Teaching thinking skills across the middle years: A practical approach for children aged 9-14

Belle Wallace and Richard Bentley (eds) (reprinted 2004)

UK: David Fulton Publishers Ltd.

Reviewers: Kobus Maree and Carol Van der Westhuizen, University of Pretoria, South Africa

There has been renewed emphasis on, and appreciation of the value of critical thinking skills in South Africa since 1994 and the ensuing introduction of an outcomes-based education system. This text covers the field of critical thinking comprehensively, and provides a sophisticated, progressive approach to contemporary international trends in the field of education with regard to the notion of critical thinking skills and the demands posed by current advances in the field of education. Published in the United Kingdom, it comes at a time when the number of discourses on the indispensability of critical thinking in education is ever-increasing. Dedicated to critical and theoretical rigour, the book offers much information and a mixture of tried and tested classroom activities that are highly relevant to South African education practitioners in 2006.

One of the barriers to successful learning has been identified as the dichotomy between Key Stage 1 and 2, as well as the transition from the general primary school approach as opposed to the more (subject) specialist approach in the secondary school.

In addition the British government's quest for higher academic standards has resulted in attempts by teachers to cover more content at an even more rapid rate than before, resulting in diminishing achievement levels. Although the National Curriculum Strategy (NCS) prescribes the learning of a range of problem-solving, the need for less content has not been addressed (a perennial problem in South Africa). Furthermore, parents need to become involved in their children's learning to assist teachers in preparing them for the challenges in wider society. The problem-solving and thinking skills approach appears to be well suited to the South African situation, apropos of the emphasis in the outcomes-based education system on both the social and intellectual development of the child, which also highlights the role of the parent and the development of children's independent thinking ability.

The purpose of this book is to whet and extend already existing problem-solving practice by offering practical suggestions from a sound theoretical base through a variety of ideas that constitute good learning experiences for children aged 9-14. The rationale for the emphasis on lesson topics and activities for Key Stage 2 and 3 is the national concern about the decline in pupils' achievement after their transition from one phase to the next. While teachers who work within the NC Framework are the main target audience, parents can use the same techniques for projects that children attempt at home.

The editors are highly distinguished contributors to the field of education. Belle Wallace has been the editor of Gifted Education International since 1982, and is immediate past President of NACE in the UK. Richard Bentley was active in the development of LEA problem-solving and thinking initiatives in a wide range of schools. He has published widely and is currently involved in, among others, research projects on thinking skills, transition and transfer.

Belle Wallace and Harvey B. Adams spent fifteen years working with mainly disadvantaged learners and in collaboration with eight schools in order to design a problem-solving model to maximise learners' potential through the problem-solving and thinking skills approach. The theoretical underpinning of the TASC Problem-solving and Thinking Skills Approach is constituted by Vygotsky's emphasis on "mental hooks" which enable pupils' learning and, to a large extent, his regard for language as the major interaction tool which is essential in mediation and transformation processes which ensure growth. Sternberg's analyses of the meta-cognition processes of reflection, consolidation and transference, also factors that should be taken into account.

Chapter 1 (Belle Wallace) invites readers to reflect on their own good practice with a view to confirming and extending it. The spiral diagram, information in the speech bubbles and in the hexagon collage and the TASC Problem-solving Wheel facilitate this reflection as readers are required to "answer" the questions and react to the statements, linking them to their own practice. A so-called "starter kit" is provided in the form of a think-tank containing some of the most commonly used thinking tools which feed into the TASC Wheel, to assist with the development of effective learning and living. In addition diagrams are provided to extend the TASC Tools for Effective Thinking and the children's repertoire of questions in order to promote their thinking. The reason for promoting TASC is that it constitutes a holistic approach to the entire curriculum and calls for less content and more thinking time (not unlike the situation in South Africa!). Some of the premises on which the thinking skills approach is based, are that children should be aware of the relevance of what they learn, be able to relate this to their own cultural contexts, experience success in learning through practising skills that engender confidence and competence, and become proficient in using their knowledge to develop more complex mental schemes.

In Chapter 2 (Bentley and Johnston) the focus is on the introduction of TASC problem-solving skills by means of a non-curricular approach. The chapter constitutes an outline of the programme. The initial aim was to follow the "contagious" and the "initiative" routes simultaneously, i.e. allowing the awareness of the approach to spread spontaneously, while ensuring a more structured implementation. As well as familiarising pupils with the TASC model, the process was intended to serve as an in-service training (INSET) and continuing professional development opportunity for staff. Initial activities were based on the first half of the TASC Wheel whereas subsequent activities encompassed the full range of TASC Wheel skills. The detailed plans included a variety of activities, e.g. discussing, listening and justifying. Students' and teachers' comments on the success of the introductory TASC programme point to the success of the programme as a powerful teaching and learning experience for both teachers and children. Focusing on a problem from the children's life-world, e.g. reviewing school rules or redesigning the playground would facilitate the development of the programme into a curricular context. The conclusion based on the effective introduction of the TASC model in a non-curricular context in primary, secondary and middle schools, is that the model could be successfully disseminated through INSET.

Teachers usually choose either the process or generic approach to teaching writing, but according to Kent the two pedagogical models serve two distinct groups of writers with divergent needs. He therefore advocates a single classroom practice comprising a synthesis of the aforementioned models to address the needs of all pupils, whatever their writing weaknesses may be. The purpose of Chapter 3 is to present a case study to demonstrate the use of the TASC Wheel in the case of a mixed age group of apprentice writers from Years 6, 7 and 8, in order to produce an effective integrated approach to the teaching of writing. Despite adapting the Wheel according to the goal of the project, i.e. using the TASC Wheel to support the production of a multimedia text, essential TASC elements were retained. In addition to challenging questions incorporated into the Wheel, more questions were added to develop key visual and verbal literacy skills. The highly successful project involved devising a national advertising campaign for relief funding after the devastation in Mozambique during February 2000.

Chapter 4 (Brocks, Bayliss and Foster-Agg) examine ways in which the TASC approach can be used to improve pupils' proficiency in solving problems by developing their mathematical thinking ability. The importance of the UAM (Using and Applying Mathematics) strand in the National Curriculum, the link between thinking skills and using and applying mathematics and the major national initiative to improve the quality of Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 learning and teaching to promote pupils' mathematical thinking and problem-solving ability, serve as rationale for this chapter. Two essential elements identified as characteristics of effective mathematics lessons are a focus on the investigative aspect and a link to real-life contexts. A mathematical version of the TASC Wheel was applied to "make over" three traditional lessons, concentrating on formulating questions for each stage, i.e. existing mathematics problems were used to promote the development of thinking skills among pupils in Years 5-7 in keeping with the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS). The lessons are described in detail and contain a variety of illustrations, samples of children's work, photographs, diagrams and regular teacher reflections on the application of sectors of the TASC Wheel. Questions to ponder are included at the end of the chapter and cover aspects such as current teaching styles and promoting thinking skills, relating planning and teaching to UAM and opportunities for cross-curricular links.

Both sections in Chapter 5 (Davies, Rosso and Bell-Scott) investigate how teachers in different schools can use the TASC model and Tools for Effective Thinking to develop and consolidate specific thinking skills that are outlined as objectives in the DfEE/QCA Schemes of Work for Science (2000), at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3. In the description of the investigation of the properties of acids and bases in section one, the teacher indicates that the pupils, of their own accord, customised the generic TASC Wheel to suit their investigative purpose. The positive outcomes and other teachers' reaction to the pupils' display of work could lead to a whole-school TASC approach with the aim of raising all pupils' levels of confidence, independence and achievement. Section two offers a four-week plan using the TASC Wheel and the National Curriculum Guidelines for Science in an investigation of habitats in which pupils incorporated literacy and ICT objectives in their final presentations. The TASC framework and the teacher as facilitator and questioner provided the scaffolding for successful enquiry-based learning, deemed a crucial facet of learning facilitation in South Africa.

Chapter 6 (Finch) explores cross-curricular classroom activities using ICT, first in combination with drama, and then to facilitate mind mapping by means of a historical investigation, to support students in the middle years in their endeavour to solve a complex problem, i.e. the theft of a purse from a gift shop and the subsequent trial of the accused. For the first activity pupils used the TASC Wheel for their overall planning from the outset, adding questions to consider during the investigation. The comprehensive range of Tools for Effective Thinking used by the groups is encapsulated in a flow diagram. Required and elective technology used by pupils throughout the project include the telephone, audiotape, video camera, photo-fit and desktop publishing. A full workshop outline, an organisational planning table indicating roles, tasks and access to information, as well as samples of pupils' work offer valuable information.

In conclusion it should be stated that in the light of the worldwide criticism that young people do not think and the current view that "'intelligence' in all its multiple aspects is the ability to solve problems" (xii), drastic measures are required to ensure that children are trained so that they may be empowered to develop higher order thinking skills which they can use effectively as tools for lifelong learning. This valuable contribution opens the way to increasing children's motivation to learn through a thinking skills framework so that they may acquire tools for lifelong learning.

GEI Vol 24 No 2/3