What is a Thinking School?
Thinking Schools are infant schools, primaries, secondaries and all through schools. They are state funded, charitable trusts and privately owned. Some are part of school groups, some are resolutely independent. They are growing in number around the world. Whatever their context they have one thing in common - they take an explicit, evidence-informed, whole school approach to developing pupils’ cognitive capability and intelligent learning behaviours.
The Thinking School Concept...
The late Professor Bob Burden, arguably the first educator to coin the phrase ‘a Thinking School’ back in 2006, had a definition which still underpins Exeter University’s accreditation requirements today:
‘A Thinking School is an educational community in which all members share a common commitment to giving regular careful thought to everything that takes place. This will involve both students and staff learning how to think reflectively, critically and creatively, and to employing these skills and techniques in the co-construction of a meaningful curriculum and associated activities. Successful outcomes will be reflected in student’s across a wide range of abilities demonstrating independent and co-operative learning skills, high levels of achievement and both enjoyment and satisfaction in learning. Benefits will be shown in ways in which all members of the community interact with and show consideration for each other and in the positive psychological well-being of both students and staff.’
Becoming a Thinking school requires a long-term cultural commitment to the development of cognitive, metacognitive and self-regulating behaviours that we now know contribute significantly towards engagement and success in learning, especially for those from more disadvantaged backgrounds or with additional learning needs. (see Impact of the Thinking School approach). Following an evidence-informed approach, schools explore and embed carefully selected strategies into daily practice that turn this into reality. In 2006 Exeter University created a framework around which school leaders can plan, monitor and evaluate the development of these initiatives. Since then, the university has granted ‘Thinking School’ Status to schools across the UK and increasingly abroad.
How we help…
Many schools have worked in partnership with Thinking Matters in order to achieve this, benefitting from the training, consultancy, tools and resources that we’re able to provide. At Thinking Matters we help schools to identify and implement best practice and develop a robust approach to the embedding of impactful teaching and learning strategies. The support, training and resources we provide centre on our ‘7 Starting Points’ for becoming a Thinking School. TM has created a self-evaluation audit tool based on these starting points and provides subsequent training and support to develop practice against these points:
Thinking Skills
Explicit use of cognitive processes. Thinking Schools focus on the explicit teaching of fundamental cognitive processes and use a common language of thinking, which leads to better understanding and effective construction of knowledge for students.
Tools and Strategies
Explicit use of tools and strategies to construct and visualise ideas. There are many different kinds of visual mapping techniques. Teachers typically use graphic organisers, conceptual and ‘systems’ mapping. TM provides a suite of tools and strategies and help schools develop expertise in their use.
Intelligent Learning Behaviours
Students are self-managing and independent. Educators interested in the area of developing thinking often start by differentiating thinking ‘skills’ (such as cause-effect reasoning and the ability to make inferences) from thinking ‘dispositions’ (such as persistence, remaining open-minded and being metacognitive). Dispositions are often related to the field of emotional intelligences and the emotional and social aspects of learning.
Knowledge is a Foundation for Thinking
Thinking is infused through relevant curriculum content. In Thinking Schools an understanding of memory and the development of memory skills to embed and recall knowledge related to curriculum contexts is central. Careful planning weaves together curriculum requirements and the development of thinking.
Reflective Questioning
High-quality questioning and listening skills. Reflective questioning is the use of prompts and questions to engage students in both thinking about what they know (factual memory) and also how they know (critical reflection). High-quality questions guide students to think about their thinking (metacognition) the dispositions that they are drawing on and how they are collaborating with others as they are learning.
Collaborative Networking
Interdependent thinking. The techniques for cooperative learning are many and there are models for establishing collaborative groups, classrooms and schools. The research on cooperative learning in schools and the need for high-quality collaborative groups in the workplace connect to the recent evolution of social networking through new technologies as learners engage with other learners around the globe. This is more than group work. It is learning how to think interdependently.
An Environment Conducive to Thinking and Learning
The physical environment, systems and resources are organised to facilitate student independence. How the classroom, school, and surrounding area are physically structured has a great effect on teaching and learning. In Thinking Schools students will be involved in determining those aspects of the environment that best facilitate the social and emotional aspects of learning.
Thinking School Accreditation…
The university’s accreditation criteria are organised in seven sections, against which the school is able to monitor and evaluate its progression.
- Senior Management and Whole School Commitment
- Training
- Assessment
- Outcomes
- Evaluation of Programmes
- Ownership
- School Ethos
When sufficient progress has been made, the school may choose to submit their evidence to the university to achieve level 1 or later level 2 accreditation. Since the inception of the Thinking Schools Award, whether schools choose to achieve accreditation or not, Thinking Matters continues to provide in-depth training and consultancy, tools and resources to support those schools seeking to enculturate impactful and sustainable practice.
For a fuller and deeper exploration of what makes a Thinking School:
The late Professor Burden, University of Exeter provides a fuller definition of what it means to be a Thinking School…
The ‘Thinking School’ ethos pervades all aspects of school life and accounts for highly reflective leaders, managers, teachers, and pupils….They make rapid progress in their learning because of their exceptional ability to think, to reason and to work independently.