Thinking and Learning

Mrs Christine Miskelly, Head of Creative and Critical Thinking, launched our new programme with a fascinating talk to parents of Years 7 and 8 entitled "Helping Your Daughter Think and Learn".

Below is her introducation and you can download more information as well.

"As a Pupil Progress Co-ordinator I spent a great deal of time talking with individual girls about their learning and I quickly observed how limited our shared understanding of learning was. We discussed their organisation and I spent quite a lot of my time addressing issues related to prep. or untidy lockers! Girls would also talk about how they felt they were getting on in their various subjects but when it came to discussions as to how they might improve their learning they would use phrases like ‘I need to try harder' or ‘I need to concentrate more' without really knowing what this would mean in practice. I would sometimes have the time to talk with them individually about approaches and strategies but addressing this on an individual basis is neither time efficient nor deeply effective. So I now have the role of Head of Critical and Creative Thinking which is providing an opportunity to look more closely at ways in which girls can become more powerful as thinkers and learners.

According to Einstein “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything one learned in school.” It can be interesting to reflect on one's own school experience and to think about what was of value and what was not. When we discussed this in the meeting it was clear that what most people wanted for their daughters on leaving school was the confidence to learn and the skills to continue learning.

On Tuesday 13^th October I met with parents of girls in years 7 &8 to address the theme of helping girls to think and learn. I thought it might be interesting and helpful for those of you who were not able to attend, and also for parents of other year groups, if I produced a paper summarising some of the main points of the session and also indicating further reading for those who are interested."

Here are some useful websites for those of you who want to discover more:

http://www.habits-of-mind.net/

The official website of Art Costa and Bena Kallick, creator of 16 ‘habits of mind' – qualities that students should develop

http://www.mindsetonline.com/

Carol Dweck' site on Mindset (Look at the link on ‘How not to talk to your kids' It has some shocking but important insights into the dangers of praise.

http://www.ted.com/

An absolutely amazing find. This site is packed full of video clips of people from all walks of life – scientists, musicians, entrepreneurs - giving talks about a whole host of intriguing subjects. A great source of inspiration for discussion. If you go to the ‘talks' section, you can select clips by their rating, for example ‘most persuasive', ‘most jaw-dropping' and ‘funniest'. This is a brilliant resource for broadening general knowledge and opening minds to all sorts of new ideas.

Click to download the attached file(s):
• Helping_your_daughter_to_think_and_learn.pdf