FEATURE: SUCCESSFUL INNOVATIVE TEACHING PRACTICES


literally through studies in propaganda relating to World Wars, advertising and other more ‘obvious’ lessons that teach children to be critical. Another successful strategy we have employed is to utilise waiting time, such as filing into assembly. We pose a question - often nonsense, sometimes funny - but a question that requires creative ‘out of the box’ thinking:


a) There is a ball stuck down a deep hole, how will we get it out?


b) A pig is stuck up a tree, how do we get it down?


The purpose of these questions is for children to think creatively and critically, and they are wonderfully creative in how they might solve these problems:


a) Fill the hole with water so the ball floats up; use a long plunger to suck it up; train the worms to push it up…


b) Use a ladder; wait until Autumn; chop the tree down…


and are also vital skills in preventing exploitation and coercion. In fact, many of the challenges that our young people may face – gang membership, religious and political extremism, abuse, bullying and cyberbullying – can be directly undermined by a strong grounding in critical thinking. The more we learn to and practice questioning what we know, the less susceptible we become to manipulation and exploitation during a low ebb. Furthermore, many of the emerging challenges that we see our children grappling with – fake news, disinformation, political propaganda, climate propaganda, and exploitation through social media – can all be minimised through enquiry-based learning approaches and fostering critical thinking skills such as media literacy. Developing critical thinking skills in schools is therefore essential. Yet it can be a daunting challenge. How do you begin to develop this in children as young as four? From my experience, I believe it is possible to teach these skills alongside day-to-day teaching. In many ways, to actually apply critical thinking to the curriculum is also a hugely valuable and relevant way to develop subject understanding, as the content of the lessons is then presented more deeply, and for our learners is more relevant, and more likely to be remembered in the long term. Our approach is nothing revolutionary. It’s about taking the curriculum knowledge that we must teach, and delivering in a way that fosters critical thinking, with questions and debate that extend beyond the subject matter. We’ve also incorporated them into the wider school environment, playing games and encouraging lateral thinking in fun and engaging ways. Our approach does not always focus on getting the right answer, but on how we identify the answer that we need, and whether more than one answer can be correct.


Take, for example, a maths lesson, where the teacher is explaining a key concept. For the younger children, this might be a simple calculation - what is 5+5? It is likely that most children will be able to give a correct answer, however is this enough? Or is the correct


September 2023


answer even what we are looking for at all? In many classrooms, there may be a short acknowledgment that 10 is the correct answer - and that 9 or 11 are incorrect – before moving on to teach more knowledge. However, this is also where teachers can ask the simple but effective “how do you know?” Simply put, can the children explain, deeply, how they know 5+5=10. From my experience, children initially look blank or reply, ‘because it is’, however by probing further, children are actually able to explain ‘10’ through using practical resources and the fact that they know their number bonds - and how numbers/amounts work. Many children will, if challenged, be able to demonstrate this through practical equipment or through using their fingers to count. It is this that we should be fostering, because ultimately, if they can explain how and why numbers work, then they can ultimately solve any future maths problem, in a way that they can’t when learning by rote. The simple act of asking them to explain, helps them to determine how to repeat the process again in the future.


It’s fair that the simplicity of this skill is not going to solve the crisis of misinformation via social media, encourage a child to speak out about abuse, or even help them to avoid becoming embroiled in gang violence, but it forms the basis of intelligent enquiry, and helps determine future capability in critical thinking. When we shift away from pure knowledge acquisition, and into a process of learning to learn, we sow the seed for the future skills that young people need to protect their own autonomy.


At my school, we often ask the children to ‘show me another way to prove this’ as a way to foster critical thinking. Everest is the highest mountain - How do we know?; The Great Fire of London started in Pudding Lane - How do we know?; The angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees - How do we know? By employing this approach day to day, children are developing their ability to question and to think deeply. Further up the school, this skill is explored more


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The children take real delight in trying to come up with the most ‘out of the box’ answers and by sharing with the whole school, children who are less ‘creative’ in their thoughts begin to learn to broaden and deepen their thought processes. This only takes a matter of minutes, but is immensely powerful in its impact.


My school is a joyful place. Yes, we have our challenges, but our culture is one of adding value, creativity and skills for life. I am confident that our children leave at age 11 with a real appetite for learning - and an understanding that it’s important to think differently, deeply, outside the box. These simple approaches help prepare our children for a future life where they will question what they are told and have the skills to avoid being manipulated and coerced, whether by media, politicians or otherwise.


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