Helping Your Pupils to Think for Themselves

[Series Blurb] In our rapidly changing world, education is becoming less and less about imparting knowledge than it is about empowerment. We now want to make sure our children get the skills they need, not only to engage with and take responsibility for their own learning, but to successfully take part in a range of experiences throughout their lives. The strategies and activities in the Little Books of Life Skills will help children see themselves as champions of their own world, a critical step in meeting the outcomes of the Every Child Matters agenda. Each title in the series will help children get the skills they need to enjoy and achieve - in school and beyond. The five Little Books of Life Skills are: Helping your pupils to ask questions Helping your pupils to be resilient Helping your pupils to communicate effectively and manage conflict Helping your pupils to think for themselves Helping your pupils to work cooperatively [Book Blurb] Possibly the biggest challenge teachers face in the classroom is getting their pupils to think for themselves. When children learn to think independently, they are able to take control of their own learning. What's more, they become good at dealing with the many problems that life will inevitably throw their way - not only good at solving these problems, but at choosing the kind of thinking strategies that will help solve them. Helping your pupils to think for themselves defines the various types of thinking (critical, creative, reflective) and discusses in detail the most crucial type of thinking for student progress - metacognition, which involves self-assessment, active decision making and personal goal setting. Focusing on how to choose and use a particular type of thinking or strategy for a particular purpose, this book shows teachers how they can do a audit of their pupils' thinking skills and identify their pupils' thinking preferences and dispositions, to foster a thinking culture in their classrooms and ensure that all their pupils become skilled and independent thinkers. This book suggests ways to organise the classroom, provides teaching strategies and pupil activities and gives notes on assessment and record-keeping. It is complemented by several pages of proformas, which can be copied or amended for use in the classroom.Wilson, Jeni is the author of 'Helping Your Pupils to Think for Themselves', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415447300 and ISBN 0415447305.