The rapid evolution of technology means the world of work is shifting dramatically. Our students will need a range of skills and capabilities to operate in this progressive environment. Routine and manual tasks will no longer exist in years to come, therefore children must become creative and critical thinkers in order to flourish in the future workforce (FYA, 2017). Research makers and practitioners (NSW DET 2017) predict that students will need the following skills:
- Megacognition
- Problem Solving
- Collaboration
- Motivation
- Self-efficacy
- Cosncientiousness
- Grit and Perseverance
- Creativity
- Critical Thinking
Cultures of Thinking (CoT) is a powerful program developed by Harvard Graduate School of Education, which equips students with thinking skills for the 21st Century. CoT focuses on collective and individual thinking which is visibly and actively embedded into the classroom experience. CoT provides rich opportunities for students to capture the thinking process in order to deepen learning. There are a myriad of CoT routines that educators can integrate into their teaching practice. Below are 12 routines from Making Thinking Visible that I find are most adaptable to different ages and curriculum areas.
Exploring and Introducing Ideas
- See, Think, Wonder: What do you see? What do you think about that? What does that make you wonder. Can be used with a range of written or visual stimuli.
- Chalk Talk: Open ended discussion captured on paper without speaking out loud. Shares prior learning and questioning. Provides opportunities for all voices to be heard and facilitates thinking time.
- 321 Bridge: 3 thoughts or ideas, 2 questions, 1 analogy. The bridge is explaining how the final analogy connects to the initial ideas. Assists with connecting prior understanding to new knowledge.
- Compass Points: E what excites you? W what is worrying about this idea? N what do you need to know or find out? S what is your stance or next suggestion? Helps to explore and evaluate new ideas.
Synthesising and Organising Ideas
- Headlines: A newspaper headline that captures the heart of an idea. A brief summary of the key concept to emphasise what stands out.
- Connect, Extend, Challenge: How are the ideas connected? What are some new ideas that extend or push your thinking further? What is still a challenge or may be confusing? Develops connections between prior knowledge and raises questions to facilitate future learning.
- Generate, Sort, Connect, Elaborate: Generate a list of thoughts. Sort the thoughts with key ideas in the middle and unrelated ideas on the outer. Connect common ideas with lines and write why they are related. Alternatively arrange thoughts in a concept map. Elaborate on new thoughts that can be added to the initial brainstorm. Demonstrates current understanding and facilitates new connections.
- I used to think, but now I think: Explores how thinking has changed by understanding what new ideas or perspectives have been developed.Reflection and metacognition. Useful for consolidating new learning.
Delving Deeper
- Tug of War: Explain a dilemma and identify arguments or reasons that tug to each side of the dilemma. Building both sides or perspectives of an argument.
- What Makes You Say That: What is going on and what makes you say that? Describing what can be observed and reasoning with evidence. Explores fairness dilemmas and justifying opposing opinions.
- Step Inside: What can the person or thing see or understand? What do they know, believe or care about? Explores different viewpoints and perspectives in order to deeply understand an idea or issue.
- Claim, Support, Question: Make a claim about a topic. Support your claim. Ask a question related to your claim. Reasoning with evidence and uncovering truth.
Question for you: What thinking routines do you use in your classroom?
