Freeing Minds

Creating thoughtful, articulate and knowledgeable students is at the heart of a new initiative to balance out the more narrowly focused A Level curriculum. Head Teacher Roland Martin outlines his Free Minds programme.

Free Minds is a programme set up at City of London Freemen’s School that aims to bring a broad, liberal arts-based style of learning to students and encourage independent thinking.

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      string(333) "... into account before judging).This notion of caring thinking spreads naturally into that of collaborative thinking, and I often refer to the four Cs of philosophy for children as critical, creative, caring, and collaborative thinking. If the ideal of a discourse-based ethics is attainable, or even that of a ..."
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      string(5108) "increased involvement and motivation for the children and in developing vital skills.Fear of not covering the syllabus prevents teachers from opening such enquiries more often with their children. Happily the emphasis in our curriculum has shifted a little more towards thinking.There is growing evidence that good thinking paves the way for better attitudes towards, and attainment in, information processing – even of the sort involved in written exams.There are a few remarkable, and probably very significant, similarities between philosophy for children, cognative acceleration through science education (see Teaching Thinking issue 1), and the thinking to learn project based at Newcastle University.They start with what is generally called a cognitive challenge – an observation that runs counter to intuition, a historical or geographical mystery, or a story that, as Lipman puts it, has ‘problematicity’ built into it.Lipman says: “A problematicity in the subject-matter is likely to breed perplexity in the student, and that perplexity is likely to express itself in the form of a question. But now it is the student questioning the text directly, rather than the teacher raising questions about the text and directing them in class, thereby doing their thinking for them.”Each of the thinking skills models encourages the children to deliberate about the problem in groups – to discuss each others’ ideas. This process can involve a rich variety of thinking strategies: the ability to note differences among things that are fairly similar, or similarities among things that are fairly different; a sensitivity to particular context and to general uniformities; the capacity to form and analyse concepts and arguments.As Lipman has put it: “Reasoning is sharpened and perfected by disciplined discussion as by nothing else.”Each process values reflection, albeit with slightly different emphases. In CASE the emphasis is on metacognition – explicitly reviewing the process of solving a problem and consolidating the lessons to be learned. TtL has a regular procedure of debriefing but looks to make wider connections with existing knowledge in the subject area. In philosophy for children there is a continual emphasis on reflection during the course of discussion – on correcting one’s own conceptual structure or argument, as well as others.There is no attempt at closure as such, since often the issue remains open at the end, even whilst its greater complexity is appreciated. There is often an opportunity for all individuals to clarify where their thinking has reached by the end of the discussion, and what questions remain for them.Through these processes, thinking and learning become challenging, engaging, and meaningful activities. The processes should be central to any national or school philosophy and plan of education.For Lipman the remaking of education required that the classroom be converted into: “A community in which friendship and co-operation would be welcomed as positive contributions to a learning atmosphere, rather than the semi-adversarial and competitive conditions that prevail in too many early classrooms.”Lipman is interested in: “The cognitive role of the emotions, particularly those that are social in character, such as trust, considerateness, and compassion. A recognition of the thinking that actually takes place when we appreciate a work of art, survey a landscape, examine a snail’s shell, discriminate barely distinguishable differences, and examine our own mental acts and state.“I have proposed that the third leg of the tripod be called caring thinking, with the understanding that caring thinking here encompasses thinking that is concerned (with the predicaments others are in), appreciative (of every arrangement of parts and wholes), normative (suggestive of what ought to be done in moral situations), and deliberative (in that it seeks to weigh all the factors and take the context into account before judging).This notion of caring thinking spreads naturally into that of collaborative thinking, and I often refer to the four Cs of philosophy for children as critical, creative, caring, and collaborative thinking. If the ideal of a discourse-based ethics is attainable, or even that of a discourse-based society, it is hard to see how they could be based on anything very different from the practice of this sort of thinking. And it is a practice that must start, not at university, nor even at secondary school, but at primary school or even before.Roger Sutcliffe is a partner in the educational consultants Dialogue Works.Further readingHow we think by John Dewey. Published by Southern Illinois PressHarry Stottlemeier’s Discovery by Matthew Lipman. Published by IAPC.Liberal Anxieties and Liberal Education by Alan Ryan. Published by Profile Books.The Need of an Industrial Education in an Industrial Democracy by John Dewey. Published by Southern Illinois Press.Thinking in Education by Matthew Lipman. Published by Cambridge University Press"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Philosophy For Children

9 Mar 2001

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      string(337) "... is the only way we can hope to address thehuge curriculum requirements placed on our classteachers.The Hardwick Hall projectA recent project combining literacy, ICT, art and historytook in a site visit to Hardwick Hall. We already planactivities round the National Gallery’s ‘Take One Picture’scheme and were using ..."
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      string(5627) "primaryleadershipTODAY • Vol2:220HCurriculumEnrichmentow do you bring the curriculum to life?Increasingly there is official recognition thatchildren learn most when they are enthused andmotivated. Our repetitive recipes from nationalstrategies do not always come up with the goods.Wigley Primary School tells us what they are doingto enrich and excite.     CurriCulum EnriChmEnt21Vol2:2 • primaryleadershipTODAYWigley Primary is a tiny rural primaryschool on the outskirts of Chesterfield,at the edge of the Peak National Park.When faced with the demands of an increasinglycrowded curriculum – salut to all you Year 3 teachersembarking on teaching a modern language – the staffat our school have been really imaginative in combiningdifferent subject areas to deliver what was called, onceupon a time, project work. The trend now is for this tobe labelled ‘creativity’, but for us with our mixed-ageclasses, it is the only way we can hope to address thehuge curriculum requirements placed on our classteachers.The Hardwick Hall projectA recent project combining literacy, ICT, art and historytook in a site visit to Hardwick Hall. We already planactivities round the National Gallery’s ‘Take One Picture’scheme and were using Molenaar’s Two Boys anda Girl Making Music (1629) as a focus for a range ofactivities in art and literacy. As there was an obviouslink to history we didn’t hesitate to movethe Tudors from their slot on the historylong-term plan, the philosophy being themore relevant the topic is to what is goingon in the classroom, the more real it willbe for the students. At the time I had just completedan extended course on the StrategicLeadership of ICT (SLICT), and wasbursting with enthusiasm to try out theDigiblue hand-held video cameras I had seen on thecourse. What we came up with was the idea of takinga whole class to nearby Hardwick Park with a bunchof cameras to shoot some scenes for a short film. Totake this idea from a staff meeting on a dark Mondayevening to a fresh March morning at Hardwick Hallfirst involved contacting the National Trust EducationOfficer, who was extremely helpful, offering us theuse of their recently completed education centre. Wearranged to have the Old Hall, an English Heritageproperty, opened specially to allow the students freeaccess to all the buildings, without the complication ofinterruptions from other visitors. Ideally, we would have organised the loan of a setof cameras from our local authority IT support centre,but time was pressing, and to get the kit on the daywe wanted, necessitated a number of telephone callsto likely IT-friendly schools in our local area. A dealinvolving a set of replacement batteries and the promiseof a return in time for a planned staff meeting wasstruck, and we were in business. When we arrived at the Hall with our twelve minivideo cameras we set up a home base on a tarpaulinon the grass. After a short health and safety walkround, pointing out obvious hazards such as steps andwindows, the children set off in groups to start filming.Our Year 6 children had experimented with a singlecamera the school had purchased the week before,and were confidently explaining to other children how tooperate the equipment. Even allowing for battery failureon the laptops, it did prove possible for a whole class tofilm in short bursts and download without difficulty. ForHelen, the class teacher, and I it was the opportunityto watch students make their own decisions and learnfrom mistakes that proved the most satisfying part ofthe morning. We didn’t even notice the dark, broodingclouds blowing over that threatened to bring an earlyhalt to the filming. When the weather did eventuallybreak, we were just about ready to pack away andenjoy a guided walk through the park to the educationcentre for packed lunches and a welcome cup of tea. After lunch we set our laptops up and, for the restof the afternoon, the children viewed their downloadedfootage and began drafting out a script based on thepremise of seeing three ghostly figures – based on thethree children in the Molenaar painting – during a classtrip to Hardwick. This literacy work didn’t fit into anyof the objectives of our mixed-age planning, but itcertainly hit the spot in terms of engagement. What we plan to do next to build on this experience,is to take the class back during the summer term to filmshort scenes specific to the stories the children drafted,allowing the opportunity to dress up in the costumeswe had made up and perhaps use face paints/stagemake-up to achieve the ‘ghostly’ pallor of the threechildren. Although Helen and I facilitated this project, thechildren were in control and making very real decisionsabout their learning: if their camera work went wrong,they had to reassess and have another go. If a groupWigley Hall offersthe kind of dietrecommendedby HTI. Theprinciples of HTIare described inthe Manager’sBriefcase 1.1The staff at our school have been reallyimaginative in combining different subjectareas to deliver what was called, once upon atime, project work.❛❜primaryleadershipTODAY • Vol2:222was using a certain part of the building they realisedthey would have to film out of sequence.Outdoor pursuitsAnother area of learning we have developed in recentyears is taking our students out of the classroom intothe amazing natural environment we have around us inour Peak District location, to participate in challengingoutdoor pursuits. An end-of-term treat to the climbingwall in Sheffield led to one of our teachers offering totake a group climbing at a nearby"
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Leadership

Curriculum Enrichment

18 Nov 2007

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      string(440) "... ecology courses for GCSEto A level students; Continuing Professional Developmentcourses for teachers; environmental team-building andcorporate social responsibility projects for industrialists,and adult community groups; enrichment activities forchildren with special educational needs. We also providelonger term projects for primary and secondary schoolchildren focused around the environmental and maritimeheritage of an ..."
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      string(5626) "13Volume 1.4 n Creative Teaching & LearningFocus on: ScienceExperience of studying science in the field is a keyelement in making contact between the environmentand the world of laboratory and textbook. It is tomake the connection between abstraction and reality. Thenature of scientific enquiry is to start from observationsof the real world. In view of this it is regrettable that fieldexperience in UK schools appears to be in decline. Theconstraints of modern curricula, financial and health andsafety issues often preclude outdoor learning, and there isan obvious need for initiatives that permit young people tospend engaging with the natural world. This need has beenrecognised by statutory bodies such as Natural England,and NGOs such as the Wildlife Trusts who emphasise theimportance of outdoor learning, following evidence thatApplying science to real life situations has inspired a newgeneration of scientists. Susan Gebbels reports.Fish and ships14 Creative Teaching & Learning n Volume 1.4Focus on: Sciencecontact with nature has halved in one generation. TheDove Marine Laboratory at the School of Marine Scienceand Technology, Newcastle University, is a dedicatedmarine teaching and research facility situated right onthe beach in Cullercoats Bay. It has a history of Outreachand Engagement with school, industry and communitygroups stretching back for several decades, and providesinitiatives designed to provide all members of society withan insight into the ecology, heritage and importance of themarine environment.The Dove Outreach Group comprises four full timeofficers managed by Dr Jane Delany, with the support ofother academic staff. We run a wide range of activitiesand projects locally, nationally and internationally. Theseinclude: one day syllabus-tailored ecology courses for GCSEto A level students; Continuing Professional Developmentcourses for teachers; environmental team-building andcorporate social responsibility projects for industrialists,and adult community groups; enrichment activities forchildren with special educational needs. We also providelonger term projects for primary and secondary schoolchildren focused around the environmental and maritimeheritage of an area. These projects often have a strongemphasis towards STEM subjects, (Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics), but frequently employcreative learning approaches, and exploration of themesthrough art, poetry and music.There have been several calls for the reform of scienceeducation in schools. For example, the U.K. House ofLords Select Committee (2000) recommended thatscience teaching in the UK should give more attention toscientific processes, applying science to real life situations.We believe that engaging pupils with novel and excitingthemes of work is key to implementing these ideas.Marine-themed learning can be used to inspire pupils andpromote engagement with STEM-based subjects that haverelevance to everyday processes. This approach is wellsuited to incorporate a rounded blend of both academicclassroom-based work and field visits that transfer theoryinto practice.Our PhilosophyThe underlying philosophy which encompasses ourapproach is to teach scientific topics in a fun, creative andexciting way. We try to stretch children’s imaginations withinnovative cross curriculum topics, challenge establishedthought patterns by offering new experiences and extendthe boundaries of what children consider as ‘normal’.The ‘Fish and Ships’ Project.The UK has a wealth of coasts, and estuaries with theirassociated rivers within easy reach. These waterways oftenprovide a sense of place and regional pride for the peoplewho live in the vicinity. The Fish and Ships project usedthat sense of place as the basis for a two year study focusedon The River Tyne in Newcastle. The project officer workedwith four primary schools, each school taking ownershipof one site along the Tyne. Although the sites were onlya few miles apart, each had a very distinctive history andassociation with a particular maritime industry. The firstsite, North Shields at the mouth of the Tyne estuary, hasbeen one of the most important fishing ports in the UK.Three miles upstream, the second site houses the onlyworking ship yard left on the river. Right in the heart ofthe city itself, the third site at the Baltic museum along thequayside was historically the hub of the export and importtrade. It was home to many a tall ship and keel boat overthe years. At the river’s tidal limit at Wylam, the fourth andfinal site was an important recreation ground for Victorianpleasure seekers where rowing boats could be hired, and apassenger ferry operated between the river banks.The children studied the history of these sites andexplored how the individual industries had shaped thecommunities that flourished there. For example, thecommunity that had grown up around the fish quay atNorth Shields was very family oriented. Each memberof a family would have had a dedicated role to play; thewomen gutted and packed the fish, the men and olderboys worked on the boats and the elder girls helped runthe household. Conversely, the community associated withthe ship yards was very male dominated; the women andchildren did not have such defined roles. The school pupilsinvestigated the roles that each family member would haveplayed, especially the children, and thought about howthey differed from their own experiences.Bringing a variety of tools (saws, screw drivers, sandpaperblocks) and materials (wood and insulation foam) into theschools, the project officer demonstrated"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Fish and ships

15 Dec 2010

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      string(375) "... is education for?What is education for?What is education for?What is education for?               www.teachthinking.comTeaching Thinking&Creativity  Winter 2004Plato’s charioteer, a philosophy for educationOf equal importance, and perhaps of greater interest froma pedagogical point of view, is the application of Plato’stripartite theory of the soul ..."
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      string(5626) "the Nazigenocide. (During the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann forcrimes against humanity, Eichmann claimed that he wassimply following reason, acting out of a sense of duty, andso was not morally blameworthy.) To adopt a balancedappetite is to avoid the dystopic images of the distendedbelly outlined earlier and helps establish supportivecommunities through relating adequately to oneself andto the needs of others.32What is education for?What is education for?What is education for?What is education for?What is education for?               www.teachthinking.comTeaching Thinking&Creativity  Winter 2004Plato’s charioteer, a philosophy for educationOf equal importance, and perhaps of greater interest froma pedagogical point of view, is the application of Plato’stripartite theory of the soul as a model to enhance studentlearning.Head (Reason). Hopefully students may begin to realise theimportance of taking seriously a skills-based approach tolearning as opposed to merely focusing upon a dietarycurriculum of knowledge/content. An explicitunderstanding of what different skills entail and the wayin which they compliment one another is the first step togenuine student ownership. An example of this may be theawareness that knowledge requires the ability to selectappropriate information; comprehension shows that onecan explain; application seeks to see if one can put ideasinto practice whilst analysis is the art of examining carefully.Synthesis enables one to bring ideas together andevaluation is another name for offering evidence to justifyopinions so as to arrive at a well-informed judgement.Before one realises it students have acquired a soundunderstanding of Bloom’s taxonomy of learning and theireducation is the better for it.Similarly, the significance of improving one’s vocabulary,historical appreciation of a subject and an awareness ofappropriate examples to illustrate contrasting schools ofthought acquire greater importance. It is interesting to notethat recent government initiatives to develop and improveHead(Reason)Chest(Virtues)Belly(Appetite)33Teaching Thinking&Creativity  Winter 2004www.teachthinking.com   What is education for?What is education for?What is education for?What is education for?What is education for?the intellectual awareness of students, such as theintroduction of critical thinking, are compatible with thisproposed Platonic model for learning. I often encouragethe students I teach to take seriously the ‘five vowels’ whichenhance reasoning skills, namely Analysis (criticalexamination), Evaluation (evidence to justify), Implications(consequences of a proposed idea or action) Overview (soas to implement strategies to improve / correct arguments)– thus enabling them to demonstrate soundUnderstanding.Chest (Virtues). At the heart of effective learning is emotionalliteracy. As such, the prominence of virtue at the seat oflearning encourages students to adopt a positive and matureattitude towards their work. Gone is the stereotypicallyimmature view of Year 7 students, clambering to score higherthan their best friends (some friends?!) in an end-of-unit test.Rather, there is a realisation that mistakes can be healthy,serving a positive purpose within the learning process. It isenvisaged that students may pay greater attention to theart of asking the right question as opposed to aiming purelyat correct answers, particularly when such answers areunknowingly acquired or stumbled upon. For, in theAristotelian spirit of education, ‘It is easy to ask a question,anyone can do that; but to ask the right question, to the rightperson, to the right extent, at the right time, in the right way,with the right aim; that is not easy’.Of equal value is the disposition of being comfortablewith silence when a complex and demanding question hasbeen put. A well measured question deserves time forreflection (thinking time) so that students can distil andassess their ideas before offering an appropriate response.Immature habits which pander to the attention-seekingneeds of the infant wishing to be the first to raise its handwith the correct response should be consigned to thenursery and has no place in the classroom.By placing great emphasis regularly on emotionalliteracy, and the role of virtues for learning, students willnaturally, in time, practice such qualities; for as Aristotle wasall too aware: ‘We acquire virtues by first doing virtuousacts. We acquire a skill by practising the activities involvedin the skill. For example, we become builders by buildingand we learn to play the harp by playing the harp.  In thesame way, we become just by doing just acts, temperateby doing temperate acts and courageous by doing acts ofcourage’ (Nicomachean Ethics). Gradually a learning culturedevelops within a classroom, one where success isrecognised and shared with others.Belly (Appetite). A healthy appetite is one which refuses toaccept an unbalanced diet. It is startling how quicklystudents identify a ‘belly’ culture in lessons, be it anexcessive use of the video player (notably in the final weekof each term!) or uninspiring tasks which are repetitive andlack challenge. Students soon discern that what is reallybeing expressed is the teacher’s abdication of enhancingserious learning and this implicitly shows a lack of respectas well as a poverty of aspiration.Of great importance in a student’s learning is the gift ofinspiration. If a student is inspired in a particular subjectone can forget all the data from YELLIS and ALIS predictedgrades; they make little sense as inspired students"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Plato's Charioteer

1 Nov 2006