Thinking is the Foundation for Learning
Hello all!
I have waited a bit until everyone is back in school to kick off a new year of blogs. But now I can't wait any longer.
Expect many this year as we have some remarkable stories to tell, including the unveiling of new research case studies from England, New Zealand, North Carolina, California, Mississippi, and New York ... we will soon let you in on a documentary movie trailer about what happens when a school system rises up against adversity and devastation (and 70% poverty rates) to become THE highest performing system in their state... how did they do it? An explicit focus on students' thinking.
So I was moved to write this morning because of what I read last night in a groundbreaking research book 15 years in the making. Actually I woke up thinking about this in the middle of the night-- crazy right?
The book is "Visible Learning" by John Hattie-- a Routledge book. It is the most comprehensive synthesis of 800 meta-analyses ever completed on what drives high quality student performance. Bob Marzano has offered us many insights down this line and now John Hattie of Auckland, New Zealand has taken the research to new heights.
So what is one of the most important influences on student learning?
Make a Guess, then read on.
The findings, in THE summary statement of the book.. are visible before
our eyes:
".... The story is about the visibility of teaching and learning: it is the power of passionate, accomplished teachers who focus on students' cognitive engagement with the content.... developing a way of thinking, reasoning, and emphasizing problem solving and strategies in their teaching about the content they wish students to learn."
Surprising? Not really, but then educators around the world really do not explicitly focus on thinking and cognitive development. The direct teaching of, for, and about thinking (Brandt/Costa) does not happen systemically across grade levels and classes. Students may even learn about how the brain works.. but not the mind.
John Hattie identifies an array of factors, but the vision is clear:
1. cognitive engagement,
2. metacognition,
3. dynamic feedback between students and teachers...
these focal points have high effects and great power in the lives of learners... and teachers.
John is clear cut in his warning: this is an explanation of results from studies and does NOT pretend to suggest direct causality. This basically means ... don't read these results as a list of TO DOs. Many people have misinterpreted Bob Marzano's work as a shopping list of nine "things" to do in classrooms to bring about change. But the cluster of results explains what success looks like from across the seemingly endless research studied.
Where do we start? At every grade level pre-K through college.
How?
Here is an example of a pre-K teacher in Syracuse, New York who fully engaged her students' cognitive abilities --- EXPLICITLY..
thinking IS the foundation for learning.
let me know what you think.
David