How can we make the invisible visible?
So, you’re buying a new laptop. Your technical knowledge is that of a layperson at best. So, where do you start? You are faced with rows upon rows of screens, and logos, and claims about RAM, CPUs, USBs, GB, Hz… It’s all too much, and then you see the logo ‘Intel inside’ and your confidence grows.
Visible Thinking in the classroom is all about the ‘Intel Inside’: ‘the processing attributes [of education] that make learning visible and truly make a difference’ (Hattie, 2012). However, like the ‘Intel Inside’, thinking is something that we may not often pause to really consider or understand how it works. Just because we can’t see it though, does not mean it isn’t crucial to the success of our students, which is why staff at SJIIM have been developing teaching and learning strategies over the past several years that actually teach our students how to think. It is a concept originally conceived by researchers in Sweden, but has more recently been developed by Harvard University in a programme known as ‘Project Zero’.
At SJIIM, and hopefully every school around the globe, we strive to develop more in our students than just their academic achievement. We strive to build critical thinkers, who will challenge the status quo when it is required, who will be leaders of change in the future and who possess the ability to self reflect, examine and argue knowledgeably. We want our students to be just as capable of imagining, empathising and respecting others, as they are of achieving top grades. Visible Thinking aims to help students do just that. Whether our future lawyers will be connecting a current case to the wealth of legal knowledge they have acquired, or our future doctors will be analysing and evaluating a patient’s medical diagnosis, these thinking processes will be integral to their success.
Such strategies at SJIIM are becoming increasingly embedded in our learning culture, enabling passionate teachers to nurture a love of learning and thinking within the classroom. These strategies are both practical and engaging, allowing students to think actively, both individually and collaboratively, about any subject. It is through this process of thinking about thinking, that the confidence of our students grows and a strong learning community is built.
Many of our teachers have already been trained by ‘Project Zero’ in the craft of thinking visibly in the classroom, and continued professional development has taken place within the school to develop and embed thinking routines across the curriculum. The difference in students’ performance, as well as confidence in their own thinking, has been a delight to witness.
Why not try a visible thinking routine yourself?
Look carefully at this painting, and take yourself through the three stages below. Do not worry if your mind skips between stages, let it wander. Just try and bring it back gently to the task, one stage at a time. SEE: Spend 2-3 minutes just noticing what you can see. This could be the colours, the paint strokes, the way the boots have been left, the condition of them, the size or shape of the painting. You might notice aspects of the background, or where the light seems to emanate from, or the type of boots they appear to be.
THINK: Spend 2-3 minutes thinking about what you have seen. One of the best phrases to keep in mind during this part of the exercise is: ‘Why do you think this?’ This will allow you to connect what you think with what you noticed in the first part of the exercise. You might think that these boots belong to workers, for example, because they appear to be scuffed, dirty and well worn. You might think that they have been taken off in a hurry, because they look discarded and abandoned. You might think that they look like men’s boots, because of their size and style.
WONDER: Spend 2-3 minutes asking questions that come into your mind. This could be anything related to what you have seen or more general thoughts you may have. You may wonder who painted this? Or why they painted it? You may wonder what happened to the owners of these boots? Or why they seem to have been taken off in such a hurry?
If this was a classroom exercise, the students would discuss their thoughts after each stage, allowing them to have a much deeper grounding in this Van Gogh painting before beginning to study it. This thinking routine allows for a deeper appreciation of the painting, and also some grounding in which to start analysing it. This of course would work well in an Art lesson, but images or extracts from any text can be used in a variety of lessons, from English to Science.
We look forward to striving to make learning stimulating and engaging for all of our students at SJIIM, and to making the invisible…visible.
By Catherine Benbow
Head of English
