ABSTRACT
Thinking skills are not mysterious entities existing somewhere in the mind. Some critics claim that there are no general thinking skills, and that all thinking must be about specific aspects of knowledge or linked to a particular subject in the school curriculum. Research in cognitive science and psychology is providing a clearer picture of brain and processes associated with thinking. Bloom’s taxonomy of thinking skills has been widely used by teachers in planning their teaching. He identifies number of basic, or ‘lower-order’, cognitive skills – knowledge, comprehension and application – and a number of ‘higher-order’ skills – analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Research suggests that one-off ‘thinking’ lessons are less effective than teaching thinking and learning strategies that can be applied in subjects or as dialogic strategies across curriculum. A growing number of programmes and strategies aim to help teachers develop children’s thinking and learning across the curriculum, such as Thinking Actively in a Social Context and Activating Children’s Thinking Skills.
