Two years ago I attended the 12th (my first) International Conference on Thinking in Melbourne. I would say that this week was one of those turning moments in my life as an educator. For five evenings after full days of workshops, thinking and discussions I shared my new intense learnings with anyone who had three hours to listen to the rave! I remember those evenings of processing the WOW! The thinking and passion this conference evoked in me continues to thrive and drive.
Some snippets of thinking from Melbourne that inspired me to envision new possibilities….
• If we want our students to learn well and develop deep understanding, we must create cultures of thinking in our schools that actively engage students in thinking on an ongoing basis. These classroom cultures need to be based on care, respect and empathy (Ron Ritchhart).
• How can students be encouraged to develop their critical thinking in environmental/sustainability subjects?
• Edward De Bono- believes that 90% of errors in thinking are perception based. We need to teach thinking skills otherwise perception will control.
• Three ways of thinking: Looking out (creative thinking), looking in (reflective), looking at (critical)
• We need to focus on the development of actionable knowledge rather than the acquisition of information.
• How can we better prepare our young for a changing and more complex future?
• Resourcefulness is knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do.
• Change is difficult because we only see what we are prepared to see.
• Nothing changes until we pay attention to it.
• It’s about letting go, letting come.
• Be comfortable with who you are and what is beyond you….and miracles will occur.
• What we can do together is more than what I can do.
• To be constantly engaged in collaborative conversations
• Find win-win situations
• Laugh hard and long
• Attitudes are more important than processes
• To act and remain open minded as educators
• Got to step outside what you know, explore the unknown
• This means we need to be courageous – go to unfamiliar places. Habits are obstacles
• Mix and mingle ideas
• Can’t reduce education to what we can quantify (standardized testing)…can’t measure passion, patience, imagination, fear.
• Provide every student with regular experiences of ecstatic learning.
What will I be doing in June when school gets out? I’ll be on my way to Norrkoping, Sweden for the 14th International Conference on Thinking.
4 responses so far ↓
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Justin Medved
// May 17, 2007 at 10:32 am
I have found that the conferences that were “outside of the box” from the traditional “k – 12 education” model have been the most influential in my development as a teacher. By taking ideas from business, design, science, ecology etc and applying then to the the practice of teaching I have seen my greatest growth in “thinking”.
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mscofino
// May 17, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Just when I thought I couldn’t be more inspired and excited about next year, you go and create a blog! Congratulations Annelies, I know you will love the connections and non-stop learning you will find out here on the edublogosphere (not my favorite word, but it sums up the concept well enough). I am going to add you to my blogroll today
I love the “culture of thinking” idea you describe above. Lately I’ve been finding myself saying that we need to change our school culture to really accomplish our goals. We have plans and ideas for how we want to do things, but if the culture of the school does not fully reflect the attitudes it takes to meet those goals, they will go nowhere.
Thank you for sharing your “wow!” ideas – I can’t wait to be part of a team that encourages this kind of thinking all the time!
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Thinking Allowed. » Blog Archive » Making change
// May 18, 2007 at 1:50 am
[...] The previously mentioned voices, you’ve been reading, or if you haven’t you should be: Justin at Medagogy and Kim at always learning. But now add a new, different voice to that mix. Our ES Principal, Annelies has begun to blog about “Thinking” in her blog In-tu-it-think and what she’s come to realize in her own growth as a school leader. What we can do together is more than what I can do. [...]
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Carolyn Foote
// Jun 6, 2007 at 11:10 pm
This post and comments reminds me that one reason I enjoy the TED Talks idea so much is because it brings ideas that we can connect to from all different fields, which I find inspiring.
Thanks for sharing your conference notes and welcome to blogging!
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