;

• to be able to support and encourage children in developing critical thinking skills

(cf lesson planning activity!)

Plan of action

1. Are you a critical thinker? (You need to be as a teacher)

2. What have we done so far in A2L that links with critical thinking?

3. Some key principles and elements of critical thinking;

4. Critical thinking and Philosophy for Children (‘P4C’);

5. How can we relate all this to the Early Years setting or Primary classroom?

1. Are you a critical thinker?

You do a lot of critical thinking in a day (without thinking about it).....

..... to help you “make up your mind”.

They are critical thinkers too! Ali was helping Toby to “make up his mind”.

2. Some key elements and principles of critical thinking

Extract from video ‘Introducing Citizenship’ (Citizenship Foundation 2001):Children discussing ‘Tusk Tusk’ by David McKee (1978)

“Learning to think critically means:1. Learning

how to question;

2. Learning how to reason.” (Fisher, R (2nd ed 2005) p53)

Questions can encourage critical thinking, eg: • What do you think about…x...? (specific issue)• Is there anything in the story that you would like to talk about?

(concern, interest)• What do you think of that? (perception, points of

view)• What do you think that means? (understanding)• Why do think that? (justification, reasoning)• What do you mean by that? (clarification) • Who agrees with this? (opinion)• Do you think that is fair? (judgement)• What do you think will happen next? (logic, prediction)• What would/could you do if…x…? (application, creativity)• Can you agree on (eg choice of action)? (negotiation,

compromise)• What have we thought about so far? (summary)

(after Rowe (2001) p21: another link to reading)

...a key word here is ....?

You need a stimulus, eg stories(a link to reading....)

“A good story presents to the child a possible world as an object of intellectual enquiry. .......The deeper meanings of stories may reveal themselves only after many readings, or after being discussed with others.”

“I have a lot of questions that I haven’t yet thought of.” (Cassie, aged seven)

(Fisher, R (1999) pp 1 & 7)

There are possible ‘levels’ of criticality, eg:

(from Fisher, R (2nd ed 2005) p56: another link to reading)

... which links to the notion of ‘closed’ and ‘open’ questions.They are BOTH important. Open questions help to provide an evidence base for more open questions.

The skills of speaking and listening are crucial(and another link to reading)

“...if we think of discourse (and by discourse I mean socially shared talk) as the basis for thinking, then speaking and listening cannot be seen as separate acts: they are closely linked.

....Speaking..... is not just a tool for communicating your ideas to others; it is also a process for changing your ideas and understandings with others.”

(Kelly, P (2005) p28)

Time is needed for children to “make up their minds” (and another link to reading)

• “We have been inadvertently trapped in a single mode of mind that is characterised by information-gathering, intellect and impatience, one that requires you to be explicit, articulate, purposeful and to ‘show your working’. ...To tap into the leisurely ways of knowing, one must dare to wait. Knowing emerges from, and is a response to, not knowing. Learning – the process of coming to know – emerges from uncertainty.”

(Claxton, G (1997) p6)

... and this depends on self-esteem(with another link to reading)

“Bandura (1982) has .... drawn attention to the direct link between positive self-concept and self-esteem, and the motivation needed to persevere with a learning task. Recently Damasio (1999) has confirmed, through neuro-biological research, the close interplay between cognition and emotion, and has underlined the essential role of positive self-concept in successful learning.”

(Wallace, B et al (2004) p32)

3. Critical thinking and Philosophy for Children (‘P4C’)

Extract from DVD by SAPERE – see www.sapere.net for more information –‘Granny and the goldfish’.............

‘P4C’ has some key features

• community of enquiry• teacher as ‘facilitator’• structure for enquiry• 4 Cs: aims are to...

- learn to be critical in thinking

- build a dialogue creatively

- strive carefully for better ways of thinking

- be collaborative in approach

Discussion with Y3/4 class, using a globe as a stimulus

Pupil 1: I think maybe sharks are scared of humans.

Pupil 2: I’ve got another question: why do sharks like blood?

Pupil 1: They love it because it’s their favourite thing to eat.

T: Are you saying it’s their nature?

Pupil: It’s their instinct to like it.

Pupil 3: Blood is a treat for them, otherwise they have only sea water….

The student who facilitated this dialogue recorded the results, and shows how she used strategies to manage the session, eg ways of deciding on a question and taking turns.

4. What have we done so far in A2L that links with critical

thinking?Collaboration / interpersonal skills

Significant figures in education

Lesson planning, including learning strategies and ‘AfL’

Multiple intelligences and learning styles

Emotional intelligence

Your own seminar work and display

Learning theory, eg Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner: constructivism

So we can consider that....(linking again to your reading!)

• “Everything about the constructivist approach to learning, in a simple and practical way, points towards the importance of learners getting as close to the material content of what it is hoped they will learn as possible and then ‘doing’ something with it.” (Pritchard, A. (2005) p37)

5. How can we relate all this to the Early Years setting and

Primary classroom?1.Class management

2.The National Curriculum and New Primary Curriculum

3.Every Child Matters (ECM)

4.The whole process of being a reflective practitioner: the Learning Cycle of ‘plan, do, review......’

(Whitebread, D (ed) (1996) p44

Do we have a chance to think about the behaviour in our class?

1. Class Management

How do these link up?

What are the connections between classroom issues and global ones?

from ‘Teaching about Localities’ by Ali Brownlie, Oxfam (1995)

Can these issues be tackled by thinking critically and discussing the possible solutions?

• Communication• Application of Number• Information Technology• Working with Others• Improving Own Learning and Performance• Problem Solving

• Thinking Skills [5]• Information processing• Reasoning• Enquiry• Creative thinking• Evaluation

2. (from Karen’s lecture on the Curriculum)... Key Skills [p20-22]embedded in the National Curriculum

Problem Solving: the Global Dimension(with links to Geography)Bonkers about bananas! (Oxfam)

Exploring the wider world,

raising awareness of issues,

developing a point of view,

taking action as a global citizen

National Curriculum Attainment Targets and Level Descriptors

....set out expectations of the knowledge, skills and understanding which pupils of different abilities are expected to have achieved within the context of end of the different key stages.

Historical artefacts

The New Primary Curriculum

(from Rowe, D (2001) p14)

3.Every Child Matters:

Making a positive contribution

Have you seen or heard of School Councils?

4.(from Karen’s lecture on Planning).....What do we mean by the Learning Cycle?

Plan

Review Do

Where’s the critical thinking here?

(from Karen’s lecture on Planning):.... Questioning

Assess what pupils know

Use a mixture of closed and open questions

Use questions which challenge thinking and go beyond recall

Include as many pupils as possible

Give pupils time to thinkTarget pupils taking in to

account their level of understanding

Pursue a line of questioning with individuals to understand their thinking and act as learning stimulus for the rest of the class

Ask questions in different ways

Encourage pupils to ask each other questions

Some final words....Our own experiences are crucial

….based on our own learning (and taking risks) to stimulate our own ideas to stimulate children as learners

“.....successful learning takes place when the child is encouraged to take risks and be open to new problems in a secure environment, where lack of immediate success does not pose a personal threat.” (Merry, R (1998) p116)

Are you a critical thinker?

.... Of course you are!

..and a detective, searching for the best answers

Where are you now?

Over here!!

BibliographyClaxton, G. (1997) Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind London: Fourth EstateFisher, R. (1999) First Stories for Thinking Oxford: Nash Pollock**Fisher, R. (3rd ed.) (2008) Teaching Thinking: Philosophical Enquiry in the Classroom London Continuum**Fisher, R. (2nd ed.) (2005) Teaching Children to Think Nelson Thornes**Kelly, P. (2005) Using Thinking Skills in the Primary Classroom London: Sage**Merry, R. (1998) Successful Children, Successful Teaching Buckingham: OUPRowe, D. (2001) Introducing Citizenship London: A & C BlackWallace, B. (2001) Teaching Thinking Skills Across the Primary Curriculum London: David Fulton**Wallace, B. (2004) Thinking Skills and Problem Solving – an Inclusive Approach: A Practical Guide for Teachers in Primary Schools London: NACE / Fulton**Whitebread, D. (ed) (1996) Teaching and Learning in the Early Years London: Routledge**

www.oxfam.org/uk/education - Oxfam’s website. Plenty of ideas and resources for teaching www.SAPERE.org.uk – the organisation promoting Philosophy for Children (‘P4C’) in the UK. www.teachingthinking.net – Robert Fisher’s website. Some interesting resources / reading

available.

** = in University Library