Approaches to Learning: Year 1 Semester 2 Lead Lecture Making up your mind: children thinking Geoff...
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Transcript of Approaches to Learning: Year 1 Semester 2 Lead Lecture Making up your mind: children thinking Geoff...
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