Thinking‐based Learning: Promoting Quality Student Achievement in the 21st Century

Citation

Loreen Kelly, J. (2012), "Thinking‐based Learning: Promoting Quality Student Achievement in the 21st Century", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 50 No. 4, pp. 526-529. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231211238648

Thinking‐based Learning: Promoting Quality Student Achievement in the 21st Century was written by five authors (i.e. Robert J. Swartz, Arthur L. Costa, Bary K. Beyer, Rebecca Reagan, and Bena Kallick). All five authors have a degree in the field of education. They are practioners and researchers. The target audience for the book is educators, both teachers and administrators. Swartz et al. (2008) challenge educators to teach children how to think skillfully. They cover topics that should be implemented in schools to effectively enhance teachers' knowledge and skills.

Specifically, this book is an in‐depth discussion of thinking‐based learning and how to accomplish it in the classroom. According to the authors, thinking‐based learning is “the most powerful type of learning in education” (p. 30). It combines the use of the appropriate forms of skillful thinking with the content material that students are learning. The authors have done a wonderful job taking a monotonous topic and spicing it up with active examples taken from real classrooms. Every topic in the book has a detailed example from a classroom. The reader is never left wondering what the authors' meaning was; the authors provide useful examples to deepen readers' understanding.

Each chapter begins with one or two quotes to set the tone for the rest of the chapter. Further, the authors engage in a systematic process on how to implement thinking‐based learning in the classroom. The authors' goal is not for educators to teach this type of thinking as a separate study but how to integrate it into existing curricula designs. In addition, the authors provide classroom examples from different grade levels (i.e. 1st‐8th grade).

The book is very easy to read. Everyday language, coupled with everyday experiences in the classroom, makes this book enjoyable to read while delving into a demanding topic. The anecdotes keep the readers engaged while giving insight into the subject. The tables and figures seek to enhance readers' understanding by adding clarity and specifics that may otherwise be unattained.

The authors have done a great job in examining skillful thinking. In chapter 1, the authors define skillful thinking and illustrate what it is and what it is not. They consider the difference between what people think it is and what it truly is. They also explore what teachers do, both correctly and incorrectly, when helping children with skillful thinking. The types of thinking that are needed in order to engage in skillful thinking are also discussed. These ideas are important because teaching how to skillfully think is not found in many classrooms. This type of thinking takes time to teach which goes beyond established curriculum. Engaging in this type of pedagogy requires more planning and intentional questioning on the teacher's part. While it requires a lot of preparation from teachers, it allows students to have a more active part in their learning.

One of the areas that the authors seem to be very firm about is that skillful learning does not have to be taught separate from the other subjects. It is not to be an additional subject but be integrated in traditional subject matters. They call this infused curriculum. They believe that it should be infused into the curriculum or be used in conjunction with the content that the students are already being taught. An example of this is infusing skillful parts‐whole analysis into the curriculum. The skillful parts‐whole analysis is “analyzing whole objects into their parts” (p. 36).

Chapter 2 provides many examples that are detailed description of skillful thinking being taught in an eighth grade class. The authors provide a window into an exchange between the teacher and students. The reader has the opportunity to “see” a class in action. This chapter also presents an example of a first grade class. In the example, the teacher presents the concepts of skillful thinking differently making it age appropriate for her students. The authors explain the teacher's thoughts on how to proceed so that the reader understands why the teacher is doing what she does. This makes it clear for the reader to look at and apply these ideas to their own setting.

The authors examine direct instruction and how it is used with skillful thinking in chapter 3. Direct instruction is defined as “instruction that (a) has clear, explicit learning goals, (b) focuses on a specific task or content, (c) makes explicit the steps in a learning task, (d) employs carefully structured learning activities, (e) provides extensive practice, and (f) provides continual monitoring of student progress with immediate corrective feedback” (p. 60). The authors look at how teachers can use the direct instruction model when teaching skillful thinking. They then discuss that the idea of transfer is important. Transfer is being able “to apply a skill or habit of mind that has been mastered in one subject or context to another subject or context” (p. 64). They also state that teachers should use correct vocabulary or the language of thinking when giving instruction to students. The example that they give is using the word predict instead of asking what will happen next. The authors provide a detailed table of “examples of using the language of thinking” (p. 76). This table would be an ideal reference for teachers just beginning this process.

Metacognition is defined in chapter 4 as “thinking about thinking” (p. 83). It is the conscious thought process or the planning of how one is going to think. The authors use a ladder to demonstrate the processes involved in metacognition. They further describe what metacognition looks like in a classroom and how students can use a graphic organizer to help them with their skillful decision‐making. Table 4‐1 lists questions that help students climb the ladder of metacognition. Another helpful resource that the authors listed is a “Rubric for Assessing the Quality of a Person's Retrospective/Projective Thinking about their Thinking” (p. 103).

Skillful thinking and writing is the subject in chapter 5. This chapter begins with the idea that in order for students to want to write, the teacher needs to put the writing in context. In other words, the students need to have a purpose for writing other than the writing itself. The authors end this section with the idea of thinking‐based peer review. They state that peer reviewing is not something that students automatically understand. Students need to be taught how to review. A brief overview of how to teach students what to look for and what types of questions to use is given.

A discussion on assessment happens in chapter 6. According to the authors, “The ultimate purpose of this chapter is to explore how skillful thinking can be assessed effectively so that it serves its purpose of pointing the way to growth, development, and the effective management of our lives” (p. 140). This chapter is a good resource for teachers to study when determining how to assess children on skillful thinking. There are many ideas for assessing skillful thinking. These ideas range from writing assessments to multiple‐choice assessments to observations. Ideas on how to develop rubrics are also included. These ideas are not just “how to” ideas but the reasoning behind the standards on the rubrics are given.

Chapter 7 looks at the curriculum and how to adapt the newly acquired knowledge of skillful thinking. The authors share specific thoughts that teachers had after finishing a year of teaching skillful thinking. The questions that arose looked at not only the teacher's own classroom alone but the school as a whole. Some of the questions that need to be explored are: When and where should skillful thinking be infused? When and where should less scaffolding and more direct instruction happen? The authors give suggestions for how to answer these questions. They explore the opportunities that teachers have for collaborating and building the skillful thinking in such a way as to benefit all children throughout their time in that school.

The last chapter in the book, Leadership: Enhancing the Intellectual Ecology of the School, uses a school principal as an example of how to make changes in order to implement the skillful thinking strategies in his school. The authors show the qualities that a leader needs, ideas that can be implemented, and how to provide support to develop a thinking curriculum. They discuss the need for a culture of mindfulness. There needs to be an atmosphere that supports the goal of implementing skillful thinking. The authors conclude this chapter with an important and inspiring statement. “Education will achieve an intellectual focus when the school becomes an intellectually stimulating environment – a home for the mind for all who dwell there; when all the schools' inhabitants realize that freeing human intellectual potential is the goal of education; when staff members strive to get better at it themselves; and when they use their energies to enhance the intellectual skills and intelligent behaviors of others” (p. 248).

This book addresses an issue that is in dire need of support. In today's classrooms rote memory, regurgitating facts for the test, and boredom or feelings of incompetence have all but eliminated actual thinking. Students are graduating but have no idea how to use skills in thinking. This book does an excellent job in guiding educators on how to make changes in their classrooms, as well as their school.