Thinking in Education

The view that it is important to teach for thinking in schools and universities is not new. Since the beginning of the 20th century, many philosophers and educators (like John Dewey, Mathew Lipman, Alec Fisher, Arthur L. Costa and John Barell, just to name a few) have written numerous papers and books, given numerous talks and seminars, and conducted numerous courses and workshops on this issue. Over the years, this view has come into and gone out of fashion many times. However, there seems to be a common agreement among those who are now working in the field of education that the major trends of the 21st century demand that educators make teaching for thinking the fundamental basis of their work.

The Thinking Map captures the different types of thinking skills that I believe are important for students to develop today. A mastery of these thinking skills will enable students to make significant contributions to the greater society.

I will be discussing the opportunities and strategies for teaching these thinking skills in schools in a forthcoming paper.