Processing Ideas : Scaffolding critical and creative thinking

Planning - Developing thinking skills, using cognitive taxonomies, mind maps, graphic organisers and elearning opportunities to achieve successful learning outcomes.
Why do our students need to develop thinking skills ???

1. Developing discernment - Media literacy 2. Pedagogy Revision - What do we know about Cognitive Taxonomies ? 3. Planning in a chosen context - Questions and Graphic Organiser use (Heroes & sHeroes)

What do we believe ?

What is real?

The public detests all lies .... except lies spoken in public, or printed lies.
Edgar Watson Howe

Those who can make you believe absurdities - can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire

The media can tell us what to think !

How do our students interpret these messages ?

Fondness for clichs and clichd thinking - simple statements that are time worn, familiar and likely to carry surface appeal.

Eagerness to join some crowd or other - wear, do and think what is fashionable, cool, hip, fab, or the opposite or whatever . .

Reliance upon maxims truisms, platitudes, banalities and hackneyed sayings - to handle demanding, complex situations requiring deep thought and careful consideration.
Appetite for bromides - the quick fix, the easy answer, the sugar coated pill, the great escape, the short cut, the template, the cheat sheet Hunger for vivid and dramatic packaging

Preference for platitudes, near truths, slogans, jingles, catch phrases and buzzwords.

Vulnerability to propaganda, demagoguery and mass movements based on appeals to emotions, fears and prejudice.

Impatience with thorough and Fascination with cults, dispassionate analysis. personalities, celebrities, chat, gossip, hype, speculation, buzz and blather.

Fascination with the story, the play, the drama, the show, the episode and the epic rather than the idea, the question, the argument, the premise, the logic or the substance.
Dr Jamie McKenzie http:// www.fno.org

What worries us as educators ?

Thin quality of student work. Limited analysis or original thought.
Emphasis upon the tools and special effects rather than content and thought.

Toolishness, Disneyfication,
Edutainment & Infotainment, Infoglut, Mentalsoftness.
Dr Jamie McKenzie Refer : http://www.fno.org

In many cases, the medium appears to shove the message aside.

Thinking skills are discussed in connection with two related phenomena ;

modern technology and

fast-paced change.

Teaching children to become effective thinkers is increasingly recognized as an immediate goal of education.... If students are to function successfully in a highly technical society, then they must be equipped with the lifelong learning and thinking skills necessary to acquire and process information in an ever-changing world. Robinson, 1987.

If we hope to see inventive thought infused with critical judgment...

...questions and questioning must become a priority of schooling and must gain recognition as THE supremely important technology...

Once you have learned how to ask relevant and appropriate questions, you have learned how to learn and no one can keep you from learning whatever you want or need to know.
Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner Teaching as a Subversive Activity

to IDEAS and develop their own deeper understanding about them ?

How do people REACT

Recalling Explaining Analyzing Challenging Transforming Synthesizing

Remembering finding it in the book

Getting your thoughts over to someone else - talking about it, find out more
Sifting and sorting your information talking and thinking - questioning

Active discussion, proving points with examples arguing and reflecting

Thinking - proving your points with examples. Altering your understanding Making connections -Bringing together all parts Reporting - proving your points

with examples and explanations.

Knowledge/ Recall observation and recall of information knowledge of dates, events, places knowledge of major ideas mastery of subject matter Question Cues: list, define, tell, describe, identify, show, label, collect, examine, tabulate, quote, name, who, when, where, etc.

Comprehension/ Understanding understanding information grasp meaning translate knowledge into new context interpret facts, compare, contrast order, group, infer causes predict consequences Question Cues: summarize, describe, interpret, contrast, predict, associate

Application use information use methods, concepts, theories in new situations solve problems using required skills or knowledge Questions Cues: apply, demonstrate, calculate, complete, illustrate, show, solve, examine, modify, relate, change, classify, experiment, discover

Analysis seeing patterns organization of parts recognition of hidden meanings identification of components Question Cues: analyze, separate, order, explain, connect, classify, arrange, divide, compare, select, explain, infer

Synthesis/ Creation use old ideas to create new ones generalize from given facts relate knowledge from several areas predict, draw conclusions Question Cues: combine, integrate, modify, rearrange, substitute, plan, create, design, invent, what if?, compose, formulate, prepare, generalize, rewrite

Evaluation compare and discriminate between ideas assess value of theories, presentations make choices based on reasoned argument verify value of evidence recognize subjectivity Question Cues assess, decide, rank, grade, test, measure, recommend, convince, select, judge, explain, discriminate, support, conclude, compare, summarize

Eric Frangeheim Workshop What have we learnt ? How are we applying these strategies and techniques ?

Processing Information : Thinking Taxonomies , Mind maps, Graphic Organisers ...

Structure tasks and questions to identify and develop deepening levels of understanding. Blooms/ Andersons / Solo Graphic organisers to help students sift and sort thinking to arrive at considered opinions.

What is the role of a hero or shero in a culture ?

In a culture where we are bombarded with messages about how we should be how do we make decisions for ourselves ?

How does the media shape our view of the world and ourselves ?
Why is it important for people and cultures to construct stories about their experiences ? How do various cultures reward or recognize their heroes and sheroes ?

Do the attributes of a hero remain the same over time ?

Essential Question: ?

Health & Physical Education

Understand that our attitudes and behaviour can have positive or negative outcomes on other peoples wellbeing.

Social Science
Understand that individuals can have a positive or negative impact on their immediate and wider society.

What makes a hero? Why do we need them, assuming we do? How do we choose them? Is yesterday's hero still a hero today? Can you stop being a hero ? How important ARE heroes in this cynical world? Do they even exist today?

Identify the known Famous, Celebrities etc

Recall, & explain their stories .

Identify common qualities & characteristics

Apply understandings to other people. Examine their qualities, their stories . Analyse and make conclusions.
Justify

Transfer learning into knowledge of themselves and their community members

HOW do we structure activities and scaffold thinking to achieve THIS ?

How do we choose our role models?

What is the difference between a role model and a hero?

What is a hero ?
George Latham Story

Video Rick Hoyt Iron man

Paris Video

Role Model Qualities

Catherine Middleton
Polite Confident

Irene Van Dyck

Reliable Talented Talented

Miley Cyrus
Confident

Glamorous

Healthy

Beautiful

How do we choose our role models or heroes?

How do we determine what qualities are worth admiring ?

Story Activity

Nelson Mandela

Adolf Hitler

Research with selected readings , then.....

Compare Two Leaders

Determined.

NELSON
Believes people are the same. Believes all people should have equal rights. Believes no culture is better than others. Has University Education

Overcomes own problems.

Makes personal sacrifices for their cause. Passionate about their beliefs. Resilient. Courageous. Forceful. A strong leader. Loves their country. Able to express their opinions clearly.

ADOLF
Believes people are different. Believes some people should have less rights than others. Believes some cultures are better than others. Has Technical Education

Personal Details Born: Country:

What personal qualities do they have?

Mother Teresa What difference have they made to the world ?

What have they done to be famous?

Causes
These behaviours result in a detention

Effects
These are the probable outcomes

Reliable Integrity Sensible Determined Being a Role Model

Admired by others Make good friends Popular Leader

How do we modify our own behaviour?

What is the difference between my behaviour and a role model or hero?