Teaching Thinking -- A Guide for the Perplexed Yoram Harpaz Mandel Leadership Institute, Jerusalem yoramha@mandelinstitute.org.il

Why teach thinking? The explosion of knowledge Knowledge is expanding Knowledge is accessible Knowledge is relative

How teach thinking when... “There are an awful lot of theories around.” – Robert Sternberg “With so much controversy in the air, it’s understandable that only a few teachers and schools make the attempt.” -- David Perkins “Mind Workers Unite!” -- Arthur Costa

Approaches to Teaching Thinking The Main Question: what is the foundational element of good thinking and how is it taught? Skills Approach Dispositions Approach Understanding Approach

Some definitions Skills: means of thinking implemented rapidly and precisely (e.g. heuristics, tools, organizers). Neutral skills: means of thinking that render common cognitive processes more efficient (e.g. classifying, grading, comparing, deciding, etc.). Normative skills: means of thinking that create uncommon cognitive processes (e.g. breaking patterns, devising problems, exposing premises, discovering biases, etc.).

Disposition: intellectual trait that is conciously chosen and justified. Thinking dispositions: traits with direct impact on thinking. Disposition to think: to engage and be engaged in thinking. Some definitions

Understanding: locating knowledge in relevant and rich contexts and/or performance – intellectual moves with knowledge. Substantive understanding: understanding the substance of thinking. Reflective understanding: understanding thinking or the conditions that make it good thinking. Some definitions

Patterns of teaching thinking Teaching: education through knowledge Skills – Impartation Disposition – Cultivation Understanding – Construction

The Approaches as Worldviews Skills: Good Thinker is efficient thinker Dispositions: Good Thinker is wise thinker Understanding: Good Thinker is learned thinker

The approaches as lenses Thinking Shortfalls Skills: faults (lack of thinking skills or their faulty application) Dispositions: weaknesses (character flaws or “weak ego”) Understanding: misunderstandings Metacognition Intelligence Transfer

The Metaphorical Aspects “The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another.” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) Skills: thinking as a toolbox Dispositions: thinking as deep currents Understanding: thinking as a net

The practical aspect: the approaches in school Skills’ “standard deviation”: taming Dispositions’ “standard deviation”: preaching Understanding’s “standard deviation”: lecturing

Two Essential Questions 1. What to believe – why three? 2. What to do – which approach is best?

1. Three elements of good thinking correspond to three components of thinking: Thinking skills Processes of thinking Thinking disposition Qualities of thinking Understanding Contents of thinking

2. Teach skills and dispositions within the understanding approach and the pattern of construction.