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 Explicit vs implicit . Scott, Clara, Chelsea 

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Teena and Amanda- Explicit vs implicit template

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Tracy & Anna ART 11. Explicit vs implicit template

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Tokyo International School Teaching Thinking Skills

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Thinking skills

Concern with developing students' thinking, far from being a fad, is one of the most persistent and ambitious aspirations of education.
(Swartz and Perkins 1989: 5)

Developing thinking skills is a key feature of the constructivist approach that so heavily influences all IB programmes. In this approach, the teacher is seen as a facilitator who "guides the student, stimulating and provoking the student's critical thinking, analysis and synthesis throughout the learning process" (Briner 1999: 1). Being "thinkers" is explicitly identified as one of the IB learner profile attributes, and is defined in terms of exercising initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively to recognize and approach complex problems, and make reasoned, ethical decisions.

The DP prides itself on providing opportunities for students to develop thinking skills and also an awareness of themselves as thinkers and learners; something that is most explicitly apparent in the important place given within the DP to the theory of knowledge (TOK) course. TOK plays a special role in the DP, providing an opportunity for students to reflect on how we know what we claim to know. It is intended that the study of TOK will support, and also be supported by, the academic disciplines, and all DP subject guides provide teachers with suggestions for how they can make links to TOK in their subject.

Teaching Idea

As part of their TOK course, DP students compare and contrast the methods used to gain knowledge in different areas (such as the natural sciences, history or the arts). Initiate a discussion with your students about the methods used in your DP subject. What are the methods used in your subject, and what is it about these methods that generates knowledge? What are the assumptions underlying these methods? What are the limitations/constraints on these methods?

The term thinking skills refers to a cluster of a large number of related skills, and in the DP particular focus is placed on skills such as metacognition, reflection and critical thinking. Many categorizations of thinking skills also emphasize related behaviours such as "curiosity, flexibility, posing problems, decision making, being reasonable, creativity, risk taking, and other behaviours that support critical and creative thought" (Costa and Kallick 2009). In this way, while a crucial element of developing students' thinking is helping them to build up a toolkit of skills, it is equally important to cultivate dispositions such as open-mindedness and curiosity.

Whether metacognition is a skill, a collection of skills or simply a state of mind is debatable, but in essence metacognition "refers to higher-order thinking which involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning" (Hattie 2009). In many ways, improving metacognition is foundational for improving all other skills. Improving students' metacognitive awareness will help them to become more aware of the ways in which they process information, find patterns, build conceptual understandings, and remember key facts and ideas. Once they are aware that they are using techniques and strategies to perform even the most basic learning tasks, students can be encouraged to consider if there are more effective or efficient ways to achieve those same outcomes. They can then be encouraged to try new ways of learning and to evaluate the results.

Reflection

Like metacognition, reflection is a thinking skill that plays a particularly essential role in learning. The value of structured reflection activities in education is widely recognized, and elements are commonly incorporated into learning programmes in various forms. These activities may be written (for example, reflective essays, reading logs, case studies), oral (for example, presentations, video diaries, discussion) or artistic/creative (for example, photos or other images capturing scenes that can then be used to promote discussion). They may also encompass elements of more than one form (for example, student portfolios). Online tools such as blogs (reflective journals), wikis (collaborative web pages), digital stories and podcasts, interactive micro-blogging and social networking also offer great opportunities for reflective activities.

It is crucial that reflective activities are meaningful for students, and do not become mechanistic and formulaic. Effective reflective activities should challenge students to think more deeply, and students need to be explicitly aware of the role of the activities. This does not necessarily mean introducing students to specific theories/models of reflection, although this can be helpful, but it does mean ensuring that sufficient time is allocated to appropriately designed reflective activities at all stages of learning-before, during and after. Another helpful approach can be to distinguish between different types of reflection. For example, the three elements of the DP core all have a slightly different emphasis in relation to reflection: in TOK, the prime emphasis is on cognitive reflection; in the extended essay, the emphasis is on reflection on process; and in creativity, activity, service (CAS), there is a more affective emphasis to the reflection.

Higher-order thinking

Discussions and categorizations of thinking skills often use the phrase higher-order thinking skills. This distinction between higher- and lower-order thinking skills is rooted in Bloom's taxonomy of thinking skills (1956). Bloom's taxonomy distinguishes between the lower-order skills of knowledge acquisition, comprehension and application, and the higher-order skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Bloom's taxonomy was later revised and updated by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) into a slightly less strict hierarchy that allows for more overlap between the categories.

Category Associated thinking skills

1. Remember Recognizing, recalling

2. Understand Interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, explaining

3. Apply Executing, implementing

4. Analyse Differentiating, organizing, attributing

5. Evaluate Checking, critiquing

6. Create Generating, planning, producing

(Anderson, Krathwohl 2001)

DP subjects place a premium on the development of higher-order thinking skills rather than on simple memorization of content. This is clearly apparent in the aims of DP courses; for example, one of the aims of all group 3 courses is to "develop in the student the capacity to identify, to analyse critically and to evaluate theories, concepts and arguments about the nature and activities of the individual and society". The higher-order thinking skills DP subjects foster can be seen in the command terms used in DP examination papers, where questions ask students to "analyse", "evaluate", "compare", and so on. Most DP subject guides provide a list of command terms, and it is important that teachers familiarize students with these terms so that students have a clear understanding of what they are expected to demonstrate in their responses.

Teaching Idea

When planning DP lessons, consider what higher-order questions you will ask your students to encourage higher-order thinking. Also be sure to plan time for students to think about their answers to questions, rather than engaging in rapid "ping-pong" questions and answers that do not give students time to think deeply about their responses.

Some of the most influential recent work on thinking comes from the "Project Zero" team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Their "Cultures of Thinking" project focuses on the importance of creating an atmosphere in the classroom where the "group's collective as well as individual thinking is valued, visible, and actively promoted as part of the regular, day-to-day experience of all group members" (Ritchhart et al. 2011). This approach emphasizes the importance of embedding thinking into the culture and everyday life of the school, rather than it being seen as an add-on. One practical teaching strategy developed by this project to help achieve this aim is that of "visible thinking" routines (Ritchhart et al. 2011), for example:

Connect, extend, challenge
(Routine to help students make connections between old knowledge and new knowledge.)

Generate-sort-connect-elaborate
(Concept-mapping routine.)

I used to think... now I think...
(Routine to help effective reflection on how and why their thinking has changed.)

Headlines
(Routine where students write a newspaper-style headline to capture the essence of an idea, event, topic, etc.)

Claim, support, question
(Routine for exploring claims. Students make a claim, identify support for that claim, then ask a question related to that claim.)

Think, pair, share
(Routine where students think individually, then share/compare their thinking with a partner.)

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Concern with developing students' thinking, far from being a fad, is one of the most persistent and ambitious aspirations of education. (Swartz and Perkins 1989: 5) Developing thinking skills is a key feature of the constructivist approach that so heavily influences all IB programmes.