Teaching for effective learning - thinking and understanding

What we know

Knowledge is information memorised, evaluated and organised by the brain so that it can be used for some purpose. Understanding occurs when a person thinks about and synthesises this knowledge in order to create meaning, or to use it in some way. It is understanding that allows knowledge to be put to use. The ability to think, therefore, is fundamental to achieving understanding. 

The teaching of thinking as a skill has been popularised in recent years by a range of educational researchers and writers. Whilst some, such as Reuven Feurstein and Walter Lipman, have focused on the school system, others have applied thinking skills more broadly within business and domestic markets. Some, notably Edward De Bono and Tony Buzan have become hugely successful authors and their books figure prominently in shops today.

More recently, Professor Howard Gardner in his latest book, ‘Five Minds for the Future’, suggests that the Disciplined Mind and the Synthesising Mind, are two of the five minds which we will have to cultivate so we can survive as a species and we can have a world in which we can live.

It is sometimes said, however, that the traditional school system has not been particularly good at helping young people to think and understand. Until relatively recent times it was assumed that if a young person was intelligent, understanding would just occur naturally through the practice of skills and acquisition of knowledge. If someone was not intelligent enough to understand then there was not much a teacher could do about it.

In more recent times, however, our education system has come to recognise the importance of thinking and understanding in order to help young people reflect on what they are learning and make sense of how to use their emerging skills and understandings by applying them across a range of contexts. Many schools now teach thinking skills explicitly or embed opportunities to develop such skills within the curriculum.  At the same time, tests and examinations are increasingly designed to assess not only skills and knowledge, but also thinking and understanding.

Teaching in a way that promotes understanding presents particular challenges for schools. Understanding is a personal process - it is something that goes on inside our heads and we all make connections and come to an understanding of things in different ways. A teacher cannot make these connections for young people; meaning has to be constructed in the minds of each learner because understanding depends on transformations and constructions that learners make for themselves.

It is, however, widely recognised that there is a considerable amount that schools can do to help young people acquire and use thinking skills, and to develop a conscious awareness of themselves as thinkers and learners. This growing recognition has led to many teachers embracing new approaches that foster and promote thinking skills and teaching for understanding.

Implications for learning

These ideas lie behind the importance that has been attached to direct interactive teaching, where teachers explain ideas, demonstrate practical activities, ask different kinds of questions, and help pupils to understand how well they have done. It also involves creating environments in which pupils can learn by investigating, solving problems and thinking for themselves. Interactive teaching is often contrasted with ‘indirect teaching’ where, for example, pupils work mainly on their own with books and worksheets.

Thinking styles

Not only do we have preferred learning styles, say Dryden and Vos, we also have favourite thinking styles and these are divided into 4 separate groups: 

• Concrete sequential thinkers like to base their thinking firmly on what they can see, hear, and touch. They notice and recall details easily and remember facts, formulas and rules. They prefer to process information in an orderly, sequential and linear way. Their thinking is most effective when there are opportunities for practical activity and ‘hands on’ learning.

• Concrete random thinkers are experimenters. As a result they tend to be more intuitive and creative in their thinking. Their learning is most effective when they are encouraged to think about and explore alternatives and do things their own way.

• Abstract random thinkers organise ideas and information through a process of reflection. They place great emphasis on the importance of feelings and emotions and remember best if information is personalised. They work well with partners and in groups.

• Abstract sequential thinkers are logical, rational and intellectual. They prefer the world of theory and abstract thought. They are adept at homing in on the key points and most significant details. They like to read and prefer to work alone rather than in groups.

As with preferred learning styles, there is a clear implication that teachers should provide a range of learning contexts which both reflect and scaffold the preferred thinking styles of their pupils. Such learning contexts cover, for example:

Sequencing enabling pupils to sequence activities and ideas and link together the main points

Classifying enabling pupils to categorise, make comparisons, recognize similarities and differences, give examples and distinguish advantages and disadvantages

Information Handling enabling pupils to locate, interpret, analyse information and understand relationships

Enquiry enabling pupils to ask relevant questions, pose and define problems, plan what to do and how to research, to predict outcomes, test conclusions and improve ideas

Reasoning enabling pupils to draw inferences and make deductions, judgements and decisions informed by reasons or evidence

Creative Thinking enabling pupils to generate ideas, suggest possible hypotheses, be imaginative in their thinking, and explore innovative outcomes;

Evaluation enabling pupils to evaluate information, judge the value of what they read, hear and do, develop criteria for judging the value of work, and have confidence in these judgements.

Mind Mapping enabling pupils to create a visual representation of the associations and connections that radiate outwards from an initial thought or idea. As the creator of Mind Maps, Tony Buzan believes that these visual representations ‘speak as the brain speaks’, that is in colours, with images and with associations.

Questioning techniques

The nature and range of teacher questioning can also help to develop thinking skills and understanding.

Questions that seek clarification include: Can you explain that? What do you mean by...? Can you give me an example of...? How does that help us? Does anyone have a question to ask?

Questions that look for reasons and evidence include: Why do you think that? How do we know that? What are your reasons? What evidence do you have?

Questions that explore alternatives include: Can you put that another way? Is there another point of view? What if someone were to suggest that...? What might someone who disagrees say? What difference is there between those points of view?

Questions that consider implications and consequences include: What might happen if...? What might be the consequence of that? Does that agree with what we said earlier? How can we tell if it’s true?

Questions that pull things together include: Where have we got to? Can anyone summarise so far? How does that connect to...? Are we any closer to solving the problem?

Critical thinking

An increasing number of schools are developing critical thinking skills. This involves helping learners to develop skills associated with logical reasoning, the evaluation and the application of judgement and the ability to recognise bias and distinguish fact from opinion. Critical thinking also embraces the ability to justify ideas and actions, being able to set out reasons for and against choosing, deciding or believing something, preparing arguments and arriving at a balanced conclusion.

Some schools, however, believe that critical thinking can only be nurtured within a learning environment that is based upon positive attitudes, self-confidence, open-mindedness, a willingness to take risks and to submit personal views to the challenge of others.

Self-confidence is the positive belief in ourselves and in our abilities. It is the conviction that if we try out new things and take on fresh challenges, we are more likely than not to succeed. Self-confident learners are usually resilient and usually more likely to persevere with a problem. 

The ability to persist, however, is closely related to how well we cope with difficulties and deal with frustrations. When learners are asked to come up with suggestions and possibilities and explore alternatives, there is always going to be a risk that they will make a mistake. Even from an early age some pupils can become locked into the ‘mistakes mean I’m useless’ view. As a result they find it hard to own up to difficulties or to venture an opinion.

Self-confidence, perseverance and being willing to take risks and respond to new challenges are important factors in developing thinking skills in all learners.   An increasing number of schools make use of techniques that help to extend pupil thinking through discussion and working with others. These include for example:

• cooperative learning

• peer teaching and mentoring

• brainstorming

• buzz groups

• think-pair-share

• rainbow groups

• twos to fours

• listening triads

• critique session

These techniques are explored further in the Learning Together section of this document.

Thinking about thinking

Many schools also seek to develop the ability of learners to think about the way that they think. This process - commonly referred to as metacognition – helps learners to be aware of their own knowledge and thinking and, therefore, their learning. Learners might, for example, be encouraged to ask themselves both ‘thinking’ questions and ‘thinking about thinking’ questions in order to promote metacognition. These include, for example:

Thinking Questions

• What am I being asked to do?
• Have I met this before?
• What information do I have?
• How much do I understand?
• What do I need to know?
• How can I find this out?
• Who can help me?
• What do other people think?
• What are the most important ideas?
• What are the arguments for and against?

Thinking About Thinking Questions

• How can I check my progress?
• Am I doing this correctly?
• Why can’t I do this?
• Is there another way to do this?
• Did I solve the problem?
• Would I do it differently next time?
• Did I work as well as I could?
• How did I learn what I learned?
• Could I use what I learned in another situation?
• Why did I find that difficult?

Other metacognitive activities might involve:

• predicting outcomes
• explaining to oneself in order to improve understanding
• correcting errors
• planning ahead 
• time management.

In summary, there are 4 important lessons for teachers and schools that arise from what we know about thinking.

Thinking and understanding play a crucial role in learning

Acquiring knowledge and practising skills are important elements of learning, but young people need opportunities to make sense of what they are learning, to think things through for themselves and consider what techniques help them to think and learn.

Adults play a key role

The idea that to learn effectively we have to think things through for ourselves does not mean that the teacher’s role becomes a minor or peripheral one, where he or she withdraws into the background, or acts only as a manager of resources. Effective teaching extends the giving of knowledge or information by scaffolding and mediating learning through explanations, questioning and feedback, and helping the learners to close the gap between what they already know, think, feel or can do and what they aspire to know, think, feel or do.

Learning needs to be an active process

However information is presented to young people, they must be required to use that information in some active way, to change it, classify it, organise it, evaluate it, transform it or explain it to someone else. This forces them to think about it and seek out what is meaningful and relevant.

Coverage is the enemy of comprehension

For many young people, understanding is not easy - it requires effort and technique and it takes time. If the curriculum is too knowledge-based and there is too much ground to cover it is difficult for children to learn effectively. Teachers must achieve an effective balance between developing knowledge and teaching for understanding.