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Education Forum on Teaching Thinking Skills Report

Programme

1000 - 1030 Arrive and coffee

1030 - 1045 Welcome

Colin MacLean (HM Deputy Senior Chief Inspector of Schools)

1045 - 1100 Introduction

Valerie Wilson (Director, SCRE)

1100 - 1115 Psychological perspective

Bryan Kirkaldy (Education Services Manager, Fife Council)

1115 - 1130 Personal Experience

Heather Forrest (Newmains Primary School, North Lanarkshire)

1130 - 1230 Discussion groups

What are thinking skills?

How can they be useful?

Can they be taught?

1230 - 1330 Lunch

1330 - 1345 Personal Experience

Kevin Logan (Millburn Academy, Inverness)

1345 - 1500 Discussion groups

What approaches have teachers taken?

How can best practice be shared?

What support is needed?

What conclusions can we draw?

Where do we go from here?

1500 - 1515 Tea/ Coffee

1515 - 1600 Plenary

Sam Galbraith (Minister for Children and Education)

Preface

If education research is to be effective in informing policy development, it must relate directly to what happens in the classroom. This is the premise on which the Education Forum is founded. What seemed to emerge from a preliminary analysis of thinking skills, is that there are many people working in this area, but that little work has been done to bring them together. This Forum represented the first step in redressing this, and many classroom teachers from across Scotland gave their time to come together to share their ideas and experiences.

The day's discussions demonstrated that there are many innovative methods being used to improve pupils' learning, and equip them with effective thinking skills for life. It also became clear that more work needs to be done in facilitating greater communication and co-ordination within the thinking skills community and in developing evidence-based research. This report, which will be disseminated widely to the research community, to education authorities and throughout the Scottish Executive Education Department, will form the first step in this process.

The Scottish Executive has recently proposed five national priorities in education, one of which recognises the importance of equipping young people with fundamental transferable skills, including the ability to think critically and solve problems. Teaching thinking skills gets right to the heart of that priority.

The Scottish Executive is committed to raising standards in education, and recognises this depends fundamentally on the practical experience, skills and understanding of learning and teaching held by teachers. Further meetings of the Forum are planned, to consider other aspects of the educational process, and to draw further on this valuable resource.

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