How?

**Teaching Thinking Skills** by Jean Edwards   From "How To Teach Thinking Skills" by Jean Edwards; ThinkShop: Resources for Thinking Ltd.  **For the teacher who wants to get more serious about thinking skills** Thinking Skills can be divided into three main groups of skills (see diagram below): • creative thinking • critical thinking, //and when the two are combined//, • creative problem-solving. || Basically, coming up with new, novel or original ideas and ways of doing things. (Edward de Bono’s green-hat thinking performs the same function.) Looking at things from a different perspective. //Common process verbs: imagine, invent, change, design, create....// || Analysing and evaluating or judging information or data to find the right answer. //Common process verbs: analyse, break down, compare, categorise, list, sequence, rank...// || Using both analytical and creative thinking to solve problems and situations. New or creative thinking is always needed to solve a problem - you can’t rely on the same old thinking which got you into the problem, to get you out of it! //Common process verbs: improve, design, refine, find, invent criteria to, combine...// ||
 * We'll assume you know the basic theory of Thinking Skills, that you know you want to teach them - but how to begin? What exactly to DO? **How do I teach Thinking Skills?** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">**You need to plan** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> a schedule or time-frame for teaching the skills or tools of thinking first; running Thinking Skills sessions is an excellent idea. Start small and sensible. Focus on one or two particular skills or tools you want to address, such as creativity and analysing, and build up your repertoire from there. Remember to enjoy what you're teaching! ||
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0)"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">**The second step** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> is to begin using the tools, transferring them into your regular lessons. Having a TOOLBOX column handy alongside your regular planning sheet may help you to focus on this transfer. Encouraging your students to use a specific Thinking Skills folder or book that they can refer to, may help them to recognise that they have a thinking toolbox ready at hand for transfer to other subjects or areas. ||
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0)"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> **A Tip: Don't go for** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">a 'grab-bag of activities'. For a defensible thinking skills programme, you MUST have a specific aim in mind, an outcome you can see or measure (which is why quite a few of the resources in the above book have evaluation records for you). The skills or tools must be transferable! Slow and steady is a sensible rule. Share techniques and models with your students so that you - and they - can systematically incorporate thinking skills into your programme ||
 * **<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0)"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What are the main Thinking Skills? **
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0)"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> **A Tip: Don't go for** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">a 'grab-bag of activities'. For a defensible thinking skills programme, you MUST have a specific aim in mind, an outcome you can see or measure (which is why quite a few of the resources in the above book have evaluation records for you). The skills or tools must be transferable! Slow and steady is a sensible rule. Share techniques and models with your students so that you - and they - can systematically incorporate thinking skills into your programme ||
 * **<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0)"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What are the main Thinking Skills? **
 * **<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0)"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What are the main Thinking Skills? **
 * **<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0)"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What are the main Thinking Skills? **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">**1. Creativity**
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">**2. Critical thinking**
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">**3. Problem-solving**
 * [[image:http://www.thinks.co.nz/images/venn.gif width="426" height="295" caption="venn diagram"]] ||