Course Description

Critical thinking, creative thinking, higher level thinking, deep thinking, thinking skills, thinking tools, analysis, evaluation, synthesis, inferencing, generalising, predicating, comparing, contrasting, relating, classifying, grouping, sorting…

What does it all mean and how are teachers meant to practically address all this?

The importance of teaching our students how to think has been globally recognised but how are teachers practically addressing this mandate? To what level of depth and breadth do teachers truly understand thinking; the difference between critical and creative thinking and the relationship between the two; the seamless infusion of thinking skills into their instructional design; and the strategic selection of the most effective tools to legitimately advance thinking and therefore learning? Just as critically, how well do students understand their thinking and what is their level of cognitive responsibility? 

In this course, Lane Clark explores what it means to teach students HOW to think. She will explore both critical and creative thinking and what it means to become a skillful thinker.  She will demystify the infusion of thinking into classroom practice and will explore a practical approach to transitioning cognitive control from the realm of the teacher to that of the learner. 

Participants WILL end this course with greater clarity when it comes to…that thinking thing!

Audience

K- 9 teachers, Curriculum Coordinators, Principals, Curriculum and Pedagogy Consultants

Teaching Standards

3.3.2 Proficient Level - Plan for and implement Effective Teaching and Learning - Use teaching strategies:  Select and use relevant teaching strategies to develop knowledge, skills, problem-solving, and critical and creative thinking.