Encouraging thinking skills

How many students rely on their teacher to get them to the answer? Better to place students in a sticky situation and encourage them to escape, says James Nottingham...

A few months ago, I was with a friend driving to a theatre in a town we don’t know well. Normally, that would be OK because we’d simply follow the instructions given by his GPS. However, this time ‘Natalie the Navigator’, as we like to call his GPS because of its beautiful female voice,  wasn’t working, leaving us stranded with no idea of which way to go. Sounds unremarkable, until I admit this wasn’t the first time we’d driven to that same theatre; in fact, we’d been there three times already in the previous 12 months. But each time, we’d relied on Natalie to get us there and in so doing,  given up on the art of navigating ourselves.
  This got me to thinking: how many students in schools right now are making a similar mistake – not with navigation, but with their learning? How many students rely on their teacher to get them to the answer? Sitting back and waiting for directions, knowing full well that not only will their teacher show them how to get there but will even decide where they need to be in the first place. Sure,  when it works, like GPS, its great; but what happens when there is no Natalie,  no teacher to guide them – then what? Won’t these students be just as lost as Gordon and me?
  This is my reason for designing the Learning Pit, a framework for teaching that puts the challenge back into learning and encourages students to become more self-reliant, confident and self aware. The Pit encourages students not to sit back and wait for the answer to fall into their lap; instead it requires them to think about every decision that they make.
  Here’s an example as to how this might work in practice. Please note that the teacher is trying to challenge initial thoughts – not to point score or belittle. The purpose of the Learning Pit is to provoke deeper thought and reflection.

What is an odd number?

Teacher: Two, seven and eight. Which number is different from the other two and why?
  Andrew: Seven because it’s an odd number
  Teacher: What’s an odd number?
  Caroline: A number that can’t be divided by two
  Teacher: So, if I have £7, are you saying it can’t be divided by two? How much would each person have if I shared £7 between two people?
  Charlotte: £3.50 each
  James: So, seven can be divided by two. Does that mean it’s even then?
  Mohammed: No!
  Teacher: So what is an odd number?
  Mohammed: It can’t be divided by two without leaving a remainder
  Teacher: But when I divided £7 by two, that didn’t leave a remainder
  Daniel: But 50p is not a whole number. You can’t divide an odd number by two without splitting a whole number
  Teacher: Are you telling me that 50 is not a whole number?
  Sunita: 50 pence isn’t
  Teacher: This (holding a 50p piece) is not whole? Why not? It looks whole to me.
  Sunita: But it’s not a whole pound. It’s half of a pound
  Teacher: So, what is an odd number then?
  Ben: It’s a number that can’t be divided by two without changing the units
  Teacher: Can you give me an example?
  Ben: If I had seven pound coins then I’d have to split one of them in half first
  Teacher: OK, so what about a £10 note? If I was going to split that between two people then I’d have to change the units then as well; so does that make 10 an odd number as well?
  Anna: No. It’s difficult to explain.
  Teacher: Anyone? Can anyone say what an odd number is?
Students: Um …

It is at this point that students realise they don’t know exactly what the concept, in this case an ‘odd number’, really is and so embark on research to find the answer(s). Teachers that observe lessons such as this remark that students are more animated and focused on their research than normal. I think this is because they are answering a question that they have asked (however much I have engineered it) rather than answering a question that was posed by the teacher, which is what more often happens.
To help explain to my students why I’m challenging them so much, I tend to use the following diagram and explanation (see Fig. 1):

Stage 1: Concept
The learning pit always begins with an important concept,  since it is through conceptual analysis that students gain an understanding of their world. Example concepts include: art, bullying, culture, democracy,  existence, growth, identity, justice, knowledge, language, music, number,  originality, poetry, questions, reality TV, science, tourism, and so on.

Stage 2: Challenge
In his analysis of more than 500,000 educational studies,  Professor John Hattie of Melbourne University cites ‘challenge’ as one of the three most important aspects of expert teaching¹ (as well as a focus on key concepts, and on feedback). Stage two of the learning pit is concerned with just that: challenging students to think more deeply, purposefully, critically and creatively.

Stage 3: Construct
This is the point at which students co-construct an understanding of the key concepts through continued dialogue and study with each other.  According to many notable educational theorists such as Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget and John Dewey, there is no such thing as knowledge “out there”  independent of the knower, but only knowledge we construct for ourselves as we learn. Stage three recognises this by creating the conditions necessary for meaningful dialogue

Stage 4: Reflect
If you reflect on anything you have learned, you soon realise that it is the product of repeated exposure and thought. Thus, stage four is concerned with students revisiting and reflecting upon their learning journey.

Outcomes of the Learning Pit
  Students who regularly go ‘through the pit’ achieve higher exam grades and are better learners. This is borne out by statistical analysis as well as teachers’ testimonials. But why?
  When students are ‘in the pit’, they think more because of the dilemmas they face when in the pit. These dilemmas cause them work harder and focus more intently both on the problem and on possible solutions. This is turn helps to make students better thinkers, thus increasing the chances of higher exam grades.
  Furthermore,  since self-esteem comes from one’s confidence in being able to cope with difficulties as well as a conviction that success is attainable, being in the learning pit and coming out the other side is a great way to build self-esteem.
And finally, when students do come out of ‘the pit’, they feel an overwhelming sense of achievement and empowerment. They experience the ‘eureka’ moment that says ‘I have worked it out for myself; I have overcome the challenges and found a decent answer.’

James Nottingham’s latest book, Encouraging Learning, is published by Routledge. It’s an inspiring, humorous and practical read that shows what you can do to help children of all ages develop into confident,  thoughtful and independent learners.