WP_Query Object ( [query] => Array ( [author_name] => alan ) [query_vars] => Array ( [author_name] => alan [error] => [m] => [p] => 0 [post_parent] => [subpost] => [subpost_id] => [attachment] => [attachment_id] => 0 [name] => [pagename] => [page_id] => 0 [second] => [minute] => [hour] => [day] => 0 [monthnum] => 0 [year] => 0 [w] => 0 [category_name] => [tag] => [cat] => [tag_id] => [author] => 11 [feed] => [tb] => [paged] => 0 [meta_key] => [meta_value] => [preview] => [s] => [sentence] => [title] => [fields] => [menu_order] => [embed] => [category__in] => Array ( ) [category__not_in] => Array ( ) [category__and] => Array ( ) [post__in] => Array ( ) [post__not_in] => Array ( ) [post_name__in] => Array ( ) [tag__in] => Array ( ) [tag__not_in] => Array ( ) [tag__and] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__in] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__and] => Array ( ) [post_parent__in] => Array ( ) [post_parent__not_in] => Array ( ) [author__in] => Array ( ) [author__not_in] => Array ( ) [search_columns] => Array ( ) [ignore_sticky_posts] => [suppress_filters] => [cache_results] => 1 [update_post_term_cache] => 1 [update_menu_item_cache] => [lazy_load_term_meta] => 1 [update_post_meta_cache] => 1 [post_type] => [posts_per_page] => 10 [nopaging] => [comments_per_page] => 50 [no_found_rows] => [order] => DESC ) [tax_query] => WP_Tax_Query Object ( [queries] => Array ( ) [relation] => AND [table_aliases:protected] => Array ( ) [queried_terms] => Array ( ) [primary_table] => wp_posts [primary_id_column] => ID ) [meta_query] => WP_Meta_Query Object ( [queries] => Array ( ) [relation] => [meta_table] => [meta_id_column] => [primary_table] => [primary_id_column] => [table_aliases:protected] => Array ( ) [clauses:protected] => Array ( ) [has_or_relation:protected] => ) [date_query] => [queried_object] => WP_User Object ( [data] => stdClass Object ( [ID] => 11 [user_login] => alan [user_pass] => $P$BpwzRJ/1s6R0vClejZeXYv7ki8J6HE1 [user_nicename] => alan [user_email] => [email protected] [user_url] => [user_registered] => 2014-04-21 08:38:04 [user_activation_key] => [user_status] => 0 [display_name] => Alan Edmiston ) [ID] => 11 [caps] => Array ( [editor] => 1 ) [cap_key] => wp_capabilities [roles] => Array ( [0] => editor ) [allcaps] => Array ( [moderate_comments] => 1 [manage_categories] => 1 [manage_links] => 1 [upload_files] => 1 [unfiltered_html] => 1 [edit_posts] => 1 [edit_others_posts] => 1 [edit_published_posts] => 1 [publish_posts] => 1 [edit_pages] => 1 [read] => 1 [level_7] => 1 [level_6] => 1 [level_5] => 1 [level_4] => 1 [level_3] => 1 [level_2] => 1 [level_1] => 1 [level_0] => 1 [edit_others_pages] => 1 [edit_published_pages] => 1 [publish_pages] => 1 [delete_pages] => 1 [delete_others_pages] => 1 [delete_published_pages] => 1 [delete_posts] => 1 [delete_others_posts] => 1 [delete_published_posts] => 1 [delete_private_posts] => 1 [edit_private_posts] => 1 [read_private_posts] => 1 [delete_private_pages] => 1 [edit_private_pages] => 1 [read_private_pages] => 1 [download_resources] => 1 [create_users] => 1 [delete_users] => 1 [edit_users] => 1 [list_users] => 1 [promote_users] => 1 [editor] => 1 ) [filter] => [site_id:WP_User:private] => 1 ) [queried_object_id] => 11 [request] => SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS wp_posts.ID FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND (wp_posts.post_author = 11) AND ((wp_posts.post_type = 'post' AND (wp_posts.post_status = 'publish'))) ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC LIMIT 0, 10 [posts] => Array ( [0] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 1037 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2018-09-10 21:08:25 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-09-10 20:08:25 [post_content] => Every year over the summer break I aim to read at least one educational book a month and in 2009 it was the turn of Guy Claxton’s ‘What’s the point of school?’. On page 113 he pays great tribute to his A level Chemistry teacher, Michael Shayer, the leading academic on the Cognitive Acceleration project. As Michael Shayer begins his 91st year the pieces of his work are falling into place. This struck me recently when I read another piece by Guy Claxton entitled; ‘Effective learning: beyond the traditional/progressive Punch and Judy show’ published by the Chartered College of Teaching in their Impact magazine . In this short piece, Claxton raises some interesting questions regarding the mindset of teachers and the professional choices they currently face. Claxton argues that we should be arming young people with the confidence, capacity and the appetite to engage with difficult things i.e. to approach uncertainty with a curious, adventurous and buoyant spirit. The section that resonated with me is where he adds to the vocabulary we can use as teachers to describe our pedagogical choices. He talks about the third layer i.e. our beliefs about the learning environment. This is the real us, the one we cannot hide and the one our children pick up on, it is our teaching DNA so to speak. He asks several questions that we all would do well to reflect upon: Do we make time for our students to struggle, think and talk? Do we encourage them to work things out for themselves, even though that may be different to the strategies we had anticipated? In the same edition of Impact, there is an article by Helen Lewis, a member of the Let’s Think Forum. She shares information about her work supporting teachers to encourage metacognition in young children using video to support their reflections. This article focuses on the role of the teacher in the metacognitive process and the fact that we need to make thinking visible in the classroom. Helen states that ‘reflective talk’ may be particularly supportive of young children’s self-regulation and metacognition. Most notably for me she mentions that the videos used in the reflective dialogues formed a ‘site for joint meaning making’. Lewis’ article links well to Claxton’s in that both focus on the way we approach teaching in the classroom and the choices we as teachers need to make in order to facilitate effective pupil thinking. If we want to make our classrooms thinking environments, we need to support children to move away from believing that thinking means behaving well, and to move explicitly towards a view of thinking as an active and diverse set of activities that are common to all, including the adults in the room. Little did I know that when I first heard the word metacognition in 1992 that even today it would be such an integral part of the way I reflect upon my classroom life, and that it would be an understanding that is continually shaped by my engagement with research and the ideas of others. This summer the book that further enriched my understanding was ‘Imaginations Heartwork’ by P Hogan. His ideas really spoke to me - there is something about seeing things though another’s eyes that helps you to better formulate your own understanding. In describing learning he suggests that for pupils, ‘reflecting back on the experiences can transform a problem into questions’ and that these arise as a consequence of engaging with a challenge. Using a lovely phrase, that to me now encapsulates metacognition, he terms these reflections ‘the conversations that we are’. Hogan is both describing, and making an appeal, for a continual process where efforts to understand and the questions asked in response, are predisposed by previous experiences – i.e. a reciprocal relationship that develops over time. When I first encountered the work of Philip Adey, Michael Shayer and Carolyn Yates all those years ago metacognition was always presented as a continual process and one that cannot be a simple add on – it is an attribute that grows and matures like a muscle! The more you develop it the healthier and stronger it gets and vice versa. Now August is upon me I think it may be time to put down the educational tomes and pick up that Dickens book I have been meaning to read for some time – I wonder if he has anything relevant to say about education and schooling? [post_title] => Reflections upon metacognition and the role of teacher beliefs [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => reflections-upon-metacognition-and-the-role-of-teacher-beliefs [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2018-09-10 21:08:25 [post_modified_gmt] => 2018-09-10 20:08:25 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=1037 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 931 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2017-07-13 14:42:22 [post_date_gmt] => 2017-07-13 13:42:22 [post_content] => When teaching full-time in secondary education I always wondered what it would be like to be part of a school where all staff shared a common view on how best to help their pupils reach their potential. Indeed, as a parent you see the potential in your own children from the moment of birth, and recently having had a daughter leave school at 18 I am beginning to appreciate what it’s like for an individual. But a whole school community … Well on the 25^th April I had the great privilege to visit just such an institution. My colleague Sarah Seleznyov, had recommended that Hugh Myddleton Primary in Islington, was committed enough to be accredited as a Let’s Think School for their work in mathematics. What I did not know at the time was Ofsted inspectors would call after me. So with the benefit of hindsight I will include some of the extracts from their inspection report to give you a flavor of what I encountered that day. The school’s emphasis on pupils mastering key mathematical concepts and thinking deeply is having a very positive impact. It enables pupils, including the most able, to question, talk about their learning, work together and solve problems. 
 Throughout the school, pupils grapple with mathematical concepts and problems that require them to think deeply and articulate their ideas. Well-founded approaches are used in every classroom, supported very effectively by the mathematics leader, to ensure that all pupils have the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding to succeed. Leaders have worked exceptionally hard to emphasise and develop pupils’ thinking skills. This has been particularly successful in mathematics, where teachers plan very effectively to develop pupils’ problem-solving skills. The school has recently been recognised and received national accreditation for its work in this field. 
Teachers and teaching assistants are skilled at asking questions that extend pupils’ learning, giving pupils time to think for themselves and respond. The above is inspirational, with the school thoroughly deserving its ‘Outstanding’ judgment but what I saw that April day can best be described as a family; a collection of people all keen to share their learning with me. Over the years I have had the pleasure of visiting and teaching in many ‘Outstanding’ schools but at every level this community was striving to challenge themselves to be the best they could be. From the dining hall to the staff room, staff shared the importance of their Let’s Think Maths lessons. The walls were full of displays from lessons I love such as ‘Jelly Babies’ and the children I spoke to were keenly aware of how the Let’s Think lessons are just one, essential, part of their educational diet. Although I had a sort a script to focus on, our discussion diverged as the pupils shared their thinking experiences with me. One child spoke passionately about a lesson that had made them think in Year 2, despite now being two years older! At every level, from the Head to the support staff, this school is using the Let’s Think approach to develop a thinking dialogue that ensures learning is spoken about thought the day. They have found a professional tool that enables them to respond to the needs of their pupils as they all seek to reach out towards higher levels of attainment. For me it was so lovely to find, in Islington that day, what I had been looking for (sorry U2) but also not to get trapped into the circular argument of ‘We just do not have the time to allow them to think as there is too much content to teach’. In Hugh Myddleton they are focusing upon getting the conditions for learning right and with such a foundation in place everything else, as you can see for the inspection report, will fall into place. [post_title] => Agreeing with Ofsted! [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => agreeing-with-ofsted [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2017-07-13 14:42:22 [post_modified_gmt] => 2017-07-13 13:42:22 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=931 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 835 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2017-03-10 11:31:41 [post_date_gmt] => 2017-03-10 11:31:41 [post_content] => Last year I was able to work with five teachers from the Compass Partnership of Schools in Greenwich. Our aim was to develop some new Let's Think Science lessons for the primary phase and I would like to share one of them with you here. It is called the Three Billy Goats and explores the relationship between the distance of the light and shadow size. Please have a look at our resources and try the lesson as we would love to receive your feedback as we seek to produce a new series of lessons to develop scientific reasoning across Years 2 - 6. 3 billy goats 8_shadows-1 The 3 Billy Goats Gruff [post_title] => A new science lesson for you to try [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => a-new-science-lesson-for-you-to-try [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2017-03-10 11:31:41 [post_modified_gmt] => 2017-03-10 11:31:41 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=835 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [3] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 698 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2017-03-02 10:58:51 [post_date_gmt] => 2017-03-02 10:58:51 [post_content] => It has been a few months since my last post and the main reason for this is that we have been thinking long and hard about the purpose of the Let's Think website. The first outcome of this discussion has been the decision to redesign and update our site. As you read this post you will be able to see the changes that we have made.  We hope you like what you see. Please let us know what you think and what you would like us to include. You will now be able to access many resources without the need to subscribe to the site - indeed this aspect has already gone.  If you want to find out about the updated CASE materials please get in touch. You can now see some video testimonials from schools who have been using the Let's Think resources to enhance the learning of their pupils and teachers. These schools are actively using the Let's Think approach as a key part of their pupils educational diet. You will already have received our new newsletter which will be sent out each term to update you as to all things Let's Think. I must flag up our conference that takes place on the 7th of July at York. The 2017 conference is aimed at those who are new to Let's Think and I strongly encourage you to join us in York if you want to find out just what this approach can offer you and your pupils. Please get in touch if you want to find out more about this event.       [post_title] => It has been quite a while. [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => it-has-been-quite-a-while [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2017-03-02 10:58:51 [post_modified_gmt] => 2017-03-02 10:58:51 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=698 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [4] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 660 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2016-09-29 10:57:49 [post_date_gmt] => 2016-09-29 09:57:49 [post_content] => At the end of last term I was sent an e-mail by Mark O'Donnell from Broadwater School in Surrey. They have been using CASE/LTSS for a couple of years and I was wondering how they had been getting on. I enclose his reply below: [post_title] => Gathering Momentum [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => gathering-momentum [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2016-09-29 11:04:56 [post_modified_gmt] => 2016-09-29 10:04:56 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=660 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [5] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 655 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2016-04-22 10:56:26 [post_date_gmt] => 2016-04-22 09:56:26 [post_content] => I had the great pleasure of visiting Ercall Wood Technology College before Easter in my capacity as tutor for the LTSS project. I had not been for a while and I was wondering how things were going for this school. Quite soon into the meeting the dreaded Ofsted word was mentioned! Despite the fact this was said with a very straight face I had nothing to worry about for very quickly smiles broke out and they handed the report to me, from which I will quote directly: "Some teachers use excellent questioning skills that promote thinking and discussion among their pupils. Pupils enjoy thinking creatively and contributing to class discussions, and learn from the contributions of other pupils. For example, in a science lesson, pupils justified how they had classified different species of fish. Other pupils in the class identified strengths and weaknesses in the ideas presented, and pupils took action in the light of the feedback they had received." As part of a lesson feedback session we could not have got off to a better start! I include this quote here as it highlights very clearly what we are trying to do with the approach we call Let's Think - it might be worth viewing our vision for Let's Think in the light of this comment. I personally struggle with Ofsted and its manifestation within schools and I often find myself cringing when I drive past a school, that have paid for an Ofsted banner, displaying the results of their latest inspection. One school near me have placed their banner near a very busy road that proudly declare that 'Safeguarding is effective!' [post_title] => Celebrating the difference [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => celebrating-the-difference [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2016-04-22 10:56:26 [post_modified_gmt] => 2016-04-22 09:56:26 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=655 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [6] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 626 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2016-01-22 12:28:05 [post_date_gmt] => 2016-01-22 12:28:05 [post_content] => To me one of the most interesting aspects of the work started by Carolyn, Michael and Philip is the international appeal of their educational research. Regularly, at least once a month, we receive via social media or email an indication of how far reaching their ideas have become. Earlier this month Dominic Edwards shared his developing understanding of all things Cognitive Acceleration and how his efforts to impact the world of football training is bearing fruit. His latest thinking can be found on the website danabrahams.com and this post really does serve to highlight how the desire of Philip Adey to give teachers a theory is becoming a reality. Most recently the work of our colleagues Mary Oliver and Grady Venville has been published. Please read this and get in touch to share your views on what they have been able to achieve with schools in Australia:  Oliver Venville RISE paper 2016 [post_title] => Bringing CASE in from the cold [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => bringing-case-in-from-the-cold [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2016-01-22 12:28:05 [post_modified_gmt] => 2016-01-22 12:28:05 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=626 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [7] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 620 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2015-07-17 11:41:27 [post_date_gmt] => 2015-07-17 10:41:27 [post_content] => It's twelve months since I took over the role of site manager from Sarah and what an academic year it has been. I had little idea of the global appeal of Let's Think! Just this term I have had the privilege of talking to teachers and senior managers from all over the world. My most surreal day was when I spoke to a teacher on the Cayman Islands and then a Head Teacher whose school is on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This week has seen a visit from a CASE colleague, Sonia, from Australia who I had the pleasure of taking to Vyner's School in Hillingdon, London and also a call from Ohio. Normally when 'unknown number' pops up on my screen I am a little wary of answering but I am glad I did. The person in question was Constance Barksy who feels the CASE materials (soon to be republished under the title Lets Think Secondary Science or LTSS) really have something to offer the teachers she is working with in America. No matter where the school is to be found this is the constant theme of these conversations i.e. that the Let's Think materials are a powerful vehicle for helping pupils and their teachers to reach out towards higher levels of thinking and reasoning.  A Head Teacher friend of mine admitted to me this week that the 'construction of meaning' was missing from their school and it was something they are going to put right over the next year or so. 'When I was a Head of Science and we did CASE we got it right but now I am not so sure' was how he put it. Even on social media CASE got a mention. dinosawesome in his reflections upon teaching and learning said that, 'I have learned the power that 'cognitive hand grenades" can have. Simple questions which can blow apart a student's model and force them to build a new one.' Praise indeed! I do hope you enjoy the Summer break and I look forward to the next 12 months of Let's Think! with you. [post_title] => What a year it's been! [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => what-a-year-its-been [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2015-07-17 11:41:27 [post_modified_gmt] => 2015-07-17 10:41:27 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=620 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [8] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 598 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2015-05-11 13:27:10 [post_date_gmt] => 2015-05-11 12:27:10 [post_content] => As you may be aware we are coming to the end of the 'experimental' stage of the EEF funded LTSS project. We have been working with 25 schools to introduce the updated CASE lessons and PD model. Although the results will not be published until the start of 2016 some very interesting findings are beginning to emerge. I had the great pleasure of talking to Mark Bridges from Writhlington School in Somerset about his thoughts concerning the impact of LTSS in his Science Department. For teachers many of the challenges they faced have turned out to be the strengths of the approach and they have learnt as much if not more than the students they are working with. The main challenge seems to be the move for teacher to facilitator and the notion that students need to formulate their own ideas and that being wrong is often more powerful than being right. Learning walks and observations have shown that the LTSS approach is now filtering out into standard lessons and that the quality of questioning has dramatically improved across the department. Everyone is conscious that they need to spend more time on metacognition and most staff are keen to develop the bridging part of the lesson. Equally they are reflecting on their teaching in a range of ways and there does seem to be a correlation between the quality of reflection and effectiveness in the classroom. Our next phase involves ensuring that all staff are proficient and highly skilled in the facilitation of LTSS lessons. This will involve self and peer observation, monitoring and feedback by SLT and the continuation of planning and reflection sessions. We are really keen to explore options in Math’s and then English to ensure this becomes a whole school approach to learning. [post_title] => Inside the mind of a school leader - part 2 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => inside-the-mind-of-a-school-leader-part-2 [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2015-05-11 13:27:10 [post_modified_gmt] => 2015-05-11 12:27:10 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=598 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [9] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 594 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2015-03-13 09:57:06 [post_date_gmt] => 2015-03-13 09:57:06 [post_content] => This months blog includes part of an email exchange I had with Kirsty Alderson (Vice Principle of King's Leadership Academy). The real joy of this role is engaging with teachers and leaders over how to best foster a climate of learning rather than trying to justify that progress is linear. Once we get trapped into this mindset progress, or the lack of it in the short-term, becomes a big stick that is used to bring significant stress into the lives of teachers and their students. At the King's Leadership Academy they are really trying to enthuse the whole curriculum with Let's Think and the depth of their thinking was highlighted by this reply I  got from Kirsty this week: "What is important for us to understand is that the concept of mastery within the lesson should be something that is achieved as a result of breaking down cognitive barriers of the pupils we teach in relation to the content and challenge taught. Your point that mastery should not come at the end of one lesson as this gives over the message that thinking is neatly packaged into a very small unit is correct within reason but it then begs the philosophical question 'What is mastery?' and 'How do we measure it'? Can the concept of mastery be successfully applied to smaller units of thought and thought processes eg. breakdown of learning into small parts - each small part being slowly 'conquered' and 'mastered' by the end of a smaller unit of teaching eg. a lesson? I believe so if it is done in a way that supports Michael Shayer's research on no more than 3/4 activities to help develop and promote an abstract strand of thinking. A pupil being able to break down a cognitively challenging, abstract idea based on an aspect of learning and be able to understand, interpret and produce something to demonstrate this should be seen as a 'small win' on the path to mastery; indeed, I would argue that the latter is synonymous with mastery here in so much as it is mastering smaller elements of learning that make it realistic, measurable and achievable. These smaller elements of mastery based on the topic taught then build throughout the week/two weeks learning to (hopefully) a crescendo/a crux where the culmination of 'chunking' the learning and challenge supports the bigger learning picture, feeds the pupils understanding and enables pupils to achieve the ultimate goal of mastery. CA is based on the foundation of challenging the individual to achieve abstract thinking through the vehicle of material taught and the challenge presented. The onus is on the child with the teacher providing facilitative support.This should enable each child to move from the concrete operational state of thinking to the abstract state of critical thinking and gain mastery in this area (in theory). I fundamentally believe that whilst you can teach 'stand alone' CA lessons, (which both teach and consolidate the pupils cognitive, thinking skills that can be applied to such an activity)  which can engage the pupil on an area that is wholly independent of the topic being taught, I am sure you will agree that CA strategies should also be used to further the curriculum content taught and strategies employed to support pupils with the more abstract philosophies and teaching of the curriculum. Therefore, this once again lends itself to mastery but, rather, smaller elements of mastery that supports progress over time." [post_title] => Inside the mind of a school leader [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => inside-the-mind-of-a-school-leader [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2015-03-13 09:57:06 [post_modified_gmt] => 2015-03-13 09:57:06 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=594 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [post_count] => 10 [current_post] => -1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 1037 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2018-09-10 21:08:25 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-09-10 20:08:25 [post_content] => Every year over the summer break I aim to read at least one educational book a month and in 2009 it was the turn of Guy Claxton’s ‘What’s the point of school?’. On page 113 he pays great tribute to his A level Chemistry teacher, Michael Shayer, the leading academic on the Cognitive Acceleration project. As Michael Shayer begins his 91st year the pieces of his work are falling into place. This struck me recently when I read another piece by Guy Claxton entitled; ‘Effective learning: beyond the traditional/progressive Punch and Judy show’ published by the Chartered College of Teaching in their Impact magazine . In this short piece, Claxton raises some interesting questions regarding the mindset of teachers and the professional choices they currently face. Claxton argues that we should be arming young people with the confidence, capacity and the appetite to engage with difficult things i.e. to approach uncertainty with a curious, adventurous and buoyant spirit. The section that resonated with me is where he adds to the vocabulary we can use as teachers to describe our pedagogical choices. He talks about the third layer i.e. our beliefs about the learning environment. This is the real us, the one we cannot hide and the one our children pick up on, it is our teaching DNA so to speak. He asks several questions that we all would do well to reflect upon: Do we make time for our students to struggle, think and talk? Do we encourage them to work things out for themselves, even though that may be different to the strategies we had anticipated? In the same edition of Impact, there is an article by Helen Lewis, a member of the Let’s Think Forum. She shares information about her work supporting teachers to encourage metacognition in young children using video to support their reflections. This article focuses on the role of the teacher in the metacognitive process and the fact that we need to make thinking visible in the classroom. Helen states that ‘reflective talk’ may be particularly supportive of young children’s self-regulation and metacognition. Most notably for me she mentions that the videos used in the reflective dialogues formed a ‘site for joint meaning making’. Lewis’ article links well to Claxton’s in that both focus on the way we approach teaching in the classroom and the choices we as teachers need to make in order to facilitate effective pupil thinking. If we want to make our classrooms thinking environments, we need to support children to move away from believing that thinking means behaving well, and to move explicitly towards a view of thinking as an active and diverse set of activities that are common to all, including the adults in the room. Little did I know that when I first heard the word metacognition in 1992 that even today it would be such an integral part of the way I reflect upon my classroom life, and that it would be an understanding that is continually shaped by my engagement with research and the ideas of others. This summer the book that further enriched my understanding was ‘Imaginations Heartwork’ by P Hogan. His ideas really spoke to me - there is something about seeing things though another’s eyes that helps you to better formulate your own understanding. In describing learning he suggests that for pupils, ‘reflecting back on the experiences can transform a problem into questions’ and that these arise as a consequence of engaging with a challenge. Using a lovely phrase, that to me now encapsulates metacognition, he terms these reflections ‘the conversations that we are’. Hogan is both describing, and making an appeal, for a continual process where efforts to understand and the questions asked in response, are predisposed by previous experiences – i.e. a reciprocal relationship that develops over time. When I first encountered the work of Philip Adey, Michael Shayer and Carolyn Yates all those years ago metacognition was always presented as a continual process and one that cannot be a simple add on – it is an attribute that grows and matures like a muscle! The more you develop it the healthier and stronger it gets and vice versa. Now August is upon me I think it may be time to put down the educational tomes and pick up that Dickens book I have been meaning to read for some time – I wonder if he has anything relevant to say about education and schooling? [post_title] => Reflections upon metacognition and the role of teacher beliefs [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => reflections-upon-metacognition-and-the-role-of-teacher-beliefs [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2018-09-10 21:08:25 [post_modified_gmt] => 2018-09-10 20:08:25 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://www.letsthink.org.uk/?p=1037 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [comment_count] => 0 [current_comment] => -1 [found_posts] => 19 [max_num_pages] => 2 [max_num_comment_pages] => 0 [is_single] => [is_preview] => [is_page] => [is_archive] => 1 [is_date] => [is_year] => [is_month] => [is_day] => [is_time] => [is_author] => 1 [is_category] => [is_tag] => [is_tax] => [is_search] => [is_feed] => [is_comment_feed] => [is_trackback] => [is_home] => [is_privacy_policy] => [is_404] => [is_embed] => [is_paged] => [is_admin] => [is_attachment] => [is_singular] => [is_robots] => [is_favicon] => [is_posts_page] => [is_post_type_archive] => [query_vars_hash:WP_Query:private] => 328ef06c1533368c54538206bd4dafaf [query_vars_changed:WP_Query:private] => [thumbnails_cached] => [allow_query_attachment_by_filename:protected] => [stopwords:WP_Query:private] => [compat_fields:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => query_vars_hash [1] => query_vars_changed ) [compat_methods:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => init_query_flags [1] => parse_tax_query ) )