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Creating a Thinking School: Case Study Buranda State SchoolLynne Hinton and Clinton Golding, Draft 2006The school’s central focus must be on the intellect, on helping each young citizen learn to use his or her mind resourcefully and wellSizer, 1992, p.142 All which the school can or need do for pupils, so far as their minds are concerned…is to develop their ability to thinkDewey, 1966, p.152The greatest responsibility for schools and educators must surely be to teach students to think: to develop in students the capacity to think clearly, to reason well, to make sound judgements, and to have students use this capacity and become good thinkers. By doing this we offer them the capacity to become reflective, thoughtful, well-rounded and responsible citizens. We offer them the capacity to live well. This paper outlines the journey of one school, Buranda State Primary School in Brisbane, Australia, as it moved from being a small, declining, inner city school where students were generally disengaged and achieving poor academic results, to what can today be described as a successful ‘thinking school’. This paper isolates what made this journey so successful so we can make sense of the process of creating a thinking school.What is a thinking school?Calling a school a ‘thinking school’ is making a comment about more than what is taught. We are talking about the whole ethos or culture of the school, or what Ritchhart calls the ‘cultural forces’ – the aspects of the school that give it “Its unique flavour and force” [Ritchhart 146] A thinking school is one with a thinking culture, where its unique flavour and force is related to being thoughtful. Everything about the school encourages, promotes, facilitates, expects, demands and empowers good thinking from staff, students and parents.This paper outlines some of the most important cultural forces that make Buranda a thinking school.BackgroundBuranda State School is a state government primary school situated 3km from the centre of Brisbane, Australia. It caters for students in their first seven years of formal schooling. The students come from a wide range of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and represent a wide range of ability, from those with significant learning disabilities to those who are highly gifted. The area in which the school is set has been identified as low socio-economic and high migrant, although gentrification is now occurring. These days, many students are drawn from outside the local area because of the school’s innovative programs, in particular, the focus on thinking. There are currently 199 students, which is the maximum number that can be accommodated in the present facilities.The development of Buranda State School as a thinking school began after the appointment of a new principal at what was a small, declining, inner city school. There were only 48 students. The biggest overall problem at that time was poor academic results. The students achieved poorly on systemic literacy and numeracy tests, and experienced great difficulty with curriculum areas such as problem solving. They appeared to be poor thinkers and unable to apply their skills to real situations. They were neither confident with nor engaged in their learning. There was certainly no excitement about learning for these students.It was necessary to improve student outcomes. This was done by teaching the students to think clearly and well, and to have confidence in their ability to think. The vehicle was the teaching of philosophy to all students.Why is Philosophy so good as the vehicle for creating a thinking school?Having students engage in the discipline of philosophy enables them to think. (Sizer, 1992) Philosophy in Schools was not introduced to be a new subject with new content for students to master. It is independent from the views of particular philosophers and is generalised from different philosophical traditions. The ‘philosophy’ of philosophy for children is designed with the aim of helping our students learn to ‘do’ philosophy themselves. It is primarily concerned with thinking about and within every subject. Philosophy in Schools, and the reason it is so good at enabling thinking, can be understood best by exploring its aim, process, content, and the role the teacher has in the philosophy classroom. The aim of Philosophy in Schools is to make sense of ourselves, the world, and the connections between them. This is a different epistemic aim from getting the right answer, for example, and cannot be met by simply getting answers to a factual question. Reaching this aim requires students to invest and engage all their cognitive abilities. In order to make sense of something, for example, students must question, explore possibilities and alternatives and think through connections and distinctions. The process of Philosophy in Schools is the community of inquiry. In a community of inquiry the students are not being led to what the teacher has decided is the best answer, nor are they just swapping opinions or chatting. The community of inquiry is a rigorous process of engaging with ideas in order to make sense of them and ultimately make progress. It is the process of rigorously thinking with others. Students must listen to one another and consider the ideas being put forward. They must listen to the reasons of others, decide whether they agree or disagree and why, and be prepared to explain their decision to others. When students speak, it is considered and thoughtful, and relates to and builds on previous comments.During philosophy sessions, good thinking is modelled, expected and practised. This is not so much about teaching skills of thinking, but about enculturating the habits or dispositions of being a good thinker. Students immerse themselves in a community and culture of good thinking and good thinkers. They listen to one another, consider the ideas of others and build on one another’s ideas. They give and expect reasons, offer examples and counterexamples to support their arguments, seek alternatives, draw conclusions and recognise faulty reasoning. Participating in such a community requires students to engage in good thinking, scaffolds their increasing abilities to think well and helps them to internalise good thinking dispositions. By immersing themselves in shared, rigorous inquiry, students pick up important skills and habits of thinking. For example, they must test their ideas by sharing them with others so they become more careful and self-correcting thinkers. They are exposed to many different views so they learn to become deeper and discerning listeners. The community of inquiry combines both the cognitive and social domains leading to not only improved learning outcomes in literacy and numeracy, but also to improved social skills, behaviour and attitudes. As well as critical and creative thinking, students develop into caring thinkers concerned with others.The content of philosophy in schools is rich concepts and philosophical questions. Students engage with big issues that are of concern to them – fairness, family, the mind, thinking, responsibility … They explore these ideas by asking and answering philosophical questions. These cannot be answered by gathering facts, asking an expert or reading a book, but can be answered only by rigorous inquiry and thinking. For example, What is the mind, Should we always be fair to people, Can any group of people be a family? There are particular effects from students engaging with philosophical questions rather than other types of questions. Philosophical questions provide a thinking treasure for students. Philosophical questions awaken wonder and evoke speculation and discussion which can go on informally for days or weeks. To begin with, the question itself becomes a focus, rather than simply the trigger for finding a piece of information. It becomes a source of interest in its own right. ‘Does every creature have the right to a home?’ is much more interesting for children than ‘What sort of bird lays a blue speckled egg?’ Instead of the question being seen as a source of work (go the library, find a book about birds, look it up, write the answer in my own words…), a philosophical question sparks the imagination and excites the intellect. Children will burst into the classroom in the morning and say ‘I’ve thought of a great question for philosophy! “What is it that makes me, me?” Can we put that on the board and talk about it later?’Philosophical questions are also excellent thinking treasure because good thinking is the only way to resolve such questions. The teacher and students are investigating questions which, on one hand, cannot be settled by getting the facts or an expert view. On the other hand, nor are these questions about mere preferences where there are no right and wrong. Some answers given to philosophical questions are better than others. The only way to resolve such questions is by application of good thinking. One answer is better than another because of the quality of thinking involved.The teachers’ role in philosophy in schools is also very important in making philosophy an excellent vehicle for creating a thinking school. Because the point is for students to engage in their own thinking about their own questions in order to make sense of them, the teacher cannot be doing the thinking for the students. Instead the teacher becomes a thinking coach and philosophical guide for the students. They help the students to learn how to think for themselves.Philosophy and the community of inquiry is an excellent way to meet all the features of a thinking school. Having students engage in philosophical communities of inquiry enables them to think clearly and well and to have confidence in their ability to think.Why can Buranda State School be described as a thinking school?The major contributor to the development of thinking at Buranda State School is the teaching of philosophy across the whole school. Every child at Buranda State School participates in philosophy classes, and every teacher teaches reasoning and good thinking through philosophy classes. There are no exceptions. Because of this whole school approach, the features that make philosophy so good at supporting a thinking school have become the very features that are characteristic of Buranda State School. A culture of thinking exists at Buranda State School. This is consistent through administration, all teachers and all year levels because it is mandated as part of the school structure. The school abounds with a sense of wonder, an insatiable curiosity and a healthy, respectful scepticism. Buranda State School students don’t just know about thinking or know some thinking tools; they actively puzzle, imagine, question, talk and think. They consider information and they examine values. They do this alone and they do it together. They are thoughtful, enthusiastic, energetic, reasonable and optimistic.On a day-to-day basis, Buranda State School students listen to one another respectfully and consider the views of others. They talk quietly, reasonably and reflectively with one another. They know how to respectfully disagree with someone else’s idea, and they are comfortable changing their minds about an issue. The students have well developed reasoning skills and are aware of themselves as thinkers. They can be seen following an argument, applying prior knowledge, giving examples and counterexamples, making distinctions, listening intently, seeing things from different points of view, thinking reflectively and so on. They make good decisions based on sound reasoning and a consideration of ethical and practical implications. Through asking and discussing open inquiry questions such as ‘Is it always good to be fair?’ and ‘Is progress always a good thing?’ students demonstrate their capacity to monitor their own thinking. ‘I think I’m making an assumption here … ’, ‘I’m not sure what I think about this idea …, and ‘I think we asked good questions today’ indicate metacognitive processes at work. Extending on the metacognitive processes, they know what they are good at and what they are not good at, and are comfortable with that. They see mistakes as a normal part of learning.The expectations developed in the philosophical community of inquiry - to think deeply and well and to listen respectfully to others - are translated to all other areas of operation within the school. Students are expected to become independent, responsible learners, both individually and as part of a team. They are expected to take responsibility for what happens around the school, and to help develop solutions to problems that arise, be they of an academic or social nature. They are expected to support one another and seek support when needed.Buranda State School is a thinking school. This is recognised both within and outside the school where thinking is central to everything that is done. The students know they are part of a school that is seen as successful, and that operates differently from many other schools. They are proud that this is so. If asked why the school is successful, they will correctly identify the teaching of philosophy and thinking as the key. Many parents seek enrolment for their children because they want them to learn to think.Is Buranda merely a thinking school?It could be thought that even though Buranda can be described as a thinking school, this is not something to be emulated if Buranda does not measure up on other academic standards. It would not be valuable to create a thinking school if the school is not performing in other important areas. However, since Buranda State School has become a thinking school, the students have received outstanding academic results. Despite the fact that, as a cohort, the students have a normal range of abilities, they now achieve results well above state and national means in all aspects of literacy and numeracy. This took about three years to achieve and has been sustained for the last six years. Buranda is a thinking school, but it is also a high-performing school in other areas.The students are now excellent problem solvers, being happy to focus on the process rather than the answer. When they participate in activities such as Opti-Minds (formerly Tournament of Minds) or other group problem solving competitions, they invariably achieve success.In the 2003 World-Class Tests designed for gifted 9-year-olds, there were 222 entrants from Queensland schools. Only two gained Distinction. Both of these were from Buranda State School.It is also evident that Buranda State School students with learning disabilities do better than their cohort in other schools. Last year Education Queensland commissioned Griffith University to identify and investigate around 10 schools in the state where students with learning disabilities/difficulties were ‘succeeding’ when compared with their cohort in other schools. They chose to investigate Buranda as one of the schools. The results from this study will be published in 2007.The systemic School Opinion Survey indicates that parent and student satisfaction on the item ‘School Climate’ is above or well above the State mean. There are few behaviour problems at the school, despite there being some very difficult students. Visitors to the school describe a ‘stillness’, a ‘quietness’ and a sense of purpose about the school that they have not seen elsewhere. One visitor commented, ‘Your kids don’t fight, they negotiate’. There is little or no bullying at the school. The children won’t allow it. For example, recently a group of Year Seven students went to see the principal to discuss what they described as an ‘unacceptable act of bullying’. They outlined behaviour they had witnessed that they thought was inappropriate and unkind, and together with the principal discussed what steps could be taken. The situation was resolved amicably.What led to success in Buranda State School becoming a thinking school?Clinton Golding (2005) outlined what he considers to be the eight main areas for consideration to support a school cultural change that would result in a thinking school. Ensure the development of thinking is an explicit aim of the school.Model and personally promote the development of thinking.Create a school environment that promotes the development of thinking.Ensure curriculum time is explicitly set aside for the development of thinking.Have teachers consider themselves as thinking coaches and facilitators.Have students consider themselves as learners and thinkers.Provide time, resources and training to support teachers in developing thinking rm and involve the wider school community in creating a thinking curriculum. This paper applies this theoretical framework to Buranda State School. This is done to isolate the specific features that have led to Buranda being such a successful thinking school. As part of this process, the framework has also been expanded by a close focus on Ritchhart’s ‘Cultural forces’ [Ritchhart 146] and to accommodate special features of Buranda that did not sit comfortably in the 2005 framework.Ensure the development of thinking is an explicit aim of the school.A thinking school must place the development of thinking as one of its explicit and core values and aims. This is very important in creating a thinking school. If development of thinking is an add-on to the core values of the school, or not even an explicit value of the school, then the time pressures to complete the core requirements will mean that the development of thinking never happens. When it comes to the crunch, time will be devoted to only the explicit core values and goals.The teaching of philosophy, and hence the development of good thinking, is at the heart of Buranda State School. It is what the school is good at and world renowned for. It is fundamental to the school’s identity. Thus the school’s aim to develop good thinking is present in all documents and publicity about the school. The goal ‘to provide all children with challenging opportunities which promote critical, creative and caring thinking’ is articulated in the school’s mission statement not just as one of the goals, but as a core goal. Other curricular requirements or initiatives do not detract from this. All school information and promotional material states that philosophy is taught to all students. For example, a bookmark was produced with the words ‘Buranda State School: for lots of reasons’ – making reference to the fact that students learn to give good reasons to support their arguments.Ensure resources (time and money) are committed to developing thinkingWe show what we value by our actions. Students pick up on what we actually value, not what we say we value. Some of the most important actions schools can take to show they value things is by how much time and money they spend on it. A thinking school spends time and money on the development of thinking. Explicit statements that the development of thinking is a core value of the school will be no more than empty rhetoric or overstated publicity if a school does not put their resources behind what they say is valuable. At Buranda State School the actions show that thinking is of prime importance. This is shown in practice not just words.The teaching of philosophy is described and budgeted for each year in the Annual Operational Plan and the Annual Report at Buranda State School. The success of implementing philosophy in the school has brought access to further funding, through grants and prize money. This funding was put straight back into the development of Buranda State School as a thinking school. It enabled the purchase of additional resources and further staff professional learning, including follow-up visits and workshops with university philosopher-educators. In 2004, 48% of the General Component of the School Grant Budget was spent on learning and development for Buranda State School staff. The main source of expertise for professional learning is now the Buranda State School staff members themselves. The school has also put aside enough time, both day-to-day, and as a long term commitment, for the development of thinking. On a day-to-day basis, the teaching of philosophy is timetabled into all classes. Longer term, to create a thinking school requires a culture change in the organisation. A change of this magnitude requires a minimum of 3-5 years. [reference? Costa? Still looking] It is necessary to make a long-term time commitment and be prepared to wait, whilst never losing sight of the goal to be a thinking school. Buranda has made this long-term time commitment to create a thinking school.Provide resources and time to train and support teachers in developing the thinking of their students.One prime area that a school must take action consonant with its values is in the area of teacher training and support. To create a thinking school, teachers need a great deal of training and support. There was a clear understanding at Buranda, from the outset, that success would be achieved only if a serious, consistent, ongoing, long-term commitment was made to teacher development. If philosophy was to be taught to all students at Buranda State School, it would be taught well. That this would require time, energy and money was acknowledged and accepted. What transpired as a result of this commitment was, and remains, exceptional. The teachers participated energetically, enthusiastically, and with integrity in the implementation of philosophy at Buranda State School. They asked for help when they needed it and watched for opportunities to offer support to others. They improved their own practice through trial and error. Through efforts to become a thinking school, Buranda State School became a learning community, with both teachers and students being learners. They undertook extensive professional development activities, prepared papers for conferences, and willingly shared their expertise with other schools. They hosted visitors to their classrooms and went to other schools. This is ongoing.The outcome is a group of teachers with expert knowledge of and passion for pedagogy and practice that lead students to think well. They know about the teaching of philosophy and they know how to teach children to inquire and to think. They engage in a continuous conversation about learning, thinking, students, programs and ways of improving their own practice. After all, there is no greater motivator than to see that what you are doing is working.The process of training and developing teachers to teach philosophy was carefully organised. As well as demonstrating in action that thinking is important, many features of this process create a culture of good thinking for the teachers. Many of the features of this process emphasise the teachers becoming a community of independent learners and thinkers. The process also emphasises the need for teachers themselves to become good thinkers before they can teach good thinking. The following occurred: A clearly articulated commitment to the teaching of philosophy was made in 1996 when Lynne Hinton became the new Principal of the School. Everyone who taught at Buranda State School would teach it, and there would be no exceptions.There was an expectation, articulated overtly, that each teacher would move forward professionally as quickly and as thoroughly as they could. It would be their responsibility to identify shortcomings in their own practice and the means by which they would overcome these.All teachers visited another school to observe philosophy lessons.All necessary resources were purchased. No request for additional materials was ever refused.A university-based philosopher-teacher from interstate was brought in to act as a critical friend and mentor to the school. With an on-going relationship established, the mentor provided demonstration lessons and information sessions for teachers and the wider school community. This included group sessions and individual assistance, as determined by need.All classroom teachers, both permanent and temporary, participated in training to attain their basic certificate to teach philosophy to children.Two teachers and the Principal travelled to Melbourne University for a 10-day live-in teacher educator workshop for Philosophy in Schools. This extended their knowledge and allowed them to provide training to other teachers on staff. Since than, ten Buranda State School teachers have been accredited as teacher educators in Philosophy in Schools.Over the next two years, all teachers travelled to Sydney or Melbourne for Philosophy in Schools conferences – to present papers, to be conference participants, or to participate in workshops. Requests for Buranda State School teachers to present papers at conferences or work with groups of teachers have been unremitting for several years.Teachers visited each other’s classrooms to observe good practice, talk together and celebrate successes. Initially there was resistance to this, as teachers are used to operating alone in their classrooms, and traditionally do not share their practice with one another very much. Buranda teachers now willingly share their classrooms with each other and with visitors to the school.A mentoring system was instigated between staff members so that each teacher had a person to whom they could turn for assistance. This applied to long and short term teachers. This allowed for empowerment of teachers through shared leadership, and strengthened individual commitment to the teaching of philosophy.There is ongoing monitoring and reflection about individual staff member’s progress in teaching philosophy - their successes, and how they intend to continue to improve their practice. Teachers regularly complete questionnaires and participate in formal discussions about what and how they are teaching philosophy, what support they may need to improve their practice and what support they may be able to offer others. This has shown that the teachers were constantly building their knowledge, individually and as a group.The critical friend from interstate came to the school on a regular basis and provided sessions for teachers and parents to upgrade their skills. This process is ongoing. Thoughtful discussion from staff was expected. The topic of thinking is regularly discussed at an informal level in places such as the lunch-room. This relates to both classroom practice and the development of the teacher’s own reasoning skills (For example, many conversations have occurred about denying the antecedent, which is a common mistake in reasoning). Teachers are expected to participate in a monthly teacher-led community of inquiry. Buranda State School teachers provided philosophy information sessions and demonstration lessons at the school for visiting educators.Buranda State School teachers provided training to other teachers, in the teaching of philosophy in schools.Using Quality Teacher Program funding, an online course was developed by Buranda State School teachers, to allow people remote from Brisbane to learn to teach philosophy in schools. This is currently being accessed worldwide.All the factors described (eg expectation, commitment, informal and formal discussions, staff communities of inquiry, professional development, the mentoring process, training of other schools, etc) have resulted in the culture of thinking being fundamental to, and embedded in everything that is done at Buranda State School. It is simply the way the school operates. No single part of this process can be identified as being the one that keeps it all going. It is the whole package. When new staff are appointed, they must embrace this package and learn to operate in the Buranda manner. This is invariably done willingly, with energy and enthusiasm.There is also a sense always of ‘Where to next?’, inasmuch as teachers seek to learn more, to improve their skills and to help others. For example, teachers are currently working towards the publication of a book of teacher materials to be used for the teaching of philosophy.Create teachers as expert teacher educators about thinkingAs shown in the process of training and development of staff, Buranda State School has gone one step further than most schools in setting up their teachers as thinking coaches. They have not just trained and developed their teachers as expert thinking coaches, they have trained them to be national and international experts and consultants in creating a thinking school. Following the view that you learn something best by teaching it to others, many teachers have taken on training other schools in philosophy and the ethos of Buranda as a thinking school. For example, teachers at Buranda State School have:developed materials to train other schools in the teaching of philosophy. become ‘teacher educators’ in the teaching of philosophy. They visit schools and hold workshops across Australia and internationally.developed an online course in the teaching of philosophy. This project was undertaken using federal funding, and is being accessed by educators worldwide.presented papers at conferences and workshops about the teaching of philosophy in Australia and Internationally.The expertise that Buranda has in creating a thinking school is being recognised outside the school. Buranda State School attracts a lot of interest from the world educational community, who are seeking information about how to develop a culture of thinking at their own school. A consequence of this is that there are a lot of visitors. Teachers and students are well used to having others observe their lessons. A major benefit is that this demands that teachers continue to strive to improve their own practice and become even better at what they already do well. Students too, rise to the challenge, and really try hard to demonstrate good thinking.Ensure curriculum time is explicitly put aside for the development of thinking.All students at Buranda State School, without exception, take the time to participate in activities designed to develop thinking. This is ensured through the explicit timetabling of activities to this end, and involves considerably more than simply learning a particular ‘thinking skill’ from time to time. As well as time specifically timetabled for thinking, there are also frequent times when the opportunity to develop thinking occurs spontaneously in the classroom. When other activities such as sports carnivals encroach on classroom time, teachers are instructed to ensure this does not impact on the time devoted to developing thinking. The development of thinking is simply too important to be left to chance.A minimum of an hour a week is timetabled in every class for the teaching of philosophy. Junior classes may take two 30-45 minute sessions, whilst older students may do up to two, hour-long sessions weekly. Lessons are planned carefully and in detail by the teacher, who has a clear idea of what concepts will be thoughtfully investigated as well as what types of thinking will be developed. These may or may not be integrated into the other curriculum work of the class. The view is taken at Buranda that the development of thinking per se, is of sufficient importance to stand alone.As well as time explicitly set aside for doing philosophy, time is also given to open-ended inquiry of other types. Senior students are encouraged to participate in group problem solving activities such as the international ‘Naturally Mathematical’ competition. Students who elect to participate are released from normal class activities for the necessary time. All classes are expected to devote time each week to open-ended investigative mathematics problems (which are timetabled) as well as to other open ended problems, to which the teacher may or may not know the answer. These may be undertaken individually, in small groups or as a whole class. These are often done in conjunction with other classes so the children have the opportunity to work with a greater number and variety of other children.Good thinking must be promoted through the leadership of the SchoolOne way the explicit goal of becoming a thinking school is put into action is by spending the resources of the school on this goal. A second way is for the principal (and senior management) to show their practical commitment to this goal by their own actions. Even with the best intentions, a thinking school will not result if the leadership is not right. If the principal shows that they are not really interested in good thinking, then regardless of what is said to be the school’s goal it will be difficult to create a thinking school. If school leaders have, for example, an authoritarian leadership style stressing doing things the way the principal sees best, or stressing compliance and working hard, then it will promote values contrary to independent thinking. This leadership style will make becoming a thinking school much harder, if not impossible. The leadership style and decisions of a principal need to encourage and demand good thinking in the school if the school is to be a thinking school. The school leader must be prepared to make the hard decisions to put the money and time and resources where they will count to create a thinking school. They need to be willing to stick with it long enough so it actually works rather than some half-hearted muck-up or something that really only exists on paper. They need to make sure staff and students do things in ways that promote, not discourage good thinking. In the case of Buranda, the principal shows her personal commitment to good thinking in her day-to-day actions by personally modelling good thinking, and by employing a leadership style and making leadership decisions consistent with creating a thinking school. She makes sure that everything about the school promotes good thinking and learning. None of the features identified in this paper would have occurred at Buranda if the principal had not made the necessary decisions and taken the necessary actions over the long term to make it so. The principal demonstrates the dispositions and skills of a good thinker in her function as school leader showing that she values good thinking in theory and practice. On a daily basis, she demonstrates her passion for thinking and her expectation that everyone else will do the same. She provides a model of good thinking that staff and students emulate. It is from this individual that a large part of the questioning and wonderment evident at Buranda State School originally stems. It has now become the ‘modus operandi’ for everyone there. For example, the following list of how the principal personally models good thinking in her everyday role as school leader comes from teachers at Buranda.Always keeps school vision in mind and expects staff to do the sameHigh expectations of staff and students – raises the barRaising the topic of thinking on a regular basis in staff meetings – in particular the teaching of philosophy. Supportive environment needed for good thinkingTo create a thinking school there needs to be a supportive environment. It is only in such an environment that good thinking can be nurtured. [Golding 2005a, P.12-13] This environment is created firstly from the principal. This is well illustrated by the actions of the principal at Buranda.Highly supportive and caring, and prepared to find best in everyone.Actively and carefully listens to all – staff, students and parents – and tries to see their point of view. As a result all feel like they have a voice worth listening to.Celebrates difference and encourages others to do the same.Encourages individuals to build on strengths and overcome difficulties.Encourages individual development and learning by providing support, mentoring, feedback and professional development. Attends to relationships, individual growth, learning and development.Encourages a community of thinkers and learnersThe principal deliberately developed the staff at Buranda State School to be a community of learners and thinkers. The organisation of the staff mirrored how the organisation of the students needed to be to have a thinking school. The organisation of staff models to students how they should act to be thoughtful citizens.Democratic style of leadership where she encourages dialogue and collective thinking among staff and among students and between these groups.She willingly instigates and joins in with open inquiry processes and she expects the teachers and students to do the same.Encourages sharing of knowledge and skills – deprivatisation of practice.Always prepared to ask for or take advise from staff who have skills in specific areas.Delegates responsibility effectively so that all staff have the opportunity to develop and grow professionally and personally.Interested in the thinking of others. Asks us what we think – does not tell us what to think. Always asking for staff (and student where appropriate) input into school based decisions. Meeting with individual students who require or desire extension activities, to provide them with open-ended investigative problems. On completion these are returned to the principal for one-on-one discussion. This allows students who are particularly interested in or good at this type of activity to indulge this passion. It is also an enjoyable indulgence on the part of the principal! Models good thinkingModelling good thinking is not the same as demonstrating good thinking. We model good thinking when we approach ordinary tasks in a thoughtful way, rather than by putting on a show of how well we can think. It is precisely the times when we employ good thinking without having prepared to do so that we model good thinking and show to others that this is something that is part of how we operate. Good thinking is caught from those who model good thinking not those who merely demonstrate it. Comments about the Buranda principal include:Prepared to take a risk.Shares her thoughts, passions and questions with other staff and students.Focused, passionate and consistent. Views mistakes as learning experiences.Quiet and reflective.Discourages negativity.Models passion for deep thinking and problem-solving.Listens and thinks before acting in problem situations.Always gives reasons to adults and children for decisions made.These qualities in a leader model how to think and behave in all situations. Staff members are encouraged to treat students with the same degree of respect and this in turn encourages students to behave respectfully, thoughtfully and reflectively. It creates a domino effect.Overall philosophy of education and learning must support a thinking schoolNot all views of education and learning will allow a school to become a thinking school. To achieve the culture necessary to create a thinking school, the principal and teachers must adhere to an educational philosophy that values exploration and inquiry from students rather than only valuing a transmission model of direct teaching. If the view of education and learning of schools, teachers and students (and parents) does not place a high value on students being good thinkers, the culture of the school will not encourage good thinking. It will encourage what is actually valued, for example, passing exams. The philosophy of education at Buranda State School places thinking at the heart of learning.There is a school wide constructivist approach to learning. Learning is seen as the result of student construction of knowledge. In other words, learning is seen as the result of thinking. The learning environment is mainly open-ended and student centred. Problem-based inquiry is seen as the most effective pedagogy for quality student learning. This applies to all curriculum areas. There is an emphasis on making sense of things rather than getting the right answer, and it is expected that students who think well will perform better and get good grades in all other ‘traditional’ subjects. This is the premise on which the school, and therefore the curriculum, is built. Thinking is the core. Good thinking allows students to be mindful of what they learn and answer. They learn how to make sense of the curriculum and so do better with curriculum tests and tasks. Indeed, since philosophy has been taught at Buranda State School, student outcomes have improved enormously (Hinton, 2003).Have teachers consider themselves as thinking coaches and facilitators.As an implication of their view of education, teachers at Buranda State School see their most important role to be developers of thinkers. If developing thinking was not considered to be one of their most important roles in the classroom, they would be unlikely to spend time doing this. Teacher is a facilitator of thinkingTo encourage a thinking classroom, teachers must see themselves as thinking coaches and facilitators. [Ritchhart 146, Golding 2005a, p38-39]Teaching philosophy requires the teacher to be a thinking coach and facilitator. The teacher has to facilitate students thinking to reach good answers as there are no settled answers to rely on and only quality thinking will lead to a good answer. The teacher becomes a co-investigator in the philosophical community of inquiry and so is able to model being a good thinker for the students. The teachers at Buranda have become highly skilled at establishing an environment and providing opportunities that will allow children to talk, wonder, and discover things for themselves. Their job is to allow thinking time to occur, to encourage thinking, to draw it out of students, to praise it and reward it when it occurs and to set up routines, structures and scaffolds so that students actually come to be good thinkers.Thinking language usedOne feature that is important for a teacher creating a thinking classroom is the language they use. They must use language that promotes good thinking. [Ritchhart 146] On a day-to-day basis, language such as ‘I wonder…’, ‘Let’s think about this for a moment…’, ‘What are your reasons for thinking that?, ‘Can you clarify what you mean?’, ‘If that is true, what else follows?’ can be heard all the time in classrooms at Buranda State School. This occurs formally during philosophy lessons, where the teacher models the language used in good thinking, and gives names to the thinking moves that students can make – give reasons, evaluate, give examples, clarify, draw conclusions and consider alternatives, for example. The teacher also points out to the students what they themselves are doing, eg ‘Ah… a counterexample’, so the students are then able to identify for themselves the moves being made. Before long they will signal their own moves, as with the child who said, ‘I’m going to do one of them counter-example things’, and then did so.This language modelling also occurs in the more informal, everyday interaction of the classroom. The same phrases: ‘I wonder…’, ‘Let’s think about this for a moment…’, ‘What are your reasons for thinking that?, ‘Can you clarify what you mean?’, ‘If that is true, what else follows?’, once modelled by the teacher and familiar in the philosophy lesson context, soon become used easily and comfortably by teachers and students in the general talk of the classroom.Even outside the classroom, thinking language is modelled. Consider “I wonder if that was the best/easiest/fairest way of going about it?’ ‘What reason did you have for …?’ ‘Did you think about what might result if…?’ Attitudes and expectations towards good thinkingTeachers need to have a positive attitude towards good thinking and expect and encourage it from students. [Ritchhart 146] That the teacher values good thinking is beyond doubt at Buranda. Examples of good thinking are acknowledged, praised and celebrated, both within the classroom and in the whole school context such as assembly. Teachers talk overtly and frequently with the students about the goal at Buranda State School and hence their classroom, of developing good thinkers.Students are encouraged to find different ways to do things, for example, to solve algorithms using methods other than those they have been taught. This is to develop an understanding of the processes involved and hence to enhance understanding and thinking. Students are expected to be reflective in all aspects of their schooling, both academic and social, and they are. Students are considered to be part of a learning team that includes teacher, child and others (including parents), and are expected to take a large part of the responsibility for their own learning. They are seen as trustworthy with regard to their ability to make good decisions about their own learning.The teacher emphasises the thinking that needs to take place rather than the answer. For example, sometimes the students are given the problem and the answer and are asked to find as many different ways as possible of getting from the question to the answer. Assessment tasks are clearly articulated and explained. Students know exactly what is required for a particular grade, and that if they do the work the grade will be forthcoming. They know that if the task calls for ‘deep understanding’, they must provide the teacher with evidence to prove this, and what would constitute such evidence. Discussions about gradings occur between the teacher and the student, and include teacher, peer and self-evaluation.Opportunities provided for good thinkingAll teachers regularly offer opportunities for students to develop their capacity to think well. [Ritchhart 146] This may be alone or with others. These activities offer lots of opportunities for watching and emulating the thinking processes of others, both adults and children. Students in both upper and lower grades are able to negotiate some aspects of the curriculum with the teachers. This may be whole class decisions about what will be explored, or decisions about what an individual student will do. The thinking involved in this is much more sophisticated than that of dealing solely with teacher decided content. Regular opportunities for reflection are offered. For example, at the end of every philosophy class, students write in a ‘reflection log’. They are also asked to reflect regularly on their own learning and behaviour, and how these might be improved. Goal setting and monitoring are undertaken with students. Environment for good thinkingFor good thinking to occur, teachers need to set up an environment where good thinking can flourish. [Golding 2005 a, p12-19] A significant feature of the successful community of inquiry is the creation of an environment where students feel safe to explore their ideas together free from the threat of ridicule. This environment then becomes normal for the class, allowing for inquiry learning to occur in all curriculum areas.All class groups develop a set of class rules that set the ground rules necessary for good thinking to occur. There are frequently revisited. Rules decided upon by the children include those such as ‘Listen carefully to others’, ‘Respect other people’s ideas’ and ‘Be prepared to think’.[Gap: More could be said about progress with thinking and showing that thinking is valuable.][Gap: More about personal modelling from teachers]Students do the thinking work not the teachersIn developing students who are good thinkers, the role of the teacher must be clearly understood. This is probably one of the major points of departure from more traditionally understood classroom practice.A very clear distinction needs to be made between teaching students what to think and teaching them how to think. In developing students to be good thinkers, teachers do only the latter. They train and coach the students’ thinking, but do not do the thinking for them. Teachers provide opportunities for the student to do the thinking, without which, the students will never learn to think on their own.A good analogy is that of the conductor of the orchestra. The conductor directs, encourages, keeps things moving in the right direction and is fully involved in the music, yet at no time plays an instrument. The orchestra would not function productively without the conductor. Similarly the teacher directs, encourages, keeps the discussion moving, and is fully involved in the topic under discussion, yet at no time offers an opinion or an answer. The classroom community of inquiry would not function productively without the teacher. In such circumstances, the students are making their own choices with their learning rather than always the teachers. They are doing their own evaluations and making their own judgements, rather than the teachers always doing this. It is the students who decide what is relevant or whether they are moving forward or not.Have students consider themselves as learners and thinkers.One further implication of the view of education at Buranda State school is that students have no doubt that they are at school to become good thinkers. Students at Buranda State School have no doubt that they are at school to think and learn. That is their job, and they take it seriously. An interesting feature is that these days, the vast majority of students know no other way of operating at school. Traditional methods would be foreign to them. They are used to looking at how they can improve their learning and thinking rather than competing with others. They are used to working with others to solve problems. They see thinking as an important contribution to why they succeed and enjoy their work.Some ways that the role of students as thinkers and learners has been developed include the following, with the key being that students don’t just do the thinking activities as a separate task, but they see the thinking as fundamental to their own learning.Students understand that their role in a community of inquiry or when problem solving is to think together with others to try to resolve the issues the class has chosen to explore. They focus on the thinking process – the moves being made in the discussion – as well as the content. They inquire together in an ordered, rigorous and respectful way, in which their ideas and the ideas of others are considered seriously by others.Thinking is overtly valued by the students at the Buranda State School. To illustrate: One afternoon after school was finished for the day, a group of 12 year old boys was heard outside the office energetically discussing the mathematics problem that had been put on the wall by the principal. The administration officer commented ‘This place is mad! I’ve worked in lots of schools and I’ve never known 12 year old boys to voluntarily stay back after school to argue about a maths problem! Most kids would be out in the yard kicking a football!’[Gap: need some more evidence and ideas about how the students actually see themselves as good thinkers – the focus is on the students views of themselves, not the views or expectations of the teacher]Create a school environment that promotes the development of thinking.We have already described how curriculum time and Professional development time needs to be given to development of thinking in order to create a thinking school. However, a school must go further than this and create an everyday school environment that promotes thinking. To have a thinking school, the routines and structures that give the life of the school, and the physical environment and artefacts in the room [146] need to encourage not discourage good thinking. At Buranda, every aspect of the school environment promotes the development of thinking, from the way people interact with one another and the day-to-day procedures, to the physical environment of the place. Ways in which the school environment encourages the development of thinking include, but are not limited to, the following:Celebration of thinkingInstances of good thinking are celebrated at assembly. This may be an example of solving (or attempting to solve) a problem by an unusual method or it may be related to helping another student in some way. This is not necessarily the same as academic achievement.[GAP: How else is thinking celebrated in the school?]Thinking is physically displayedStudents are encouraged to bring ‘questions that make me wonder’ to school for display in the classroom or outside the school office. Open-ended logic problems and philosophical questions are regularly placed on the wall outside the office. Students respond to the open-ended problems by putting their answers into a box. The principal reports back to the students on assembly each week. One of the most active participants is the school groundsman! Classroom walls are adorned with philosophical questions, reflections, results from thoughtful discussion, attempts to solve open-ended problems, and the like. Signs promoting good thinking are placed around the school and classroom (eg ‘Don’t let your brain shrink, THINK!’) It is common to see small groups of students standing discussing them. This is seen in all rooms, from the Year One and Two rooms to the seniors in Year Seven.[GAP: more about how the physical environment of the school promotes good thinking?]Behaviour management and disputes proceduresBehaviour management does not follow the usual crime-and-punishment model. Students are expected to explain and justify their actions, understand the impact of their behaviour on others, and work with others to decide how to prevent a reoccurrence. Adults are expected to listen fairly and openly to students, and to help the student develop a plan of action in the event of similar circumstances arising again. This is not a negative, retributive process. It is done in the spirit of trying to help students learn to live with others in peace and harmony. As a result, Buranda State School has little or no bullying. The students will not allow it. At all times, but especially in times of dispute, students know they will always receive a fair and thoughtful hearing. Teachers will always make time and provide opportunities to listen to and discuss the views of all participants. Efforts are made to encourage children to see how the situation may appear to the other party, with the resolution often being that a ‘misunderstanding’ has occurred. This is extremely valuable for having children understand that outcomes or perceptions are not always as intended. Assessing and reportingTeachers gather assessment data and evidence of student work related to thinking, which is reported to parents. Examples include ‘Asks relevant questions’, ‘Consistent when developing points of view’, and ‘Able to express ideas coherently’. This requires the teacher to look carefully at how the student is operating, as opposed to whether the student is finding correct answers. Student learning in philosophy is reported to parents in writing twice a year (eg ‘is able to give relevant examples and counter-examples’).Classroom environmentClassrooms are set up so that students are able to work together in small groups. This encourages discussion among students about the work being undertaken, and thus gives children insight into how others think. It is not uncommon to walk into a classroom at Buranda State School and be unable to immediately find the teacher! During philosophy classes or class meetings, students sit in a circle in such a way that they can see every other person’s face and thus share their thinking effectively. Desks are deliberately and permanently set around the edges of the room so there is a space in the room for this to occur. At these times the teacher is part of the circle.The classroom environment reflects that of the whole school, where opportunities are presented that will encourage questioning, discussion, risk taking and problem solving. Competition between individuals is de-emphasised, with the focus being on trying to improve one’s own performance through trial and error. In general there is an atmosphere in classrooms and in the school of an excitement about what is possible, of what might be there to discover, and of having to keep searching and asking questions (“Could there really be a bunyip out there?”).[GAP: Are there other structures and practises in the school that encourage good thinking? Are there any other types of structure we could focus on – eg hiring practise?]School operationsStudents are encouraged to have thoughtful input to the running of the school. Students are involved in solving problems that affect them in the day-to-day operation of the school. Classes have regular class meetings. Issues raised can be brought to staff meetings for consideration. This is also a forum for students to raise general issues of concern related to the playground, and again require them to see and accept the perspectives of persons other than themselves.Students are encouraged to bring written proposals to the principal for tabling and consideration at staff meetings. They are expected to join with teachers to discuss pros and cons of such suggestions, and to help organise where possible. For example, a group of older students wanted the opportunity to play football against a neighbouring school. This led eventually to the inaugural ‘Buranda Cup’, which is now part of the school culture. Another example is the Year Seven boy who single-handedly organised the school’s contribution to the fundraiser ‘Shave for a Cure’. He liaised with the leukaemia foundation, wrote in the school newsletter, organised the local media, collected permission slips, distributed hair dye (for those who wanted to colour not shave their hair) and ultimately was responsible for the raising of several thousand dollars by the school towards leukaemia rm and involve the wider community in creating a thinking community.The relationship between the development of a thinking school and the wider school community is twofold. Firstly there is the extent to which the community is involved in the decision to become a thinking school, and their understanding of what it actually means. That is, their understanding of philosophy and the impact it could have on the thinking of their children, and their desire to have this happen in their school. This is important so that parents and community do not unintentionally undermine the development of thinking that happens in the school. Secondly, there is the extent to which the wider community contributes to the development of good thinking on the part of the students. If students are to see good thinking as valuable, they need to see how it impacts and is used in the wider world.As has been described, the decision to develop Buranda State School as a thinking school was made jointly by all teachers, with the unequivocal support of the school community, especially parents. This led to a clear, shared commitment for the development of a thinking school. This had the whole school community see that good thinking was the aim of Buranda.Opinions of the wider school community were sought in the environmental scan that was undertaken at the outset, with one parent commenting that the parents were ‘thrilled with this innovative, teacher-driven response to increasing the academic and personal skills of the children’. At all times the opinions of parents were sought and acted upon. When uncertainty arose among parents, as it occasionally did (‘Will you be teaching my child to question the law?’), a parent meeting would be arranged and a teacher released to talk to the parents about the teaching of philosophy.Some ways in which the wider school community is informed and involved includes:Whenever the critical friend comes to work with teachers and children, opportunities are offered for parents to observe lessons. These were, and are always popular.Parents have always been provided with regular opportunities to participate in philosophical communities of inquiry. These may be led by a visiting scholar, or may be teacher led. A state Member of Parliament, himself a one-time philosophy lecturer, has contributed to this activity. As a result, parents themselves develop something like the culture of thinking that is present in children’s classrooms.Parent evenings are held to inform parents of the teaching of philosophy and thinking. This includes showing the one hour CD that was produced to support the online course.Regular communities of inquiry are held at the local council library. These are often led and attended by teachers from Buranda State School.Students are given many opportunities to understand how the good thinking habits they learn at school can be used in the world beyond the classroom. They liaise with the council to discuss and make informed decisions about problems related to the health of the local waterway, they contact officers from the Environmental Protection Agency with relevant concerns, they write letters to the editor of the city newspaper, and they approach local members of parliament when necessary. One group presented a petition to the local MP, which was tabled in parliament and recorded in Hansard. Some ways in which the thinking of students is placed within the wider school community include:Buranda State School students are very involved in community issues. For example, the students have worked with the local council to revegetate the banks of the creek adjacent to the school grounds. The students researched what plants would have originally been in the area, then approached the council. The council provided the plants and the students did the planting. The council also took responsibility for planting areas such as steep banks which would have been unsafe for the children to do. In this way, the creek banks are now unrecognisable as those of a few years ago. Whilst activities such as this are taking place, the students in their philosophy classes are discussing questions such as ‘Is progress always a good thing?’ and ‘Does every creature have the right to a home?’.In philosophy classes, students discuss issues that affect communities (after first considering what constitutes a ‘community’). This enables them to see the thinking that occurs behind community decisions.Students are involved in many school based decisions that relate to them. This allows them to understand the thinking behind those decisions, even if the outcome may not be what they were hoping for.In the course of their curriculum work, students have many opportunities to ‘ask an expert’. Members of the wider community are invited to share their experiences and expertise with the children to help recognise the importance of clear and rigorous thinking. For example, students undertaking a task that required them to design, make and market a product, invited several ‘experts’ to help them understand the thinking needed for making the right decisions. The results were stunning.There would appear to be little doubt that Buranda State School has developed a culture of thinking, through the teaching of philosophy to all students. It could be described as ‘a thinking school’ (Golding, 2005). It is clear also that an extraordinary amount of commitment, energy and expertise has been expended to achieve this end. It has been well worth it.BIBLIOGRAPHYCosta, A. (1992) The School as Home for the Mind, Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education Dewey, John. (1996). Democracy and Education. New York: The Free Press (Originally published in 1916).Golding, C (2005) “Creating a Thinking School”, Designing a Thinking Curriculum, ed. Susan Wilkes, Revised edition, Melbourne: ACER PressGolding, C. (2005a) Developing a Thinking Classroom: A Workbook for Professional Learning Teams, Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow EducationHinton, L. (2003) ‘Reinventing a School’, Critical and Creative Thinking: The Australasian Journal of Philosophy in Schools, Vol 11, no. 2, p. 47-60.Ritchhart, R. (2002) Intellectual Character: What it is, Why it Matters, and How to Get it, San Francisco: Josey-Bass Sizer, T. (1992) Horace’s School. Redesigning the American High School. New York: Houghton Mifflin ................
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