Within this theme, two voices are heard: the teachers’ voices and my own researcher voice.
Teachers’ voices
Teachers were asked to describe features of their current teaching practice that they applied in their daily teaching of thinking skills. They indicated that they sought successful teaching-learning processes and classroom strategies based on what was seen to be good for the student, was helpful for the class, and which contributed to the effective delivery of the curriculum content.
Categories, reasons and levels for teaching of thinking skills
I found that the teachers used a variety of pedagogical language to talk about the Questionnaire items. They also used different kinds of activities to achieve their teaching-learning goals; to stimulate questions and questioning; and to lead to discussion. It seems that within this concept of the use of questions and questioning, there is embedded a democratic paradigm, that allows students to explore in every direction. Efforts in their responses to distinguish between teaching the subject and teaching the student were productive, as teachers gave information about the thinking skills they employed.
The first set of responses, contained in Table 4.19.1, referred to classroom planning. Fifteen respondents (15/33) explained their philosophy of education, with general statements of a policy nature given. Four teachers (4/33) concentrated their efforts on the successful delivery of the curriculum content. The remaining five (5/33) did not name their exact philosophy in the classroom but comments elsewhere indicate that they operated under similar classroom strategies and objectives as noted herein. Two participants did not respond to this question and the three experts: Roger, Clint and Matthew
TABLE 4.19.1 CLASSROOM PLANNING
(Good of Stud = teachers’ philosophy was directly for the good of students; Good of class = teachers’ philosophy was for the good of class members; Del of Curr = teachers’ philosophy was to deliver the curriculum complete; Pers Reasons = teachers’ philosophy was a more nuanced and personal approach to curriculum content)
The data contained in Table 4.19.2 refer to thinking skills used by teachers. Fourteen teachers gave a list of thinking skills used most often and which were therefore most familiar to their own students. Eight had reasons
TABLE 4.19.2 HOW THINKING SKILLS ARE CURRENTLY ADDRESSED
(List Think Skills = Teachers listed thinking skills as needed; Reasons For Tch Think Skills = teachers had specific reasons for teaching relevant thinking skills; No Listing = teachers showed no listing of specific thinking skills taught)
for teaching thinking skills as they were applied to the particular and relevant content of a topic for student learning, and seven did not list the thinking skills most often used in their discipline. Twenty-six teachers gave clear reasons for how their teaching of thinking skills operated. A small number did not respond to this question.
Rewards for student use of thinking skills
Teachers used a variety of rewards, from verbal affirmation to lollies (confectionery), when students displayed applied thinking skills within the classroom experience. These data are reported in Table 4.20. Two teachers (2/33) gave lollies as reward for displaying the use of applied thinking skills; however, twenty teachers (20/33) preferred verbal rewards as a means of showing approval for successful use of thinking skills. Nine others (9/33) concentrated on what they termed visible and lasting rewards for the display of successful thinking skills in class. Three teachers (3/33) did not specify the particular rewards, if any, that they used.
TABLE 4.20 VARIETY OF REASONING BEHIND AFFIRMATIONS USED
(Lollies = teachers used sweets as a reward for student thinking skills; Verbal = teachers used verbal affirmations for student thinking skills; Lasting = teachers used other affirmation channels like display of Star or other certified affirmations; no detail = teachers did not respond to this question)
TABLE 4.21 ACTIVITIES BASED ON CURRICULUM AREAS
COMMENT CONSTRUCT CONCEPT THEME
English or Religious Studies: Teachers often started with a question on the board, after which they invited written responses before questions could be formulated. Harriette: Dictate and expect pupils to give negative or positive comment – give suggestions only, collect statements and discuss views.
Provide a question Invite a written response Student- centred responses
Science: Teachers provided precise sources like a fact or an example to stimulate student response. Jane: I will provide a quote, a fact, object, example and see how students respond.
Provide a fact or an example See how students respond Student- centred responses Physical Education: Teachers were more direct
and perhaps physical in their strategies. Pietr: Pose a question relating to the topic and ask students to stand in particular spots depending on their point of view they were expected to discuss their reasons. Teachers employ direct, physical stimuli Students move to a location; explain their reasons for so doing Student- centred responses
Art, Design and Technology: Visual stimuli were used to begin the project or study. Susan: I always present the work as a problem so students are encouraged to think.
Visual stimuli used
Present the work as a problem Student- centred thinking
Activities and rewards (qualitative)
Four curriculum areas were represented in the individual responses: Art, Design and Technology; English; Physical Education; and Religious Studies. Once again, the themes emphasised a student-centred orientation. The details are contained in Table 4.21.
Rewards
Teachers displayed their recognition of the use of thinking skills within the classroom in various ways. I found that five themes emerged: collaborative reinforcement; reinforcement of student-centred thinking; use of rewards systems; the closely-related teacher-directed reinforcement; and a single recognition that teacher-directed reinforcement needed to be included in the individual teacher’s repertoire. These details are contained in Table 4.22.
TABLE 4.22 REINFORCEMENT STRATEGIES AND APPROACHES
COMMENT CONSTRUCT CONCEPT THEME
Samantha: Always use positive
reinforcement both inside the classroom and beyond; communicate collaboratively at all times with staff and students.
Positive reinforcement Collaborative learning Collaborative reinforcement
Giovanni: Engages with their Constructs – set hypotheticals, mark work and provide comments and challenges.
Engages with students Constructs
Recognition of students thinking skills George: I don’t think I reward, except for
simple praise like Well done! Good question. Great answer.
Simple praise used
Recognition of students thinking skills Student- centred thinking reinforced
Paul: You raise an interesting point. That opens up another area to explore. Yes, there are scholars/researchers who have a similar view. Using language as reinforcement Recognition of students thinking skills Bernard: Make the student aware of how
valuable applied thinking is.
Valuing applied thinking
Recognition of students thinking skills Portia: Encourages; say positive comments;
give stickers to the quiet ones. Teacher approval
Encourage quieter students
Rewards systems
Kerri: Uses positive reinforcement because it works to encourage the quieter students to participate.
Positive reinforcement
Encourage quieter students Michael: This year I have used a merit page
for students who make good use of thinking skills … [I] had a system, whereby students were rewarded with snakes [i.e.. lollies] for displaying thinking skills.
Merit page for good
thinking skills Rewards system
Franco: A smile; a reward; class accolade. Simple approach Smile, reward, class accolade Four other teachers identified teacher
approval: Hyacinth, Sandy, Lavenda, and Maryanne.
Teacher approval Teacher
approval Five teachers used teacher praise, namely,
Dennis, Frank, Connie, Magda, and Harriette.
Teacher praise Teacher praise
Olag: There is a sequence. The teacher plans, predicts, co-opts, and affirms; then students are influenced, taught, and become efficient learners.
Learning sequence Collaborative
learning
Teacher- directed reinforcement
Paula: Uses excited teacher approval Teacher approval Excited response
Samantha: [I] avoid rejection; promoting resilience. We want to inspire students to be the best they can possibly be.
Promote resilience
Inspiring student behaviour June: Acknowledges students in class and
asks them to read great answers; photocopy their responses for other class members.
Teacher approval
Positive acknowledge-
ment Susan: [I] always display the work at the
end; hold it up to talk about; [I] read out the good research or provide copies for others (with permission). Displays and discusses stimulating, and challenging tasks Positive acknowledgeme nt Teacher- directed reinforcement
COMMENT CONSTRUCT CONCEPT THEME Terence: A three-point approach of positive
affirmation of opinions given; avoidance of putdowns and always looking to build; occasional note in diary, though rare.
Three-point approach
Positive reinforcement Pietr: The inclusion of more demanding and
stimulating tasks that bring extra responsibility and challenge.
Demanding, stimulating, and challenging tasks
Responsibility and challenge Samantha: Big-picture framework
Teamwork, risk taking in terms of contribution, individualism becoming evident, etc. Big-picture thinking rewarded Teaming, risk taking, contributing, personal views Rose: Something I perhaps need to work on
– I expect my students to think and thus probably do not adequately reward students display of thinking skills.
Lacking in rewards Change in teacher behaviour required Teacher- directed reinforcement needed My researcher’s voice
To view the teachers responses overall, it seems that immediate and positive responses are the intention of the teacher, but it is not clear to me that the students would always view the above responses within the table as enough. Teacher-directed reinforcement and promotion of individual work needs to be coupled with student understanding of the value of student-demonstrated new learning.
Language and democratic paradigms
My analysis of the various responses showed that the language pertaining to each given subject is democratic in nature as well as paradigmatic in content. The themes that emerged, contained in Table 4.23, were as follows: democracy in the classroom; flexible thinking environment; guiding student learning paradigm; personal empowerment; philosophical paradigm; writing as a thinking tool.
TABLE 4.23 DEMOCRATIC AND PARADIGMATIC LANGUAGE
COMMENT CONSTRUCT CONCEPT THEME
George: specific about expecting his students to keep an open mind; use different perspectives; allow for shades of grey.
Maintaining open minds, taking different perspectives. Allow for shades of grey Democracy in the classroom
Sandy: uses lots of questioning – open-ended and problem-solving … [I] provide analytical strategies … [we do] ... a lot of group work with focus questions.
Group work with focus questions
Analytical strategies applied Henry: I challenge individual perceptions.
Education must be about more than knowledge!
Challenges individual perceptions
Broadens expectations Pietr (Physical Education classes): talked about
self-knowledge and creativity, problem-solving and guided discovery.
Higher order psycho-motor focus Broadens expectations Democracy in the classroom
Olag (Music classes): lists and expects leadership skills, predicting skills, synthesising skills, analytical skills, cooperation skills for his students. Stresses high higher order cognitive and affective skills Broadens viewpoints Samantha: uses thematic approaches, linear
development of the topic and inquiry-based learning to enhance the opportunities for learning.
Broadening approaches
Enhancing classroom opportunities George: I ask questions/give information/tell
stories/give counter arguments. I monitor interest … then modify my approach.
Variety of stimuli Flexible in approach Susan (Art, Craft and Design Technology): talked
about expecting students to investigate/design/ produce/ evaluate their work.
Investigating, designing, producing and evaluating work. Lifting expectations in the classroom Bernard: provided a careful slant on democracy
as he talked about the freedom to fail; freedom to create; put things in perspective.
Freedom to fail; freedom to create
Maintaining a democratic perspective Terence: talked about questions, flexibility and
causing a positive environment for thinking.
Questions, flexibility, positive environments A positive thinking environment Flexible thinking environment
George: I can go either way depending on the
level of interest. Level of interest
Democratic
or
paradigmatic Vaughan: looks at use of lateral thinking,
embedding thinking skills within the unit for deeper meaning Encouraging and embedding lateral thinking Looking for deeper meanings
Dennis (senior English): uses questions and answer, group discussion, guided reading.
Question and answer as methodology Pedagogical method Guiding student learning paradigm
Hyacinth: The Community of Inquiry provides a framework for teaching any topic, but is especially helpful in teaching a literary text. It takes students out of their traditional roles and develops their thinking in a different environment and in a different way. They take control of their thinking and generate their learning. It removes
Liberating students to learn and think.
Encourages personal responsibility for students learning. Personal empowerment
COMMENT CONSTRUCT CONCEPT THEME Giovanni (English and Drama): used topic and
issue questions for continual response to written material – read/ say/ write, what they think.
Read, say, write what they think
Continual response to written material Philosophical paradigm
Paul (English, German and History): talked about questions to which there is no obvious answer. He expected students to: evaluate, make abstractions, and use generalisations and to associate.
Questions with no obvious answers
Problem solving Clint (NZ expert): highlights that the teacher
needs to be focused on student thinking processes, not the correct answer (his underlining.
Focus on student thinking processes
Process over product Giovanni (English and Drama), Always respect
others right to have an opinion. Always support your opinion with a rational argument.
Respect opinions of others Support opinion with rational argument Philosophical paradigm
Roger (UK expert), highlights the breadth and range of the philosophical nature of thinking and the value of questions, creating radical thinking.
Value of questions
The philosophical
nature of thinking Rose (Biology and Science): talked about
questions that involved Venn diagrams, concept mapping, debates, fish bowl group work, continuums, open-ended questions, argumentative essays, POE (predict, observe, explain); word posters, deep thinking challenges.
Deep thinking challenges
Variety of processes
Jane (Psychology, Biology, English or Life Skills): I encourage students to stop and write what they mean/ want to say. Sometimes students speak before thinking. Writing makes them pause longer to think.
Writing what they mean or want to say Pausing before responding Writing as a thinking tool
Comments from various teachers featuring in this table are ethical in tone and involve self-reflection which is to be promoted and admired. In varying degrees, I was impressed by the teachers who exhibit an intention towards real democracy as experienced by students within the classroom; there is effort aimed at promoting a flexible thinking environment; some effort is expended in a democratic strategy to guide student learning as a daily practice so that personal empowerment is a real part of the student experience; some attention is paid in varying degrees also to the construct if not the full practice of a philosophical paradigm underpinning pedagogical planning and delivery; more could be done to promote the activity of writing as a thinking tool.
I found the evidence of diversity in approach to be exciting; it is a possibility of understanding each other’s methods and pedagogical practices
that provide development of technical strategies and techniques worthy of a democratic, thinking classroom atmosphere conducive to rich learning.
Reasons for, and perceptions of, thinking skills
There are various approaches to the concept of the teaching of thinking skills. Some teachers perceive the whole construct as embedded in their particular subject or domain area, and can see no reason for instituting a discrete category of teaching that is thinking skills. Others can see some reasons for a pronounced set of strategies for the teaching of thinking skills, seemingly happy to make this aim part of their philosophical approach, but not necessarily an explicit goal within their teaching pattern for their own area of expertise in education.
In my analysis of the extensive responses made to the question relating to thinking skills, eight themes emerged: corollary to creativity; developing a personal style; facilitating better learning; independence; life skills; moral and ethical behaviour; relevant thinking skills; required core skills. The details relating to these themes are contained in Table 4.24.
TABLE 4.24 REASONS AND PERCEPTIONS OF THINKING SKILLS
COMMENT CONSTRUCT CONCEPT THEME
Paul (Language and History): Questioning is fundamental to understanding, but also to extension of learning. I believe it is a corollary of creativity. Fundamental to understanding Essential in learning Corollary to Creativity
Portia (Maths and Humanities): Thinking skills encourages active participation, builds and expands on Constructs. It also encourages creative thinking.
Active participation
Expanding on Constructs Paula (Physical Education and Health/Human
Development), in reference to Year 12 students: It is often easy to respond as expected – if you can respond to a question you weren’t expecting then you are really thinking and also going over the work you know.
Unexpected responses significant
June: clarity of approach for her Art students is obvious: Theory – the analysis of art works and visual communication is a major component in the VCE subjects, so I teach these skills. Prac. Work – the development of personal styles through art must be student driven – again for
Combining theory and practice Developing analytical skills Developing a personal style
COMMENT CONSTRUCT CONCEPT THEME Rose (Biology): [It] engages students in their
own learning and is thus more effective. Enables deconstructing and clarifying of previously constructed concepts and facilitates better learning as concepts (are) processed into long term memory.
Engages students in their own learning
Highlighting the theoretical perspective: Facilitating better learning
Susan (Design and Technology): It gives students confidence to believe in themselves and their ability to come up with Constructs. It provides a great variety of solutions that keep all students enthused and excited about thinking and learning. Developing self- belief and confidence Independence in learning and thinking Independenc e
Pietr makes clear that students gain a deeper understanding as to the processes required to develop non-physical as well as physical skills. They can then apply this knowledge to other topics and improve their performance.
Deeper understanding of physical and non- physical processes
Application of knowledge
Life skills
Terence (Humanities): shows a realistic approach to a long-term goal: Students in middle school view their educational experiences from a particular exponential position that can have, sometimes, created a dependence on being informed and a reliance on special outcomes dictated by schools. Whilst such are important, I hope to rekindle the interest in finding out for one’s-self as much as possible.
Finding out for one’s-self
Becoming independent
learners Magda (Languages, SOSE, Religion studies,
and Music in Australia and England): [I want] to help pupils realise that they are responsible for their own learning, that they can work out where they fall short, and find a way to fix it. Life Skills!
Engages students in their own learning
Giovanni (English): English is about getting students to develop their Constructs and to be able to communicate them in a variety of styles – you need to be able to do this to cope with life.
Developing and communicating Constructs
Coping with life Hyacinth (English, administrative leadership,
experience in Welfare and Social Work): Thinking skills not only make students perform better academically but equips them for life. It takes away the high emphasis we place on emotional thinking. It helps to develop in students a thinking framework in which they can operate.