Welcome back to the start of the school year and we are hoping you are feeling refreshed and fired up ready to go!

A little over two years ago I sat down with two primary school teachers to have a conversation with them to discover what had them be so successful with developing their students to learn. It was one of those conversations that connected certain ‘dots’ for me about what I had been reading about the findings of neuroscience and setting up powerful learning environments.

Habits are the key

One of the critical keys to their success that made such a difference to setting up a powerful learning environment for their students was that the two teachers, both of them relatively recent graduates, were the habitual practices they had unconsciously embedded at the start of the year. Over the previous 2-3 years that these two teachers had worked together, occasionally team teaching but mostly teaching independently, they had tried and tested a range of structures, routines and procedures that they found made a difference for their students to become independent learners. A learning coach had suggested some additional new structures and these built upon the foundation that these two had laid earlier in the year. What the two teachers discovered was that by the middle of the year (Term 3) the students started to take learning into their own hands and be much more self-sufficient and self-guided. This allowed the teachers to then focus on being learning partners to the students rather than always driving the learning.

A Mathematics and Science teacher in a secondary school in Queensland discovered the exact same shift in learning culture when he implemented a range of structures and habits that allowed his students to develop their capacity to be independent learners. He found that rather than spending all of his time teaching and managing behaviour in his classes, the students knew what there was to do, how to support one another, and he had the opportunity to work with students who were struggling with particular concepts.

What do they build?

None of this should come as a surprise because teachers always begin their school year with routines and procedures. But are they well thought out and intentional?

This is a conversation I often have with teachers in my workshops. What are your habitual practices and what do they build? Unless you are conscious about the habits you have then you can’t give them away nor can you test whether or not they are working or can be refined. As an occasional field coach for little athletics I am continually thinking about habits and how to give them away. What are the habitual actions a high performing discus thrower does to throw further? What practices can I teach the athletes to have them develop those actions?

In the same way you as a teacher or school leader can ask yourself two questions:

1. What are the habitual practices I want my students / teachers to develop?
   Then list all the habits that you want the students to develop throughout the year.
2. If I want my students to develop these particular habits what structures, routines, procedures can I put into place that will develop these habits over time?

It is even worth getting together as with your colleagues to collect that habits they have found works for them and then trying them out.

One primary school we are working with has created over-arching themes for each year level. For example, Foundation year is “Having a go and looking after each other”. The teaching team are now designing structures, routines, conversations and ways of interacting with the students that reinforces the idea of “having a go and looking after each other”. The intention is for the students to develop a growth mindset about learning and that it is about learning is about safety and community.

Possible Habits

I have attached links to a range of articles for you to access to give you some ideas about possible habits you can use. Doug Lemov’s book, Teach like a Champion, is a gem. One thing worth noting is that there may be some unconscious habits you want to stop doing in the process. One big one for some teachers is they talk too much! It is worth reading Charles Duhigg’s book called The Power of Habit where he gives a range of examples and coaching on how to change the routines we are stuck in.

5 Scientific Ways to Build Habits That Stick

25 Reading Strategies That Work In Every Content Area

Developing Student Centred Learning and Teaching

Hacking Habits: How To Make New Behaviors Last For Good

How Visual Thinking Improves Writing

Feedback Unlocks Reluctance

Why Teaching Helps Students Learn More Deeply

My Biggest Regret as a Teacher: Extrinsic Rewards

SLANT

Rituals make us Value things more

You will find this post cross-posted at the Whole Child Education Blog and on my ASCD Express Blog

I am current working with quite a prestigious school to transform their Year 8 curriculum and teaching practice such that the learning is not only more engaging but it begins to embed a structure to develop performance oriented independent learners.

As part of the process we were discussing formative assessment and the qualities or attributes of effective formative assessment. At one point I had quite a vigorous discussion with some teachers about the purpose of grading students.

One of the habitual practices I see in high schools is the grading of pieces of work, assignments, tests, etc and they are essentially summative. In other words, a student does a test, assignment, whatever and they are given a mark and that goes towards the result the student achieves for the term or year.

Why?

I asked them, “Why is this the habit you use? What is the purpose of this?” I really want you, as a reader, to think about this too. Why do you grade?

Now I am not against grading as a tool. What I think needs to shift is the context in how we use grades as a tool.

If you look behaviorally at students over time when grades are given they become used as a tool of reward. They are an artificial indication of that the student is doing well (or not), that they can provide what the teacher wants of them (or not). Self-belief and self-confidence rise and fall on the grades. Students adapt so as to get good grades (or give up). Students compare themselves to each other and mindsets are made and embedded. In many high schools I find that one of the clear and constant complaints is that students don’t want to show their working, or demonstrate the process of thinking, they just want the answer and get the grade.

Is this the purpose of schools and learning?

If our job as educators is to be partners to the students to learn then shouldn’t our structures match this desire? Having structures that are supposedly used to measure student understanding yet hinder it seems a bit silly to me.

Wouldn’t it be a good idea if all students could achieve a high grade (90% and above)? Why not let them resubmit an assignment and correct the mistakes they made? Why not have them re-sit the test or exam until they get a good mark? Give the students a choice to keep working until their grade is high and what you start to reward with grades is effort and you build a growth mindset. This is the fundamental thinking of how games work on develop skills and competency (thus the gamification and competency learning movements occurring in learning)

For those students who achieve a high grade quickly, why not have them tutor the other students on their thinking (not the answers) such that everyone can succeed. Not only does this build a community-oriented culture of learning (all for one and one for all), not only does this provide a feedback and coaching structure within the classroom, it addresses the higher competency students to develop their executive functions and be able to explain their thinking to others in such a way that the other students succeed.

And what does Hattie’s meta-analysis say about feedback, micro-teaching, formative evaluation, etc? They are amongst the top approaches to improving student learning.

Shifting one’s context can make a profound difference with little effort or hard work!

“I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,

I can see all obstacles in my way

Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind

It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright) Sun-Shiny day.”

Johnny Nash

 Phillip Barlow is well known in the art world for his out-of-focus oil paintings. The South African artist uses blurriness to hint at shapes, subjects and context. In a world which has become hooked on high definition his work highlights the importance of focus and clarity in our everyday life. Those of you who wear reading glasses know the importance of being able to focus and have clarity when you are reading. I invite you to consider that many schools, teachers and students operate within an environment of a lack of clarity.

Many schools are unclear about the professional or student learning culture they are building. They have an idea of what they want but a range of pushes and pulls from education systems, parents, day-to-day issues and even finances blurs the focus of the individuals who are responsible for keeping it on track. It shows up in the way strategic plans are created and then followed (or not), in the staff meetings (and their number and length), in what is considered important throughout the school year, and in the structures put in place to support the school vision and goals.

Teachers are often unclear about the actual outcomes and goals they require students to achieve inside of a whole school plan. They read the prescribed curriculum and then form an interpretation of what that means. Quite often the result is a surface interpretation as deeper understanding and coherency requires the time for significant discussion and unpacking by a team of teachers consistent with the school mission and goals.

Students are often asked to learn in an environment where they don’t why they are doing what they are doing, nor what skill they are actually building. Without structures such as learning intentions, success criteria, formative rubrics, and clarity about WHAT, HOW, WHY and how to deal with obstacles to their learning – they often progress slowly towards achieving learning outcomes and building required skills.

Clarity, by definition, is the quality of being clear, coherent and intelligible.

The more that we work with schools the more we discover that what they are actually asking us is to partner them in creating clear, coherent and intelligible approaches to achieving what they want to achieve. It is not that they don’t know what they want (necessarily) but that it is a bit fuzzy or maybe they are unclear about the path to achieve their goals.

We find that most schools, whether they are of the government, catholic or independent persuasion, often have not clearly articulated what their purpose and the overall goals that they are trying to achieve. Sure they have school values. Sure they have a strategic plan. However we when dig down into what those goals, visions, and plans we find a lot of uncertainty rather than rigor and dealing with the reality of achieving their goals.

When we look at most school strategic plans they are often planned in such a way that it is hopeful rather than based in the reality of what would work best for schools, staff and students. It is NOT that we are dealing with people who can’t plan. What we are dealing with is, quite often, a lack of clarity of WHAT they are actually trying to achieve and a lack of a clear path to HOW they will achieve those goals in ways that coherently creates a powerful learning culture whilst supporting all students, staff and parents.

The same can be said with teachers. When we support teachers in planning curriculum we spend an enormous amount of time having them become crystal clear about what the learning destination they are desire the students get to. What are the skills, understandings and knowledge they want the students to gain? What will it look like when the students get there? What scaffolding and learning activities could they then design that will have the students’ progress towards that learning destination?

The great thing we have found, time and time again, is that once the school, teacher, or student is clear about their destination – they are immensely able to do what needs to be done to get there.

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.

– Winston Churchill

In John Hattie’s meta-analyses of the highest impacting teaching approaches you will find explicit teacher-led instruction or direct instruction. Quite often teachers ask me what does this mean in practice and what its relation to developing independent learners is.

Direct Instruction does not mean teacher centred learning.

Whilst it is teacher directed it is teaching that is focused on directing student attention toward specific learning in a highly structured environment so as to produce specific learning outcomes.

John Sweller, an academic at the University of NSW specialising in how children best learn, supports Direct Instruction when he writes: “Information should always be presented in direct rather than indirect form. Children, especially boys, need a structured, orderly environment where there are clear guidelines about what needs to be accomplished and where there is immediate feedback” [The Australian, August 18 2012]

An important characteristic of direct instruction involves modelling skills and behaviours and modelling thinking. This involves the teacher thinking out loud when working through problems and demonstrating processes for students. The attention of students is important and listening and observations are key to success.

What is its purpose?

Explicit teaching is useful for introducing topics and specific skills. It provides guided instruction in the basic understanding of required skills, which students can then build on through practice, collaboration, repetition, hands on activities and developmental chewing over.

 How do I do it?

Explicit instruction is a sequence of supports:

1. setting a purpose for learning
2. telling students what to do
3. showing them how to do it
4. guiding their hands-on application of the new learning.

Explicit instruction begins with setting the stage for learning, followed by a clear explanation of what to do (telling), followed by modelling of the process (showing), followed by multiple opportunities for practice (guiding) until independence is attained. Explicit instruction moves systematically from extensive teacher input and little student responsibility initially — to total student responsibility and minimal teacher involvement at the conclusion of the learning cycle. Vygotsky identified this as the Gradual Release of Responsibility process from student to the teacher.

 Unpacking the Process

The best unpacking of the process in detail that I have read comes from David Didau, an English teacher who writes the Learning Spy blog in the UK. Rather than summarise, here is the sequence of 5 blogs where David unpacked the teaching sequence for developing independence.

1. Teaching Sequence for Developing Independence – Great Teaching Happens in Cycles
2. Teaching Sequence for Developing Independence – Stage 1 Explain
3. Teaching Sequence for Developing Independence – Stage 2 Model
4. Teaching Sequence for Developing Independence – Stage 3 Scaffold
5. Teaching Sequence for Developing Independence – Stage 4 Practise

One of the things I love about being an educational consultant is that I am always learning from schools as they learn from me. My work becomes an automatic structure for reflection, growth and the challenging or expanding of my thinking. As I go from school to school I pick up new ideas, new ways of thinking about what I am discussing at the time, and occasionally have blinding insights into something I never had even thought about. I love it especially when some of the schools I

have a strong relationship with use me to run their thoughts past so I can contribute.

This brings me to an approach that I picked up from a school in Western Australia.

Since I am very much a “HOW” type of person, one thought I had been grappling with is HOW we shift teachers from being teacher focused in their delivery of learning to being student-centred with the learning. The teachers have this wealth of knowledge and thoughts and ideas but often they are not very good about articulating it or giving it away to the students. I already have a range of techniques but this one clicked for me recently as I saw this school using this approach.

One of the first steps teachers can take in their planning as part of shifting their mindset and their planning to be more student centred is to create CAN-DO lists.

As part of setting the destination that we want the student to reach by the end of a unit / session / year we can have the teachers articulate what they want the students to know and be able to do.

Teachers can begin with a unit they have already delivered and go through it identifying all the facts (knowledge) they wanted the students to know and all the things they wanted the students to be able to do (skills). The first run through generally tends to be a shallow listing so the next step would be to deepen the knowledge and skills by reflecting upon why is the knowledge or skill important, what is the transferable concept, what would it look like when they are demonstrating that skill?

As the teachers create the list of knowledge and skills they become clearer about what the unit is delivering. There now comes a reality check. The teachers should now check the lists of knowledge and skills against what their state framework or the Australian Curriculum asks of them. They can then take away or add to the list. This now trues the unit up against the standards and is a form of audit.
Having done all this work the teachers can create a CAN-DO list for the students. They take the lists they have created thus far and convert them to student-speak appropriate to the year level. You can see some examples here:

Can Do List – Year 9 Biological Science

Can Do List – Year 9 Ecological Science

The following is some Can Do Lists that I recently helped a primary school design

Can Do List – Prep Toys

Can Do List – Grade 3 Fabulous Fabrics

The benefits of this process include:

• Teachers now can specifically articulate what they want the students to be able to demonstrate to them
• With these goals in mind the teachers can now plan to ensure that the learning addresses these in a coherent and consistent way.
• Articulating what you want the students to know and be able to do then provides an easier step to articulate what you want the students to understand. I written in depth about Designing Key Understandings previously.
• Students now have clarity because they know what they CAN DO by the end of the unit. Structures can now be set up for teacher-student conferences, personalisation of learning, and independent learning.

You can download the template for the CAN DO List on our Learning Resources Page.

Many years ago when I used to teach engineering at university I had a passing interest in the field of shape optimization. It was a fascinating field because the idea of optimization in my particular area of expertise revolved around designing software that could optimize the placement of material so that, for given forces and stresses, the software would design the best and lightest shape of an object to withstand the given input.

It was interesting to watch how the material thickness flowed during the optimization process until the final shape was reached. The optimized shape would then represent the strongest yet lightest shape that would account for all the input conditions. Different input data would result in different shapes and the more accurate and representative the input data was the better and more practical the optimized shape became.

I bring this up because I was pondering recently what our education system, schools, and teaching is optimized for?

Let’s do a bit of a thought experiment to explore our thinking for a moment.  Imagine that we had the opportunity to begin from nothing and design an education system from the ground up.

Firstly, we must decide upon the input conditions. What will the education system be for? Will it be to prepare students for an every changing world where we don’t know what jobs they will be doing? Will it be to get them into university or college? Will it be to prepare them to be good citizens? Will it prepare them to be spiritual or respectful? Will it prepare them to follow rules and laws? Will it prepare them to be factory workers? Will it prepare them to do a trade? Will it prepare them to think in particular ways? Will the education system be a place that keeps them out of the way until they become adults?

You can probably add much more to that list and feel free to. However, you may notice that many are not mutually exclusive and all represent some of what we want the education system to do. And, much like optimization in my engineering example, differing input conditions will result in a different education system. I think that whatever we decide upon as the purpose for an education system it should cater for the current societal needs but also represent the most complete far-seeing future that would set up each individual for a positive and productively just world.

Once we have chosen the purpose we could then begin to optimize the structure of that education system to be able to most effectively deliver the purpose we have designed.

To accomplish the purpose of education over the time an individual is in the system would it require funding, schools, teachers, technology? How would we design funding for it? Who would have a say about its design, etc.? What evidence would we look at to support decisions that are made? What would ‘schools’ look like? Would we even have these things called schools? Would we have timetables? Classes? What would learning look like? Would it look differently at different developmental stages of the individuals? How would we cater for the spectrum of learners? How would it cater for different availability of resources? How could we cater for people of different cultural backgrounds?

The optimization would begin with the overall goal / purpose in mind and then each sub-section below it can be optimized for local conditions but still fulfilling the overall purpose. As localized input conditions change so will the structure. This naturally points to the system needing to be self-reflective and adaptable but consciously and intentionally aligned to fulfill a purpose.

So what is the point of this thought experiment?

Well, it is rare for any country to sit down with a blank sheet and do this work. I can count on one hand how many countries have deliberately done this. If you do a little digging you will find those that have done something similar to this thought experiment are the ones at the top of the PISA rankings. Most countries try to patch something on to old way of doing things and have competing purposes and structures. There is no reinvention or transformation – just Band-Aids and wastage. I am also aware that those that have the say in designing the education systems of a country quite often are not driven by a clear vision but by competing demands that have nothing to do with creating a clear vision. Setting out with a clear goal does make a profound difference.

I find that it is also rare for schools to do this work. Again you will find that schools that have created a clear purpose then have aligned their school structures to fulfill their chosen purpose will be palpably great learning cultures where staff, students and the community are in alignment. They will also perform effectively against all measures and will adapt well to changing conditions.

Many schools and their internal structures occur as a hodge-podge of ideas and structures with little integrity or alignment to deliver a particular purpose. There are staff holding out and hiding out – doing their own thing. There are inefficient professional development structures – ideas and leadership are not enhanced and grown. There may even be pockets of distrust between staff and leadership. Regardless of what the Education SYSTEM does a school can be internally focused and aligned. This makes a profound difference in and of itself.

I also suggest that it is rare for teachers to do this work for themselves. In other words, identifying what is their purpose then how are they going to align their structures and the creation of learning for their students given the external forces they face so they can accomplish their purpose. Masterful teachers are constantly adapting and developing themselves to do this. Again, regardless of the eduction system and a school and teacher can be internally focused and aligned.

I invite you to consider that in many education systems, schools and the way that teaching staff relate to their environment there isn’t enough alignment. Research shows that greater effectiveness can arise when there is greater alignment. You may not be able to change the education system or the way the school can operate at the moment, but how can you align yourself and your structures to more effectively accomplish your purpose for being a teacher or a school?

Unless you are consistently reflecting and aligning yourself and your structures to deliver your purpose as conditions change then bit by bit you are devolving your capacity to perform. At best you will become mediocre. At worst, counterproductive.

If you are a good school and interested in being a great school – the key is to create a coherent purpose and then alignment of structures throughout the school to achieve that purpose. If you are a good teacher and interested in being a great teacher then reflect and begin aligning yourself to your vision and what you are really out to create for your students and education as a whole. What you will find is that life and work will become much more purposeful and clear for you.

As discussed in a previous newsletter on Building Teacher Confidence and Intrinsic Motivation the first step to building teacher confidence and having them be intrinsically motivated is to support them in rediscovering and articulating their vision as teachers. This reconnects them to their WHY they became teachers in the first place and helps them identify what they actually find rewarding in their teaching. The next step is to develop purposeful action.

In a recent article Justin Baeder in his EduLeadership blog discussed the findings from the Learning in Leadership Study that indicated that what really helps engage people in their work is

1. Being good at their work
2. Getting the opportunity to do work they find rewarding

So if we can support the teacher to become crystal clear about what there is to develop themselves in that will enable them to become much more effective in their work and find it more rewarding then we can not only engage teachers in their work but also build their self-confidence.

Why this makes a profound difference is that a big missing in many schools is a strong mentorship culture that takes graduate teachers (or even non-graduate teachers) and then coherently and consistently develops them to be masterful teachers over the years. It more often than not is an ad hoc process built on a lot of hope.

A simple process that can be done with a teacher is to ask them what areas do they struggle with and would like to develop their capacity in? Some of the areas teachers have identified include:

• Honest conversations with colleagues in potential conflict circumstances
• Confidence to speak up
• Seeing myself as a leader
• Stepping up into a leadership role
• Using digital technology / ICT
• Being more organised
• To have other teachers develop independent learning structures for students and have consistency across the year level
• Not being overwhelmed by the busyness and stress of my teacher responsibilities
• Develop ability to allow the team to take ownership of the initiatives in the department

We would then use the table below top have the teacher unpack what it is like NOW, how they would like it to be in the FUTURE (thus creating a vision for the way they would like it to be), possible CAUSES of the way it is now, and then possible ACTIONS they see they could take to get from the NOW to the FUTURE. What we have found is that this process brings a lot of clarity to teachers coming up with a range of actions to tackle the possible causes of issues rather than be in a deficit mindset about the problem or issues.

Planning

For more information about what we can support you with teacher leadership contact Adrian at adrian@intuyuconsulting.com.au

It has been a couple of months since I last wrote in the blog but that is mainly because I have been sooooo busy. Much of the work I have been involved with recently revolves around working with a number of schools to take them from being ‘Good” schools to be “Great’ schools.

If you were on the journey of supporting a school going from ‘Good to Great’ where would you begin?

One of the areas I have begun exploring with a number of schools is the area of building a culture of learning that is palpable within the school. But what does that look like? In a series of inquiries with staff across a number of schools the key elements the staff identified included:

• Partnership: role-modelling, preparedness to learn from each other (teachers and students as well as teachers together)
• Shared vision with clear understanding
• Trust – knowing that you can mistakes
• People playing their role effectively
• Strong communication – speaking and listening effectively
• Respect/relationship building
• Openness to learning is imperative – ‘risk-taking, mistake-making’ culture
• Visible Learning – supports the notion of a learning partnership
• Listening to kids/each other in decision-making
• Resilience – being able a cope with professional feedback without feeling defensive due to highly critical self-perception

The essence of the feedback and research is that to build a culture of learning requires the building of a trusting community that involves learning partnerships and a powerful relationship to ‘failure’ and development.

I have previous written about the contextual shift required for the staff and students but that discussion did not consider HOW to build a developmental mindset in the learning community.

What we have begun to investigate at one high school is how we could develop structures to build resilience and intrinsic motivation as part of the everyday learning environment. The intention of the work we are doing together is to bring in structures, language, practices and conversations that will gradually support the development of resilience and intrinsic motivation in students, staff, parents and all those associated with the learning of an individual. This will take a few years to embed in the way the school operates but we believe it is one of the key planks of a culture of learning.

I have attached some articles and research below that links to this topic. How do you coherently and consistently develop resilience and intrinsic motivation in your school?

• Why finishing 4^th beats winning
• Taking Developmental Considerations into consideration
• What is meta-cognition and can we teach it
• To get Students Invested Involve them in Decisions Big and Small
• Positive Education: Creating Flourishing Students, Staff and Schools
• School-wide Methods for Fostering Resiliency
• Bolstering Resilience in Students
• Creating a Positive School Environment

While you are at it, check out my Scoop.It page around High Performance Learning

Adrian

Discovering the WHY

I am constantly inspired by the greatness of teachers and why they became teachers in the first place. In the process I go through when mentoring and coaching teachers I normally begin with finding out why they became teachers. For some they had family who were teachers and it seemed normal to do that. For others they played teacher with their friends as children – setting up their garages or rooms as a classroom and ‘teaching’ other kids in their neighbourhood. Others went off and had other careers but weren’t feeling fulfilled and wanted to contribute to the lives of young people.

Invariably I would discover that underneath all of this was the experience one or more teachers brought to the lives of these people at some point in their schooling career. That teacher who sat down with them when they were stuck and frustrated and who worked with them until they learnt the strategy and thinking necessary to no longer be stuck. The teacher, who by her generosity of spirit and caring, empowered them to feel confident enough to peer teach. Surprisingly enough, there were also ‘not so good’ experiences and the individual became a teacher because they didn’t want other students to have a teacher like that one!

Articulating the Vision

In the process of the sharing we would eventually be able to articulate what the teacher’s vision is and the WHY they are a teacher.  For example;

• Developing people to be independent learners so that every person has the right to achieve and succeed
• Leaving every child appreciated, knowing how great they are, and where to go next.

Rita Pierson in her recent TED Education talk articulated her Vision and stand beautifully: Every child needs a champion – Rita Pierson, TED Talk 2013

Expressing the vision is very powerful as it would has the teacher become clear about why they do what they do and why they have been passionate about certain aspects of education. Reconnecting teachers with why they are a teacher is the first step to reigniting their passion and reconnecting them to the intrinsic motivation that drove them to be teachers. Sometimes this passion and motivation gets lost in the ‘doing’ of being a teacher.

Developing Purposeful Action

The next part of the process is to support the teachers in developing projects within their role to fulfil that vision and this becomes part of their professional learning plan. As Daniel Pink tells us in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us if we can support individuals in having Autonomy, develop Mastery, and have a Purpose then they become intrinsically motivated to do their best and love what they do.

What we have discovered in the process of creating this is that not only does teacher self-confidence rise, but they begin to work better as a learning community because their communication improves.

If you want to read a bit more, check out …

How do Principals Really Improve Schools 

No One Likes to Be Changed – Daniel Markovitz – Harvard Business Review 

Patterson & Rolheiser – Creating a Culture of Change 

Secret Ingredient for Success – NYTimes

Rachel Grieve in her article recently in The Conversation discussed the importance of spreading the scientific thinking skills across the curriculum. And as researchers and teachers realise the more that we develop the cognitive abilities of students the more they can become independent learners and drive the learning.

However, the biggest barrier to implementation is not in recognising that developing students to be meta-cognitive is important but in the HOW. How could schools go about structuring their learning to have this happen? What could be some of the approaches that schools could embed to support the development of critical thinking, resilience and grit? I have put together some references, workshops and articles to start you on your way.

Thinking Science Australia – University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia has developed the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) program which is an intervention program design to specifically develop cognitive abilities in students. The program is based on five principles: Concrete preparation, Cognitive Conflict, Social Construction, Meta-cognition, and Bridging. The evidence base for Thinking Science Australia shows a noticeable improvement in students’ ability, not only in Science but in English and Mathematics also.

Thinking Science at Mt Alvernia, QLD

Mt Alvernia College in Kedron, QLD has been implementing the Thinking Science program with their Year 8 students for the past few years and will be running a two day workshop on August 1 and 2 in Brisbane for all interested parties. The two days will involve hands on practice and training in “using cues and questioning to engage and facilitate student-based conversation and to promote intrinsic learning” and all the practicalities of how to develop a thinking environment. You can find out more information here.

Making Learners Extraordinary

This is a brilliant website reflects the work of Tait Smoogen and his foundation on developing extraordinary learning environments. Tait is in the midst of unpacking the principles of what leads to extraordinary teachers and extraordinary learners. What he has identified thus far include: The Power of the Puzzle, Deep Observation, Meta-Active Thinking, Talk-it-out, and Co-Constructing the Curriculum.

There are also a range of articles that are worth reading which flesh out this area

• Critical Thinking From the Ground Up
• What is Meta-Cognition and can we teach it
• Students Can Learn by Explaining, Studies Say
• Learning Strategies Outperform IQ in Predicting Achievement
• Deliberately_difficult__why_its_better_to_make_learning_harder
• How to Give your Great Ideas wings (and cash)