HIGHER ORDER THINKING
Principal Sean Devlin
have created our own virtual learning environment and
populated it with a range of programs and content.
and assistant principal
Greg McClarey have
The sky’s
Last year we developed an interactive wall with a
“thinking thermometer”, whereby the coldest temperature
at the lowest point represents the basic skill of recalling
information and the hottest temperature at the top
represents evaluation and understanding skills.
been working to develop
Alongside each temperature there are examples of
questions that would be expected at that level. This has
their students’ higher order
helped us to make it explicit to students as to how “hot”
thinking skills, especially in
relation to using the web
the limit
their thinking level is, encouraging them to work their
way up the thermometer.
Using the web for research
Having understood question types, schools must also
educate children about how to effectively research their
responses to tasks and then how to analyse and evaluate
HE GOVERNMENT and schools have the information to answer the question appropriately
Higher calling: Students at Blessed Edward Oldcorne
T
begun to acknowledge that “teaching and in a time-efficient manner.
Catholic College learn to navigate the web and ana- to the test” is not adequately preparing According to a recent Ofcom report, UK Children’s
lyse the information they find students for life beyond school, while Media Literacy, one in four internet users aged 12 to 15
almost one million 16 to 24-year-olds do not make any checks when visiting new websites. It is
have been branded as NEETs (not in important to acknowledge that students now use the web
education, employment or training). as a prime source of information, although much of the
Furthermore, today’s students are unlikely to enter material is irrelevant and unsuited to their needs, so they
“jobs for life”, they will need to be prepared to cope with waste time and become easily distracted.
change and “re-skilling”, which means it is vital they Recently, we set a group of science students the task of
acquire the learning to learn skills along with the ability researching metals and alloys and were interested to note
to reflect critically and creatively on the basis of their own that those using traditional search engines took the longest
experience. and produced the least accurate responses, while those
While schools must continue to prepare children for using textbooks produced accurate responses that lacked
exams, they must also equip them to compete in further or interpretation as they had spent most of their time sifting
higher education, the workplace and daily life. through numerous books, leaving little time to analyse
By engaging with the higher order thinking skills of the information.
organisation, analysis, integration and evaluation, schools As such, we integrated an e-learning tool into our
can help prepare children to become active citizens with learning platform which provides a populated area of
enquiring minds who are able to effectively manage and relevant content and eliminates the worry of students
use information. accessing unsuitable information – saving them time and
allowing them to focus on the “evaluation” aspect.
Thinking for learning
Teachers have been very pleased with the change
Our school, Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College, of direction towards a culture of creating for children
has always been high performing, but it has significantly increased life chances and opening doors for the future
developed in recent years and five years ago it became a Higher calling: Students at Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College learn to navigate through a more personalised approach to teaching.
specialist college in maths and computing. the web and to use higher order thinking skills to analyse the information they find The next step is to encourage students to develop their
Our drive to develop students’ higher order thinking forward-planning skills and we are looking to encourage
skills began with our Learn2Learn initiative, which Students were asked to think about which subjects
How ‘hot’ are your questions?
students to reference sources they have identified as being
incorporated five areas: ICT, accelerated learning, they would find useful to solve a mystery and this led to Asking questions that require students to interpret useful for a future topic of study, which they can also
assessment for learning, critical thinking, and thinking considering which professions require problem-solving information, such as “compare and contrast” questions, revisit when appropriate.
for learning. skills and why. is one simple step teachers can take to engage students’ This skill will also be valuable for them when they
Through a cross-curricular project, our science, Collectively, they arrived at many answers, including higher order thinking skills. enter the workplace where information is often required
religious studies and maths departments jointly taught car mechanics for diagnosing faults and medicine for Prepare them in advance of a lesson, paying attention at the click of a mouse to complete reports. SecEd
lessons to develop students’ transferable skills, drawing diagnosing illnesses. This project demonstrated the to how the question is phrased and what it actually
on collective memory, reading images and thinking style, relevance of their studies to the world beyond school and asks students to do. Effective questions planned well in • Sean Devlin is principal and Greg McClarey assistant
all of which apply to these subjects and, indeed, most how different subjects inter-relate, providing more than advance can inspire high quality responses. principal at Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College,
others. one possible interpretation. There are various e-learning tools that can help. We Worcestershire, which uses the e-learning tool Autology.
Union address: NASUWT Taking the lead: HTI
The stuff of nightmares Beyond our borders
As the General
limited redress against unfairness, unreasonableness
and inequity.
Anne Evans on
that the first-hand contact between children in
different countries, as a by-product of teacher links,
Teachers would be able to be paid at different
Election nears,
individual rates within and across schools and the opportunities
can have a significant positive impact on standards.
International visits can bring new perspectives to
sectors. There would be a deterioration in the pay important agendas too. One headteacher I know was
Chris Keates
and conditions of service for the overwhelming
that international
so taken with the concept of a government-backed
majority, with the consequent adverse effect on summer enterprise/company initiative she saw in
sounds the battle cry
morale and motivation.
The opponents of a national framework often
CPD can bring about
Canada that she established a similar scheme for
students in her own school. The same head is also
claim that there is no flexibility for local decision- drawing on the vocational education practice she saw
AS THE General Election looms, political parties are making and that if there was no STPCD they GLOBAL EVENTS over the past few years carry two to shape planning for a new vocational college.
setting out their policy stalls and inevitably there is could pay teachers more. They assert that there is important lessons: that children need to be more aware International links and professional development
a major focus on education. Freedom and flexibility no provision for paying the “best” teachers and of cultural differences and similarities than ever before; often surprise. Teachers learn as much from the
appear to be the buzz words of some, particularly in temporary payments can’t be offered. and that if we are to provide a “world class education”, differences as the similarities. Mixed groups of
relation to the national framework for teachers’ pay All of this is nonsense. Governing bodies have teachers and education leaders must be open to new secondary and primary school representatives not
and conditions of service with threats to “tear up” significant flexibility when it comes to pay and as ideas and possibilities from other countries. only build valuable cross-authority links, but can also
the teachers’ contract and promises that all schools for paying teachers more, all evidence shows that More and more schools are recognising the benefits learn more than they imagine from one another.
will have the freedoms and flexibility of academies, freeing up a school from a national framework of international links and professional development Less common, but equally valuable and energising,
which of course do not have to follow the national serves to worsen the pay of teachers overall, not and they have plenty of schemes to choose from. are visits to non-educational organisations overseas,
pay and conditions framework. improve it. One such scheme is the Teacher International particularly from a leadership perspective.
The implications and dangers of abandoning With regard to paying the “best” teachers, it is Professional Development Programme, which gives One teacher engineered a visit to Google in
a national framework are profound. The pay and true that the STPCD has no provision for “grace and hundreds of teachers every year the opportunity to California as part of a leadership development course.
conditions of service of teachers and heads working favour” payments. There is, however, wide scope for undertake a short (usually one week) professional She came back buzzing with new ideas for the kind
in England and Wales are defined by the School rewarding teachers in a fair and transparent manner. visit overseas. Teachers usually travel in groups of of school she would like to lead one day. She loved
Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD). A national framework has been in existence 10 to 15 from the same local authority and focus on a Google’s democratic approach to leadership, which
There are also similar national pay frameworks in for so long it is taken for granted. But now it is relevant education topic. allows anyone to take the lead on anything they like
Scotland and Northern Ireland. under attack, it is vitally important that teachers There are a number of prerequisites to making if they are moved to do so.
The STPCD is a legal framework of rights and reflect seriously on what its removal would mean. these visits work. An enthusiastic teacher champion She was also smitten with Google’s “20 per cent
entitlements of teachers and heads. It covers pay It would mean negotiating your own contract with and supportive headteacher are two. Preparation time” initiative , which enables employees to spend
levels and allowances, the criteria for discretionary the headteacher, including your holidays, the length and structure – before, during and after the visit 20 per cent of their working week doing whatever
payments, entitlements for pay progression, working of your working day and week, and the duties you – are also key. One of the great benefits reported by they want. Fifty per cent of all new product releases
time, including the number of days in the year a undertake. It would mean no annual pay award group participants and leaders is the depth of learning are generated from this 20 per cent.
teacher should be available for work, the provision unless governors determine you can have one. afforded by built-in time for reflection and review. As one head observed, no matter what the context,
of planning, preparation and assessment time and Over the last decade, significant improvements By the end of the week teachers have moved from priorities, or starting points, educators the whole world
leadership and management time, and a range of have been made to pay and working conditions a superficial comparison of systems and operational over are passionate about developing enquiring young
other important provisions. through national negotiations. The present national drivers to a much more profound exploration of minds and responsible future citizens. The journey
The national framework is much more than just framework may still not be perfect but the alternative, culture and aspirations. may be different, but the aspirational goals are the
the teachers’ contract. It underpins and symbolises a free for all, is the stuff of which nightmares are International professional development can same. Learning from our peers across the world
the universal entitlement to a high standard of made. When the election is held and the chance work at many levels. By seeing how someone else helps us to constantly question our values, systems,
education for all children who attend state schools. comes to vote, use it. Vote to protect the national pay approaches a similar problem, albeit in a different structures: in short, what we are doing and why.
If the national framework was torn up, there framework. Vote for education. context, one is compelled to scrutinise one’s own
would be no national benchmark against which practice. This brings completely new perspectives to • Anne Evans OBE is chief executive of HTI, an
teachers within or between schools could test the • Chris Keates is general secretary of the NASUWT. the classroom. independent social enterprise working to develop
fairness of their pay and conditions, there would be Visit www.nasuwt.org.uk A substantial body of evidence now demonstrates exceptional school leaders. Email a.evans@hti.org.uk
12 SecEd • March 4 2010
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