Curriculum: Thinking Curriculum

A Watsonia North Primary School priority is the development of thinking skills which focus on ways to effectively develop students' thinking processes and strategies. This curriculum supports the development of thinking skills in the following ways:

teaches students about thinking and learning
engages students in complex thinking to manage new situations and solve problems
studies topics in-depth
extends periods of time for sustained thinking
relates thinking and learning strategies to subject knowledge
embeds thinking and learning strategies in every activity and
is accessible to every student

Why is it important to teach the skills of thinking? Teachers and schools are faced with the challenge of providing building blocks for their students' effective participation in workplaces and communities of the future. It is therefore necessary to provide young people with the capacity and motivation to:

be community-builders, with strong social competencies, resilience and self esteem
work in teams with skills in cooperation, communication and negotiation
select and evaluate information and be intellectually curious
be problem-solvers and be able to think creatively and critically
be independent of mind, self-regulating and reflective
be flexible and be able to adapt to change and
know how to learn and want to continue to learn throughout life

The more students believe their teachers to be emphasising thinking and learning strategies …

the greater the motivation
the more strongly they are involved in productive cognitive strategies
the more firmly they focus on the task goals
the less they see the school to be focused on individual ability and competition
the less they perceive a lack of control over their own learning

The more students feel they are given time to explore and understand new ideas, the more they …

feel motivated to learn
value really understanding their work
feel they are in control of learning
believe their school is showing them how to be better learners