CONNECTING

CLASSROOMS

Teaching critical thinking

and problem solving
Participant resources

www.britishcouncil.org
This project is part-funded with UK aid from the British people. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) pursues our national
interests and projects the UK as a force for good in the world. We promote the interests of British citizens, safeguard the UK’s security, defend
our values, reduce poverty and tackle global challenges with our international partners.
 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

1   Introduction to the programme

1.1  Learning outcomes

for participants

During this programme you will:

1 2 3 4 5
Receive an Explore Receive Identify Develop
internationally referenced practical opportunities leadership,
referenced evidence of examples of within your project
basic how CTPS can how to schools to management
theoretical be taught and develop CTPS develop and self-
understanding assessed. in your schools. CTPS skills. evaluation
of critical techniques to
thinking and embed CTPS in
problem solving your practice.
(CTPS).

These objectives relate to teaching practices used

by yourself as well as colleagues in your school,
within and beyond teaching the national curriculum.

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1.2  
Overview
and concepts
The structure of the training package is informed
by the following principles:
• CTPS should be taught in the context of
subject matter
• student experiences offer a way in to
complex concepts
• the teacher needs to make CTPS
strategies explicit
• in order to improve CTPS skills, students need
to practise, practise, practise.
Teachers will be exploring four key features of
CTPS and three foundational teaching strategies
that support the development of these skills.
The programme will focus on four key features
of CTPS:
• solving non-routine problems and questions
• considering different perspectives on issues
• evaluating evidence for and against
different positions
• understanding the deep structure of issues.
To develop these features of CTPS, three teaching
strategies will be practised:
• asking questions to develop deeper thinking
and check for understanding
• creating a learning environment that supports
critical thinking and problem solving
• providing systematic feedback and corrections.

Day one Day two School projects Day three

Session 1: Session 1: Session 1: Session 1:

Introduction to critical Evidence, part 2 Review Sharing lessons
thinking and problem learned from
solving (CTPS) Session 1: school projects
Evidence, part 2

Session 2: Session 2: Session 2: Session 2:

Different Non-routine problems, Review Deeper structures,
perspectives, part 1 part 1 part 1

Session 2:
Non-routine problems

Session 3: Session 3: Session 3: Session 3:

Different Non-routine problems, Review Deeper structures,
perspectives, part 2 part 2 part 2

Session 3:
Non-routine problems

Session 4: Session 4: Session 4: Session 4:

Evidence, part 1 Planning for Reflection Planning for further
school projects exploration of CTPS

90-minute sessions 90-minute sessions 60–90-minute 90-minute sessions

sessions

Given the suggested length of individual sessions during days one, two and three, training days may begin at
09.30 and finish at 17.00. Exact timings may be decided by the local organising team.

2 Teaching critical thinking and problem solving


Step-by-step guide to key learning
for participants
Pre-work
1. The importance of critical thinking and
problem solving.
2. Connect with your experiences of teaching
for CTPS: successes and challenges.
Day one: Introductory session
3. Getting to know the topic and each other.
4. What do we mean by CTPS? Review the
definition and its core aspects. Write down
your learning goal for the programme.
Day one: Different perspectives
5. What does it mean to consider different
perspectives?
6. Why is it important? The wallet activity.
7. How can it be taught?
8. Asking open questions, Syria child
example, video on questioning.
9. Designing an activity.
10. Practising the activity.
Day one: Assessing evidence
11. What does it mean? Awareness of human
development facts.
12. How can it be taught?
13. Providing effective feedback. Wiliam’s
suggestions. Video on specific feedback
(Austin’s butterfly).
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Day two: Assessing evidence (part 2)
14. Summary of learning from day one.
15. Designing an activity.
16. Practising the activity.
Day two: Non-routine problems
17. What does it mean? Sugar packets example.
18. How can it be taught? Is it possible to break
the law and do the right thing?
19. How can it be taught?
20. Designing an activity.
21. Practising the activity.
Day two: Action planning
22. Choosing a focus.
23. Creating an action plan.
In-school session
24. Plan, do review sessions.
25. Preparing to share.
Day three: Sharing session
26. Reflection and sharing.
Day three: Deep structure
27. What does it mean? Treasure hunter.
28. Why is it important?
29. How can it be taught? Attacking the fortress.
30. How can it be taught? Video of lesson
on electricity.
31. How can it be taught? Design an activity.
32. How can it be taught? Practising the activity.
3

1.2  
Up-front facilitator
guidance
Critical thinking has been a buzzword in education
for many years. Despite the importance of higher
order thinking skills, research evidence suggests that
most critical thinking programmes have had modest
benefits. Before beginning this programme we would
highly recommend reading Daniel Willingham’s article
Critical thinking: why is it so hard to teach? 1 It is
worth reflecting on Willingham’s main conclusions
and their implications:
1. Special programmes are not worth it.
Thinking critically should be taught in the
context of subject matter. Implication: try
to customise the content of this learning
programme, based on the subjects that your
participants teach. Use differentiation to get
participants working with colleagues who teach
a similar age group or subject. Get them to
engage with examples that are relevant to their
subjects. Get them to think about the relevance
of CTPS to their subjects.
2. Critical thinking is not just for advanced
students. Implication: try to get participants
to engage with evidence that all students
are capable of critical thinking. The key is
for teachers to understand when to use
critical thinking strategies and how to do it
successfully. Give them confidence to try
out critical thinking strategies.
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3. Student experiences offer a way in to complex
concepts. Implication: review the examples used
in these session materials and reflect on whether
they are appropriate for your audience. If not, use
different examples that connect better with the
experiences of your participants as a way in to
thinking critically about complex concepts.
4. To teach critical-thinking strategies, make
them explicit and practise them. Implication:
when covering the various CTPS strategies
during the learning programme, make the
strategies explicit. You can do this by thinking
aloud: ‘In the next 15 minutes, let us practise
how we could look at this issue from multiple
perspectives. I will be explicitly asking
questions, prompting you to consider various
perspectives.’ Also, make sure you convey the
message that CTPS cannot be learned quickly.
It takes lots of practice – not days or months,
but more likely over years.
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1.2.2  
Formative and summative
assessment for facilitators
Effective use of assessment will improve the quality • Drawing it: ask participants to draw what
of teaching and learning. Dylan Wiliam has reviewed they understand, instead of writing it.
research evidence about formative assessment and • Summative assessment: the goal
suggests five steps for teachers and facilitators: of summative assessment is to evaluate
• Clarifying, sharing and understanding learning participant learning at the end of the
intentions and criteria for success. programme by comparing it against
• Engineering classroom activities that elicit some standard or benchmark.
evidence of learning.
Summary of school project
• Providing feedback that moves learners forward.
A reflective summary written by the participant
• Activating students as instructional resources about incorporating CTPS in teaching and learning,
for one another. answering the following questions:
• Activating students as owners of their • What was the objective of my school project?
own learning. 2
• Which approaches to improving CTPS did I try?
Formative assessment • To what extent were the approaches
The goal of formative assessment is to monitor successful? Why?
participant learning to check for understanding and An example of a high-quality school project and a
provide continuing feedback, so that facilitators can rubric for assessment will be created.
improve their teaching and participants can improve
their learning.
We would suggest using the following formative
assessment methods:
• Asking clarifying questions: ask questions
of participants to clarify your understanding
of their thinking.
• Listening: have participants explain to you how
they know something is true. Try and see from
their explanations if they have misconceptions.
• Talking to each other: have participants
• discuss among themselves how they would solve
a particular question. As a facilitator, you should
walk around the room and listen to conversations.

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1.3  Formative assessment

for participants
Various formative assessment techniques will be
used to check participants’ understanding and
improve facilitators’ teaching and participants’
learning. For example, the following assessment
methods will be used:
Exit ticket: ask participants to respond to a
few simple questions before they leave the
session. The purpose is to check if they have
understood the key idea of the session. These
may be created as a multiple choice quiz or
questions with open text response. It should
take no longer than one minute for participants
to respond to exit tickets and no longer than
five to ten minutes for the facilitator to read all
the responses. Exit tickets should inform the
facilitator about misconceptions that some
participants still hold.
Self-assessment: after participants have finished
for the day, let them evaluate themselves using
the same matrix the facilitator uses. Discuss their
self-evaluation.
Three times summarisation: to check
understanding, ask participants to write three
different summaries. Each one requires a different
attention to details. After participants have written
the summaries, they can compare with a partner:
• One in 10–15 words.
• One in 30–50 words.
• One in 75–100 words. 3
1.4  Glossary
of terms
Critical thinking: self-directed thinking that
produces new and innovative ideas and solves
problems. Reflecting critically on learning
experiences and processes, and making effective
decisions by avoiding common pitfalls, for example
seeing only one side of an issue, discounting new
evidence that disconfirms your ideas, reasoning from
passion rather than logic, and failing to support
statements with evidence.
Problem solving: wherever you have a goal that
is blocked for any reason – lack of resources, lack
of information and so on – you have a problem.
Whatever you do in order to achieve your goal is
problem solving. 4
Routine problems: routine problems can
be solved using methods familiar to students
by replicating previously learned methods in
a step-by-step fashion. 5
Non-routine problems: non-routine problems
are problems for ‘which there is not a predictable,
well-rehearsed approach or pathway explicitly
suggested by the task, task instructions or a
worked-out example’. 6

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2   Preparing for the programme
2.1  
Pre-reading: What is the importance
of critical thinking and problem solving?
Adapted from Education to Employment, a 2013
report by McKinsey Center for Government,
retrieved from the McKinsey website. 7
In Japan, an estimated 700,000 young people
have withdrawn from society, rarely leaving
home. In North Africa, restless youth were
leading the demonstrations that overturned
governments in Egypt and Tunisia. In the United
States, the economy has affected young people
so badly that there is even a television show,
Underemployed, about a group of 20-30-year-
old college graduates forced into dead-end or
unpaid jobs.
These examples hint at two related global
crises: high levels of youth unemployment
and a shortage of people with critical job
skills. Leaders everywhere are aware of the
possible consequences, in the form of social
and economic distress, when too many
young people believe that their futures are
compromised. Still, governments have
struggled to develop effective responses –
or even to define what they need to know.
Worldwide, young people are three times more
likely than their parents to be out of work. In
Greece, Spain and South Africa, more than half
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of young people are unemployed, and jobless
levels of 25 per cent or more are common in
Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa.
In the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) countries, more than
one in eight of all 15- to 24-year-olds are not
in employment, education or training (NEET).
Around the world, the International Labour
Organization estimates that 75 million young
people are unemployed. Including estimates of
underemployed youth would potentially triple
this number. This represents not just a gigantic
pool of untapped talent; it is also a source of
social unrest and individual despair.
Paradoxically, there is a critical skills shortage
at the same time. Across the nine countries that
are the focus of the report (Brazil, Germany,
India, Mexico, Morocco, Turkey, Saudi Arabia,
the United Kingdom and the United States),
only 43 per cent of employers surveyed agreed
that they could find enough skilled entry-
level workers. This problem is not likely to be
temporary; in fact, it will probably get much
worse. We estimate that by 2020 there will be
a global shortfall of 85 million high- and middle-
skilled workers.
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Questions for reflection But we do not do enough to encourage critical

• What sort of knowledge, skills and attributes
do young people need most?
• What is the importance of critical thinking
and problem solving?
An extract from Viewpoints: How should
radicalisation be tackled? Published on the BBC
News website 8 on 29 May 2013.
By Dr Brooke Rogers, senior lecturer at
King’s College London
Some members of the public may hear about
extremist acts and want to do something about
radicalisation – and they can.
People can engage in volunteering and
mentoring schemes or get employment in
a non-governmental organisation. They can
help make vulnerable individuals become
part of a group.
thinking in young people. Many undergraduate
students are very good at regurgitating
information, but in terms of challenging an
argument, or knowing where to look for
information to make a challenge, we are lacking.
So if you give young people the critical-thinking
skills in the first place, they will be less
vulnerable to extreme views.
Question for reflection
• What is the importance of critical thinking
and problem solving in the context of social
challenges in our country?

2.2  Reflection: What are

your experiences of
teaching critical thinking
and problem solving?
Please think about the following questions before the
training programme:
• Why is it important for your students to learn
critical thinking and problem solving?
• Have you been able to teach critical thinking and
problem solving to your students? In what way?
• What are the best opportunities to teach
critical thinking and problem solving within
your curriculum?
If you are joining the programme with another
colleague from your school, please discuss these
questions with them when preparing for the
training days.

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DAY ONE
3
 
Introductory session
Duration: 90 minutes

Learning outcomes Student actions:

In this session you will learn about:
• what it means for students to learn critical
thinking and problem solving
• what it means for teachers to teach critical
thinking and problem solving
• the structure of this learning programme.
1) Considers different perspectives
• Looks at an issue from many sides
• Considers the positives and negatives of
different perspectives
• Is open to other perspectives that are different
from their own

Success criteria 2) Assesses evidence

In order to meet the learning objectives, you will:
• share with the group your previous experience
with CTPS, and listen to others’
• consider different definitions of CTPS, and how
they relate to what you teach
• consider evidence on why CTPS is important
in the context of your country
• write your personal learning objectives for
the programme.
• Gathers relevant evidence
• Assesses the strength of the evidence
• Is open to new evidence, whether or not it
supports previous beliefs
3) Solves non-routine problems
• Clarifies the problem by exploring the goal and
analysing data
• Generates many ideas as potential solutions
• Selects the best solution and implements it

3.1
4) Understands the underlying idea of issues
 Introduction to the
• Seeks to understand the underlying idea that
topic, getting to know goes beyond specific examples
each other • Explains the underlying idea in their own words
Suggested time: 20 minutes • Applies the underlying principle to new examples
Focus on these student actions and write down
one or two sentences in response to each of the

3.2
following questions:
 What do we mean by
critical thinking and 1. Why is it important for students to learn
these skills?
problem solving?
2. How do these skills help students to be
Suggested time: 40 minutes successful in your subject(s)?

Although critical thinking has been a popular theme 3. Are there any good examples where your
in education for a long time, there is no consensus on students have recently demonstrated these
how to define it. In the next part of the session we will skills? Please describe these to your colleagues.
explore the core aspects of a possible definition.

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Teacher actions Suggested time: 30 minutes

1) Asks good questions Consider two definitions of critical thinking and
• Prepares a variety of questions that require problem solving: a classic definition by John Dewey
in-depth thinking and analysis and a contemporary definition by the British Council.
• Uses student answers to as a start for further Think about the meaning of these definitions and
probing questions how they would apply to your students.
• Involves other students in a discussion after one In your opinion, which key words are most important
student has given an answer in each definition and why?
2) Provides effective feedback Think about how these definitions apply to your
• Provides feedback that is focused on the task, students. Imagine your classroom six months from
not the person now. What would you see or hear that would give you
confidence that your students have improved their
• Focuses feedback on smaller aspects of the task
ability to think critically and solve problems? Please
• Includes goals for the student on what to do next write down the scenario or draw a picture of it.
3) Creates a learning environment that Share the future pictures or stories of your classroom
supports critical thinking and problem solving with colleagues at your table.
• Encourages students to freely express their
opinions and ask questions
• Uses student experiences as a way to begin
exploring complex ideas
• Regularly makes critical thinking visible, for
example by saying, ‘now we will explore this
issue from another perspective’
Now focus on the teacher actions and read through
the following three questions in preparation for a
think-pair-share exercise
1. Which of these techniques do you already
practice?
2. Which of these techniques do you find most
difficult? Why?
3. Which of these would you like to learn about
over the next few days? Why?
At the end of this activity please write down your
individual learning goal for the training programme.

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DAY ONE
4
 
Considering different perspectives (part 1)
Duration: 90 minutes

4.1  What does it mean

Being able to consider different perspectives is
one of the key features of critical thinking and
problem solving. People often look at an issue from
to consider different
just one side. For example, we are used to looking perspectives?
at historical events through the eyes of the political
Suggested time: 30 minutes
and economic elite, as most historical texts are
written from their perspective.
Example 1: An illusion
As educators, it is our role to make this critical
thinking strategy explicit, so students are aware
they are learning to look at issues from multiple
perspectives. The best way for students to master
this feature of critical thinking is to practise it.
Teachers can help by preparing lessons that enable
questions to be looked at from multiple perspectives
and by asking lots of good, open questions. This is
what we will be exploring in this session.

Learning outcomes
In this session you will learn about:
• what it means to consider different perspectives
• why it is important
• how it can be taught.

Success criteria
In order to meet the learning objectives, you will:
• participate in activities that require exploring
different perspectives
• review various examples of how this is applied
in lessons
• plan and practise an activity that you can use
in your school.

What do you see here?

Questions to consider
• Why did some people see an old woman and
others a young woman, some an eagle and
others a beaver? Is there a correct way to see
the picture?
• What did you feel when you discovered the
other aspect of the picture?
• Do you think that people see situations in
different ways? If so, how can they come to a
common understanding and resolve conflicts?

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Example 2: Surprising perspectives on

social issues

On your table, pick one of the following issues to

discuss. Start by using the prompt questions below.

First issue: wealthy, but hungry.

• On the one hand, the United States is the world’s
largest economy.
• But 15 per cent of the population – 48 million
children and adults in total – go hungry in the US.

Second issue: good and bad effects

of deforestation.
• On the one hand, deforestation may bring about
short-term economic benefit. For example,
forestry and logging contributed 1.3 billion
shillings to the Kenyan economy in 2010.
• But the negative environmental and economic
impact can be far greater. In Kenya, deforestation
has, for example, caused a reduction in dry-
season river flows, reducing agricultural output
by 2.6 billion shillings in 2010.

Third issue: tasty, but unhealthy.

• On the one hand, sugary drinks taste good
and are very popular. An average person across
the world drinks 85 (230 ml) cans of Coca Cola
per year.
• However, obesity has more than doubled
worldwide since 1980. Sugary drinks have been
a major contributor.

Questions to discuss
• Were you surprised by seeing different
perspectives on this issue?
• Do you think most people are equally aware of
the different sides?
• Should there be more awareness of different
perspectives on these issues? Why?

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DAY ONE
4.2  Why is it important? Design a wallet activity
This activity is an adapted version of an activity
created by the Design School at Stanford University.
Suggested time: 30 minutes The aim is to introduce people to a way of thinking
about a design in which the different needs of the
end user are catered for, and in which the solutions
reflect these needs. In other words, we could say that
the right solutions are informed by the perspectives
of the user. Just like end users have different needs
that the activity brings to the forefront, this activity
will help highlight the different perspectives that
people have.

What does your ideal wallet look like?

Take a few minutes to sketch an ideal wallet for
yourself, keeping in mind the colour, material, shape,
size and the different things it will be used for. Your
facilitator will then guide you through the exercise.

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Debrief
• What did the activity teach you about different
perspectives?
• What are perspectives shaped by?
• What did you feel when someone had a
different viewpoint?
• Is it necessary for everyone to view something
the same way?
• How did someone else’s perspectives change
yours? Which design elements did you borrow
from someone else?
• What did we learn from this activity that can be
used in our classrooms?
4.3  
How can it be taught?
Reviewing a lesson plan
Suggested time: 30 minutes
Case study of One Acre Fund
Robert Tigarya is 30 years old and he has always
been passionate about farming. Many of his friends
left their native village of Lulyambuzi, Uganda, to look
for a job in a city. Robert remained in the village and
wanted to become a successful farmer.
A few years ago, he was close to giving up. ‘I know
I have a responsibility to provide for my family. My
children are very important to me, and I get very sad
if I’m not able to provide enough for them,’ Robert
says. Most years, his harvest would only last for
about four months, and without food he would have
to borrow from neighbours and shop owners. Then
one of his friends told him about One Acre Fund, an
organisation that worked with farmers in his village.
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One Acre Fund provided Robert with credit in the
form of hybrid maize seed and fertilizer. These
were delivered to his village and for the first time
in his life, Robert planted with hybrid seed and
fertilizer. In training conducted by One Acre Fund
staff, Robert learned how to use fertilizers using a
microdosing technique.
This season, the harvest filled Robert’s entire house.
‘This harvest is amazing – I’m at a loss for words to
explain it. I’m even worried I might not have enough
space to store it in my house!’ Robert laughs. Now he
is able to feed his family and sell the surplus produce
at market. Recently, he sold part of his harvest and
was able to buy a motorcycle. This makes it easier for
Robert to get around and he can also earn money
from transporting other people.
In the future, Robert is hoping to buy a cow, plaster
the walls of his house and buy more land. ‘I now know
farming can be a business,’ Robert smiles.
How is One Acre Fund’s model unique?
It combines four components:
1. Providing farm inputs on credit – without One
Acre Fund, many farmers lack access to loans
to buy high quality seeds and fertilizers.
2. Delivery – in rural areas, distances are vast
and transportation is often undeveloped, so
seeds and fertilizers need to be delivered to
local villages.
3. Training – without proper training, improved
seeds and fertilizers are largely ineffective.
4. Harvest sales – in rural areas, often there are no
markets; One Acre Fund has set up 800 local
markets within walking distance for people, so
they can sell their products and earn an income.
In 2017, One Acre Fund served more than 600,000
farm families in six countries.
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DAY ONE
5   Considering different perspectives (part 2)

5.1  
How can it be taught?
Asking open questions
Suggested time: 30 minutes
Questioning is an important technique to make
teaching and learning an interactive process.
Well-crafted questions offer an insight into students’
understanding or misunderstandings and offer a
chance for teachers to change their instruction
to suit the needs of the child. There are different
types of questions and models available for use with
students in the classroom. We will focus on two types
of question that are simple to understand and use,
yet offer a profound insight into the learning levels
of students.
Below is a photo of a boy in Syria. Here are
some basic facts about the conflict in Syria
(as of March 2015):
• More than 200,000 Syrians have lost their lives
in four years of armed conflict, which began with
anti-government protests before escalating into
a full-scale civil war.
• More than 11 million others have been forced
from their homes as forces loyal to President
Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule
battle each other – as well as jihadist militants
from Islamic State.
Please have a think and list some closed and open
questions about this photo. 10
After three or four minutes, we’ll share some of the
questions with the group.

There are two types of questions:

Closed questions are those that have only one
correct answer.
Open questions are those that have several different

Creative Commons © Freedom House/Flickr

answers that can be correct.
Typically, the answer to a closed question will
be a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response or maybe just a few
words. Open questions, on the other hand, require
greater elaboration.

Quick activity
Please list three questions on a topic you are
currently teaching or have recently taught in class,
you can choose any subject and have two minutes
to list the questions that come to mind.
Once the time is up, please share these questions
with the group.

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Closed and open questions have different levels of As you’re watching the video:
complexity, so remember to check the understanding
• make a note of how the teacher is encouraging
of students at different levels. Is the student able
students to explore an issue from multiple
to correctly remember facts and understand them
perspectives
in a way that enables them to form and analyse
opinions? The kind of questions we ask very often • write down the sorts of open and closed
do not allow students to think deeply about their questions being asked.
responses. Closed questions serve the purpose of
keeping all children engaged and hence can be used
in a differentiated classroom. However, all students
are capable of higher order questioning because
in the case of questions that do not seek to assess
factual knowledge, there is no one correct answer.
The following video – on Analysing Perspectives
through Primary Sources, Part 1 – has been created
by EL Education. 9 In the video, the teacher is
encouraging students to become precise and critical
readers of primary sources.

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DAY ONE
5.2  
How can it be taught?
Designing an activity
Suggested time: 30 minutes
Choose a topic that interests you and a class you
are working with. Using the space below design an
activity that will encourage your students to consider
different perspectives on a given issue.

Teacher handout
Year/grade: Subject:

Objective: Students will consider different perspectives using the text/activity/poster/video.

Materials:

Duration:

Opening:

Session flow:

Closing:

Questions:

Homework:

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Suggested time: 20 minutes

For the next part of the session, please use the
activity you have just designed. Working in pairs,
each of you will have ten minutes to teach a mini-
lesson to your partner on the topic you have just
picked. The purpose is to practise how you can
ask open questions so your students consider
multiple perspectives.
When you’ve both had a chance to practise, debrief
using the following questions:
• What went well?
• What would you change when teaching this
lesson to your students?
• What additional perspectives could you get your
students to think about?

5.4  Summary

Suggested time: 10 minutes

The final part of the session is an opportunity
for all participants to raise any questions, issues
or concerns they may have about the topic of
different perspectives

18 Teaching critical thinking and problem solving

 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

DAY ONE
6
 
Assessing evidence (part 1)
Duration: 90 minutes

6.1  
Introduction to
Evidence is data on which one can base one’s
judgements or decisions. Gathering and evaluating
assessing evidence
evidence is an important feature of critical thinking.
Two mistakes are quite common. First, people Duration: 45 minutes
sometimes base their views or decisions on no
evidence or incorrect evidence. Second, there is a Activity: Awareness of human
tendency to dismiss evidence that conflicts with our
development facts
pre-existing views. In this session, we will consider
how to teach our students about gathering and • How did deaths per year from natural disasters
assessing evidence. change in the last century?
Learning outcomes a. More than doubled.
In this session you will learn about: b. Remained unchanged.
c. Almost halved.
• what it means to gather and assess evidence
• Women aged 30 spent how many years in school
• why it is important
on average? (Men of the same age spent around
• how it can be taught. eight years.)
Success criteria a. Seven years.
In order to meet the learning objectives, you will: b. Five years.
c. Three years.
• participate in activities that require assessment
of evidence • Over the past 20 years, the percentage of
people living in extreme poverty has
• review an example of how to teach students to
assess evidence a. Almost doubled.
• plan an activity that you can use in your school b. Remained the same.
c. Almost halved.
For more information on these questions and some
background knowledge, have a look at the TED talk,
10 How not to be ignorant about the world, by Hans
Rosling and Ola Rosling.

Further reading
Some interesting background reading on how we
ignore evidence when it does not fit in with our
beliefs, thus taking a stand that can no longer be
tested, can be found in Why People Fly From Facts
from The Scientific American.11

Teaching critical thinking and problem solving 19


6.2   H
 ow can it be taught?
Review a case study
Suggested time: 45 minutes
Please read the following case study.
School case study on critical thinking
• School name: Durban Girls’ High School
(DGHS)
• City/town: Glenwood, Durban
• Country: South Africa
• School background: DGHS is a public
secondary school for girls, founded in
1882 and with a tradition of achievement.
It occupies a suburban setting and has
over 1,200 pupils.
Why we wanted to improve core skills
• Teaching good citizenship is more than
ever necessary in today’s world. Prejudice
is a universal issue that affects all people
and we all need to be more critically and
consciously aware of our attitudes and
behaviours towards others.
• We wanted our pupils to use their critical
thinking and problem solving skills to develop
a critical awareness of the different types of
prejudice evident in their communities, in South
Africa, and around the world. We wanted them
to become more aware of how they may –
even if unintentionally – judge people unfairly,
based on preconceptions. The next step was
for the pupils to develop their own strategies
to promote good citizenship, and implement
practical conflict resolution in their own lives.
20
PARTICIPANT RESOURCES
What we did
We pursued three key activities, involving 30
Year 10 pupils.
First, the girls worked to identify, describe, and
discuss different types of prejudice that they
perceived in their communities, South Africa
and the world. They used mind-maps as an
analytical tool and collaborated in groups to
consider why it is important to resolve conflict
and prejudice, and to identify ways in which this
might be done, finally bringing their ideas back
to the class for further discussion.
Each group then created a poster designed
to develop awareness and change perspectives
about different prejudices based on either
race, gender, refugees, sexual orientation,
class or disability. These posters were then
peer-assessed to determine their effectiveness.
The girls encouraged each other and provided
constructive feedback.
The pupils then identified and critically analysed
prejudice in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a
Mockingbird, their literature study. Pupils
identified examples of prejudice and conflict,
including discriminatory language, and their
impact. They analysed the behaviour and
attitudes of prejudiced characters in the novel
as examples of poor citizenship. They identified
those characters in the novel who worked to
resolve prejudice, examining the principles they
applied and the virtues they embodied.
Additionally, the pupils researched a current
real-world example of prejudice, using sources
including the internet, printed articles and video
clips. They used their analyses of both the novel
and the contemporary sources to respond to a
letter addressed to them from a writer
‘concerned about prejudice’.
Finally, the pupils had to imagine themselves
as the jurors at the book’s fictional trial of
Tom Robinson. This required them to critically
evaluate and question the evidence presented
in order to reach their own verdict. Each girl had
to construct an argument to persuade the other
jurors to support their view, taking into account
the need to deal with extreme prejudices.
Teaching critical thinking and problem solving
 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

DAY ONE
What we have achieved so far What we plan to do in the future
There was clear buy-in from the pupils, who The project will be repeated, starting earlier in
described the learning as fun and relevant. They the school year, with fine-tuning of activities and
became more conscious of how learning and assessment tasks, and involving more teachers
ideas extend beyond the classroom to real life. in its planning. We want to develop a community
They learned about being good citizens and of practice.
how to treat others with respect.
Similar methods will be applied to understanding
The girls recognised the importance of sharing the experiences and historical significance of
ideas and listening to others to find effective Nelson Mandela, and his policy of forgiveness
solutions. They shared their ideas confidently and reconciliation. We also plan to build a
and enthusiastically, as they had created a project around the theme of South African
safe environment founded on mutual trust sport, both as a route to nation-building and
and teamwork. inclusion, as well as the issues that might arise.
The group work provided a platform for debate
and careful consideration of evidence to inform Questions for reflection
decisions about how to bring about changes
• How did this school encourage students to
in attitudes. The girls’ posters showcased their
consider evidence to inform their decisions?
creativity and were relevant, eye-catching,
and thought-provoking. Their mind-maps • What do you like about the approach they
indicated their thorough consideration of the have used?
topic, including the different forms of prejudice • Would you like to use similar ideas or approaches
and the ways in which it is explicitly or in your school?
implicitly expressed.
The pupils’ letters written in reply to ‘concerned
about prejudice’ showed sincere empathy, and
that they had a clear understanding of why it
is necessary to role-model good citizenship
and to create a world of tolerance, respect and
genuine social acceptance of all.
Our teaching became more facilitative and
learner-centred, as the girls were encouraged
to contribute constructively to their own
learning process. Lesson planning required
careful thought to ensure that problem-solving
skills such as considering different perspectives
and evaluating evidence would be practised
effectively, and that the tasks would be relevant
to contemporary life.
The project facilitated our pupils’ preparation for
exams, as they had actively engaged with a text
and had achieved a deeper understanding of its
themes, characters and plot. It will also benefit
them in the future, as it has provided them with
skills to engage more deeply and critically with
other texts.

Teaching critical thinking and problem solving 21


7   Assessing evidence (part 2)
7.1   Providing effective
  feedback
Suggested time: 30 minutes
If we want our students to become better critical
thinkers and problem solvers, then one of the
most important teaching strategies is providing
effective feedback.
The most common way in which students receive
feedback is through formal assessments where they
are told whether their responses are right or wrong.
However, feedback is more effective when it is more
elaborate than just whether the final answer is
correct or incorrect.
Ineffective When focused on the person.
feedback Example: I can see that you are
very hardworking.
Effective When focused on the task. Example:
feedback the method to check for evidence is
to read what is written in the passage.
Most When focused on smaller aspects of
effective the task with the addition of goals.
feedback Example: to solve this problem your
aim should be to create a table with
two sides listing what you know and
what you still need to find out. Hence,
read the question again, identify
information that is listed in the
problem, and find out what the
information is that you are seeking.
22
PARTICIPANT RESOURCES
Additional suggestions to consider
• Provide feedback in manageable units but do
not make it too simple.
• Ensure that the feedback is not so detailed
and specific that the student has no thinking
left to do.
• Immediate feedback is effective when the
student is learning a procedure for the first time.
• Delayed feedback is effective when a certain
degree of mastery has been acquired and
the student wants to transfer that learning to
another context.
• What sort of questions do you have about how
to provide effective feedback?
In the video what do you notice that is consistent
with the findings on feedback? 12
Questions for reflection
• What kind of feedback was most helpful
to Austin?
• What are your reflections on how the quality of
Austin’s work improved through multiple drafts?
Further reading
For further information about feedback it would
be useful to look at the work of Dylan Wiliam. For a
detailed summary of his recommendations, see the
OECD publication The Nature of Learning.13
Teaching critical thinking and problem solving

7.2   Designing an activity
Suggested time: 30 minutes
This section involves developing activities that will be
used in the classroom. Think of a topic you are going
to be teaching this week or one you have recently
taught. Alternatively, you could choose the topic you
are most comfortable teaching. Consider how your
students can work with one or more sources (for
example, texts, pictures and/or videos) to assess
evidence. You can use any of the examples shared
during the sessions on evidence and feedback to
help you create an activity of your own.
Year/grade:
Objective: students will gather and assess evidence for their views using relevant text/activity/poster/video
Materials:
Duration:
Opening:
Session flow:
Closing:
Questions:
Homework:
Teaching critical thinking and problem solving
PARTICIPANT RESOURCES
7.3   Practising the activity
Suggested time: 20 minutes
You will now have the opportunity to practise
both delivering your lesson and giving appropriate
feedback. Working in pairs take three to five minutes
to give an outline of the lesson and the strategies
you will be using to get students to assess evidence
effectively, then run through the key points of the
lesson briefly as if you were teaching it. Your partner
will then ask questions based on this and practise
providing effective feedback. Once you are done,
DAY TWO
swap roles so your partner can deliver their lesson
and you can provide feedback.
Subject:
23
 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

8
 
Non-routine problems (part 1)
Duration: 90 minutes

Learning outcomes Act one of the lesson

In this session you will learn about:
• what it means to solve non-routine problems
• why it is important
• how it can be taught.
Success criteria
In order to meet the learning objectives, you will:
• participate in an activity solving a non-
routine problem
• review various examples of how to teach non-
routine problem solving
• plan an activity that you can use in your school.
1. How many packets of sugar do you think are
inside a standard bottle of fizzy drink? (The video
refers to 20-oz bottles of fizzy drink, but you can
think about the standard size in your country,
whether it is 500ml, 325ml or something else.)
2. Guess as close as you can.
3. Give an answer you know is too high.
4. Give an answer you know is too low.
Act two of the lesson
1. What information will you need to solve the
problem?
– The sugar content of a 20-oz bottle of
fizzy drink.
– The sugar content of a packet of sugar.

8.1  What does it mean

to solve non-routine
problems?
Act three of the lesson
The answer can be found at the mrmeyer.com
website.
Suggested time: 45 minutes Sequel (optional)
1. What kind of food is equivalent to 50 packets
Non-routine problems are ones where students
of sugar?
are asked to use their existing knowledge and skills
to solve a problem or answer a question without The resources for this activity can be found at
knowing exactly how to solve it. mrmeyer.com website. 15
As an example you will be asked some non-routine
questions in the form of a brief lesson after you have
watched the video.14

24 Teaching critical thinking and problem solving


Debrief
• What did you think about this problem? Was
it interesting? Was it easy or difficult? Why?
• Do you think your students would find this
interesting? Would it be easy or difficult for
them? Why?
Definition of routine and non-routine questions
Routine questions can be answered or solved using
methods familiar to students by replicating previously
learned steps in a process.
Non-routine questions are those for ‘which there is
not a predictable, well-rehearsed approach or
pathway explicitly suggested by the task, task
instructions or a worked-out example.’ 16
Learning to solve non-routine problems is important
for many reasons. For example, rapid technological
change means that jobs involving routine skills are
more likely to be replaced by technology. A recent
policy brief by the OECD highlights that demand for
routine skills in countries such as the United Kingdom
and Germany declined by about 20% between 1995
and 2010. 17
Here is another maths question.
‘There are ten people in the room and everyone
shakes hands with everyone else. How many
handshakes occur?’ Whether this is a routine or a
non-routine question depends on the student. A
student who is familiar with algebra might easily know
how to solve this while another who is only beginning
to learn algebra might not yet have the knowledge.
Teaching critical thinking and problem solving
PARTICIPANT RESOURCES
There are several ways to solve this question, as
explained on the Math Forum website. 18
Please think about an example in your own subject of
a question that might be routine to one student, but
non-routine to another. Share it with others in your
group and explain why you think the same question
is non-routine to one and routine to another student.
Now think about non-routine problems in life. With
other people at your table, please come up with 20
examples of problems you have encountered in your
life (as a teacher or outside work) where there was
no obvious solution to the question or problem.
DAY TWO
8.2
  How can it be taught?
Suggested time: 45 minutes
Let’s look at an example of using non-routine
problems and questions in learning.
Example: Is it possible to break the law
and do the right thing?
Watch the short video (two minutes) of a teacher
describing the importance of critical thinking for
his students. 19
Questions to consider when watching
the video
What sort of non-routine questions is the teacher
asking? What makes you think these questions are
non-routine for these students?
25
 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

9
 

Non-routine problems (part 2)

9.1   H
 ow can it be taught?
Let us remind ourselves of the key ideas about
non-routine problem solving:
Creating a learning
• Non-routine questions are those for ‘which there environment that
is not a predictable, well-rehearsed approach or
supports problem solving
pathway explicitly suggested by the task, task
instructions or a worked-out example’. Suggested time: 20 minutes
• Learning to solve non-routine problems is
The video shows teachers supporting the problem
important because many routine jobs are more
solving process in their classrooms. The video was
likely to be replaced by technology.
originally published in 2015 © Edutopia.org; George
• There are many different ways in which non- Lucas Educational Foundation. 20
routine questions can be used in primary and
secondary classrooms, for example a maths Questions for discussion after watching
lesson about how much sugar there is in a typical the video
fizzy drink, a project where students figure out What aspects of this learning environment support
which career they want to pursue and plan their students to think critically and solve problems?
personal budgets, or an example where students
solve a genuine problem in their community, such
as educating illiterate people.
In the second part of the session on non-routine
problems, we will consider how to apply these ideas
in the context of what we are teaching.

26 Teaching critical thinking and problem solving

 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

9.2  
How can it be taught? Working in pairs, please come up with one learning
activity you can use with your students in the next
Designing an activity two weeks, that supports the students’ ability to solve
Suggested time: 30 minutes non-routine problems. Please keep in mind that in
order to do this, students need to already have the
Let us remind ourselves once again of the definition relevant background knowledge about the topic so
of non-routine problems: they can focus on the application of the knowledge
Non-routine problems and questions are those for in a new situation.
‘which there is not a predictable, well-rehearsed Please use the following activity template (adapted
approach or pathway explicitly suggested by the from the template by OER4 Schools). 21
task, task instructions or a worked-out example’.

DAY TWO
What is the non-problem for students to solve?

Year/grade

Subject

Lesson topic

What is the (learning) objective of the activity?

Resources used

How is the activity carried out? Write out all the steps in detail.

Teaching critical thinking and problem solving 27

 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

9.3  
How can it be taught?
Practising the activity 9.4  Summary

Suggested time: 30 minutes Suggested time: 10 minutes

The final part of this session involves some practice The final part of the session is an opportunity
and group work. for participants to raise any questions, issues or
concerns they may have about the topic of non-
Each of you will have ten minutes to present the
routine problem solving.
non-routine problem you have come up with to the
other person.

Questions to discuss
• What sort of support do you need to provide
your students so that they can effectively work
on the non-routine problem?

28 Teaching critical thinking and problem solving


10
 
Planning for implementation
Learning outcomes
In this session you will learn about:
• the importance of prioritising actions
• identifying actions that meet identified needs
• clever planning for effective outcomes through
lasting change.
Success criteria
In order to meet the learning objectives, you will:
• share, discuss and challenge your ideas with
colleagues in order to identify the most effective
interventions to improve pupil outcomes
• identify needs and challenges from a range
of stakeholder perspectives to ensure that the
innovations planned are relevant and valued
by colleagues
• create an appropriately detailed and contextually
relevant action plan to support your actions and
provide useful feedback on progress and impact
on learning outcomes for pupils.
Teaching critical thinking and problem solving
PARTICIPANT RESOURCES
10.1  Choosing a focus
 
Duration: 120 minutes
Having been through this core skill, it is likely that
you have an idea or two of how you want to effect
change within your school.
DAY TWO
Your facilitator will now take you through a thinking
framework (Resource sheet 1) where you will work
on your own, in pairs and in groups to help you
create possible projects to take back to school to
finalise with colleagues.
1. Focus for a few minutes on your own. Start with
the skills you want to promote and devise a
project or a programme of work that will give
your students the reason and opportunity to use
and develop these skills.
2. For ten minutes, with a partner, share what is
already happening or has happened in the
past, and look for the opportunities to extend
and adapt these activities so your students and
teachers are able to put to use some of the
skills we have discussed.
3. Why? For ten minutes, with a different partner,
consider what needs to change in this area. What
do you want students to be able to do better?
4. How? For ten minutes on your own, consider
how the past has contributed to the need for
change. How is the focus currently developed
by students, staff and the school?
5. What? For ten minutes with a thinking
partner, consider three different ideas under
the categories:
a. Tomorrow in the classroom
b. Throughout the year
c. Across the school
6. Take turns in a group of four, with about ten
minutes each, to share the three ideas and
help each other consider the four headings
for each idea:
– Why? How? Who? When?
29
 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

Resource sheet 1

Action planning and review templates

Focus What specific skill/s, disposition or aptitude do you want to focus on?

Why What needs to change in this area? What do you want students to be able to do better?

How How has the past contributed to the need for change? How is the focus currently
developed by students, staff and the school?

How might barriers be mitigated? What hesitations might others have?

What Idea Why How Who When

Tomorrow in
the classroom

Throughout
the year

Across the school

30 Teaching critical thinking and problem solving

 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

11
 
Between day two and day three:
Plan, do, review

First review Second review Third review Reflection

In general, how is
the focus going?
What have you
noticed? What
patterns are
emerging?

Core skills
additional stimulus?

In what way is it
affecting learning
and students?

SCHOOL PROJECTS
In what way is it
affecting teaching
and teachers?

How could it
be better?

What are your next

steps before the
next review?

Teaching critical thinking and problem solving 31


11.1  Just before day three:
  Preparing to share
After you have completed the final review you may
want to use the structure below to help you write
notes in order to present your findings for day three.
Suggested case-study structure
1. What was the focus? (Keep it brief.) Three brief
points to introduce with.
a. What were you interested in finding out and
where did it come from?
b. What did you want to change?
c. What was your chosen solution or approach?
2. What could other schools learn from you and use
or adapt in their own setting?
a. List the three or four main things that other
teachers need to take away from the case
study. List them as headlines or statements.
You can return to this part at the end if it
is easier.
3. Who was involved?
a. General information such as the name,
location and size of the school, and the staff
and students involved.
b. Who was involved? Job roles and
descriptions, not personal names or overly
technical terms. This can be a simple
bullet list.
c. If partners other than the school were
involved, make it clear who did what.
4. What were the challenges to your proposed
actions and interventions and how were
they tackled?
a. List the issues the focus sought to address,
keeping to a maximum of six.
b. Follow each point with a note of the
challenges faced and account of how the
challenges were tackled.
c. As a result of facing the challenges, what
changes occurred.
32
PARTICIPANT RESOURCES
5. What were the outcomes and impact?
(Go into depth.)
a. Ensure that there is a clear before and after.
b. What made the real difference?
c. Provide a real-life example.
d. Ensure key success factors are spelled out.
6. What could we have done better?
a. If it was repeated, what would be
done differently?
b. If there was more time, what might have
been achieved?
c. If there was less time, what could be
focused on?
7. Where might you go next?
a. Where could you go from here?
b. What is your immediate next step in order
to keep momentum?
c. If you had all the money and resources in
the world, what would you do next?
8. Where could others find out more?
One of the most important aspects of a case study is
that it gives other people in the sector a contact to
share information with. Please provide the details of:
a. Someone from your organisation who knows
the project in question, and who can field the
odd informal enquiry, give their name,
position, email address and telephone
number.
b. A useful book or article to read.
c. A useful website to visit.
Teaching critical thinking and problem solving

12
 
Sharing lessons learned from school projects
Duration: 90 minutes
Learning outcomes
In this session you will learn about:
• the challenges your fellow participants have
faced since the first training session and
the strategies they have used to overcome
these challenges
• the impact that your fellow participants have
achieved in their individual settings
• presenting your experiences to a group of
fellow practitioners.
Success criteria
In order to meet the learning objectives, you will:
• use active listening skills to discuss and challenge
fellow practitioners about their effective
interventions to improve pupil outcomes
• be well prepared to share your own experience
confidently, demonstrating impact on pupil
outcomes in your own setting.
This is the day for sharing and reflecting
on your thinking and learning, and looking
to the next steps for you and your schools.
Teaching critical thinking and problem solving
PARTICIPANT RESOURCES
12.1  Welcome and
  reintroductions
A short icebreaker to get back into the mood and
remember each other.
12.2
 Reflection and sharing
Take a few minutes to revisit your action plan, review
and case study notes.
Working in a group of three, with partners from
different contexts, share your experiences using the
format detailed below. Take it in turns to present.
1. The presenter presents uninterrupted for five
minutes. The listeners can make notes on the
positives and any areas they may want to
explore further.
2. The two listeners have a professional
conversation for five minutes about the
presenter’s experience in their project, focusing
on the impact on learning, teaching and
organisation, while the presenter listens to the
conversation but does not comment or respond.
3. The presenter is then invited to join in the
discussion for a further five minutes.
At the end of the 15-minute structured conversation,
swap over twice, so everyone has some designated
time to consider and discuss their work.
To finish, spend ten minutes as a group summarising
any overlaps of experience and learning, and come
up with three pieces of advice to share with your
colleagues, based on your joint experiences.
DAY THREE
33
 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

13
 
Looking for deep structure (part 1)
Duration: 90 minutes

Learning outcomes Definitions

In this session you will learn about: Deep structure refers to a principle that goes
beyond specific examples.
• what it means to look for the deep structure
of issues Surface structure refers to the particulars of an
• why it is important example meant to illustrate deep structure. 23
• how it can be taught. Given these definitions, what is the deep structure
of the story about the treasure hunter and the cave?
Success criteria What is the surface structure? Why?
In order to meet the learning objectives, you will:
• participate in an activity looking for deep
structure
• review various examples of how to teach
deep structure
13.2  Why is it important?

Suggested time: 30 minutes

• plan an activity that you can use in your school.
Students – and people in general – find it much
easier to think about specific examples, as opposed

13.1  An introduction to the more abstract, deeper nature of things. As

to surface and
deep structures
Suggested time: 20 minutes
Please read this short story independently. Try to
think about the solution to the question presented
in the story.
Treasure hunter in the cave
A treasure hunter was going to explore a cave
up on a hill near a sandy beach. He suspected
there might be many paths inside the cave and
was afraid he might get lost. Obviously, he did
not have a map of the cave; all he had with him
were some common items such as a flashlight
and a bag. What could he do to make sure he
did not get lost when trying to get back out of
the cave later? 22
Please pair up with one person at your table. Discuss
what you think the solution to the question presented
in the story might be.
educators, we want our students to learn more than
just examples of factual knowledge. It is important
that they can apply their knowledge flexibly in
different contexts. But this is not easy.
An extract from Inflexible knowledge:
the first step to expertise, an article by
Daniel Willingham
For example, the deep structure of
commutativity in addition or multiplication is
that order is irrelevant in these operations. One
example of surface structure that captures this
principle might be 3+4=7 and
4+3=7. Another surface structure would be
9+3=12 and 3+9=12. One could easily imagine
that a student would recognize commutativity
when presented with a number of problems
in this form, but that student would not
recognize, for example, that a cash register
embodies commutativity because the order
in which purchases are rung up is irrelevant to
the total. 24

34 Teaching critical thinking and problem solving


What do you think of the example provided in the
extract you have just read? Does this challenge –
the difficulty for students to recognise the deep
structure – sound familiar?
Please take some time to think independently about
this question:
• Can you think of situations where your students
are able to answer one question or problem,
but not another one, which basically requires
using the same underlying principle?
Once you have thought about it for two to three
minutes, discuss your examples with others at
your table.
13.3
  How can it be taught?
 Mini-lesson
Suggested time: 40 minutes
Example: Attacking the tumour
Please read through the following passage and
work in pairs to come up with a solution.
Problem number one
Suppose you are a doctor faced with a patient
who has a malignant tumour in his stomach.
It is impossible to operate on the patient, but
unless the tumour is destroyed, the patient will
die. There is a kind of ray that can be used to
destroy the tumour. If the rays reach the tumour
all at once at a sufficiently
high intensity, the tumour will be destroyed.
Unfortunately, at this intensity the healthy
tissue that the rays pass through on the way
to the tumour will also be destroyed. At lower
intensities the rays are harmless to healthy
tissue, but they will not affect the tumour either.
What type of procedure might be used to
destroy the tumour with the rays, and at the
26
same time avoid destroying the healthy tissue?
Teaching critical thinking and problem solving
PARTICIPANT RESOURCES
Problem number two
A wicked king ruled a small country from a
fortress. The fortress was situated in the middle
of the country and many roads radiated from
it, like spokes on a wheel. A general vowed to
capture the fortress and overthrow the wicked
king. The general knew that if his entire army
could attack the fortress at once, it could be
captured. But a spy reported that the king had
planted mines on each of the roads. The mines
were set so that small groups of people could
pass over them safely, since the king needed
to be able to move troops and workers about;
however, any large force would detonate the
mines. Not only would this blow up the road,
but the king would destroy many villages
in retaliation. How could the general attack
the fortress?
27
Questions for discussion
• What is the surface structure of both problems?
How would you describe the deep structure of
both problems?
• In various experiments, only about one in ten
people solved the first problem (about the
tumour) in the time limit of 15 minutes. When they
were then presented with the second problem,
just three in ten people were able to solve it.
However, if they were instructed that the first
problem may help, then nine out of ten people
were able to solve the second problem. Why do
you think is this the case?
• How can we as teachers help our students apply
their knowledge to new situations?
Final thought
To apply old knowledge to new situations, one must
both recognise that the analogy is appropriate and
successfully map the new problem to the familiar
problem. Knowledge is often inflexible because to be
widely applicable, it needs to be stored in terms of
deep structure, but people tend to store it in terms of
DAY THREE
surface features. 25
35
 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

14
 

Looking for deep structure (part 2)

14.1   How can it be taught?

 Review a lesson Knowledge tends to be inflexible when it is
first learned. As you continue to work with the
Suggested time: 40 minutes knowledge, you gain expertise; the knowledge
is no longer organized around surface forms,
Previously, we learned the difference between but rather is organized around deep structure.
surface and deep structures. That principle was nicely captured in an
• Deep structure refers to a principle that goes experiment by Michelene Chi in 1981. She gave
beyond specific examples. expert physicists and novices a set of physics
problems and asked that they put them into
• Surface structure refers to the particulars of
categories of their own devising. The novices
an example meant to illustrate deep structure.
categorized the problems based on the surface
We will now watch a short video clip from a lesson features of the problems – that is, they formed
about electricity. The teacher is trying to help one category for problems involving inclined
students understand the basic concept of how planes, another for problems involving springs,
electricity works. 29 and so on. The experts, however, created
categories based on physical principles: one
As you watch this video, please have a think:
category for conservation of energy, another
• What does the teacher do that helps students for Newton’s first law of motion, and so on.
understand the basic concept of electricity? Similar experiments, using knowledge of
• What are some of the reasons why our students dinosaurs, have likewise shown that experts’
sometimes struggle to understand the memories are organized differently than
underlying concepts? novices, whether the experts are children
or adults. 30
Questions for discussion
• What do you think the teacher can do within
one lesson to help students think of surface
and deep structures?
• What do you think the teacher can do across
lessons – during the course of the entire
year – to help students think of surface and
deep structures?
In the short term, teachers can use many examples
and make both the surface and deep structures
explicit to their students.
In the longer term, teachers can build students’
knowledge in their subject field, and over time,
students will be able to use their knowledge more
flexibly and in new contexts. The following example
should provide some encouragement to teachers:

36 Teaching critical thinking and problem solving

 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

14.2   How can it be taught? Short-term activity: come up with an example that
you can teach in your subject where the objective is
 Designing an activity for students to think about the surface structure and
Suggested time: 30 minutes the deep structure of the problem.

Given what we have learned about surface and deep
structures, work in pairs to design two activities: one
short term, that can be applied in one lesson, and the
other long term, which can be applied during the
entire year.
Long-term activity: think about one main principle
(or deep structure) in your subject that you can teach
through various lessons across the entire year; the
purpose is for students to become more expert in
applying their knowledge flexibly in new contexts.

One lesson to consider deep and surface structures

What is the activity?

Year/grade

Subject

Lesson topic

What is the (learning) objective of the activity?

Resources used

How is the activity carried out? Write out all the steps in detail.
DAY THREE

Teaching critical thinking and problem solving 37

 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

One main principle or deep structure to be learned across many lessons

What is the main principle or deep structure?

Year/grade

Subject

Lesson 1 to learn about this principle (main activity)

Lesson 2 to learn about the same principle (main activity)

Lesson 3 to learn about the same principle (main activity)

38 Teaching critical thinking and problem solving

 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

14.2   How can it be taught?

 Practising the activity 14.2  Summary

Suggested time: 30 minutes Suggested time: 10 minutes

Now working in pairs again, try to teach the first The final part of the session is an opportunity
lesson you just designed (the single lesson example) for participants to raise any questions, issues
to your partner. Both of you will have ten minutes to or concerns they may have about deep and
deliver a mini-lesson to the other person. Try to cover surface structures.
both the particular example (surface structure) and
the underlying principle (deep structure). In your
teaching methods, try to use open questions and
specific, helpful feedback

Debrief
• What went well when delivering the mini-lesson?
• What would you do differently when delivering
this to your students?

DAY THREE

Teaching critical thinking and problem solving 39


15
 
Handouts: Actions that support
critical thinking and problem solving
Student
Considers different perspectives
• Looks at an issue from many sides
• Considers the positives and negatives
of different perspectives
• Is open to other perspectives that are
different from their own
Student
Assesses evidence
• Gathers relevant evidence
• Assesses the strength of the evidence
• Is open to new evidence, whether or not
it supports previous beliefs
Student
Solves non-routine problems
• Clarifies the problem by exploring the goal
and analysing data
• Generates many ideas as potential solutions
• Selects the best solution and implements it
Student
Understands the underlying idea of issues
• Seeks to understand the underlying
idea that goes beyond specific examples
• Explains the underlying idea in one’s
own words
• Applies the underlying principle to
new examples
40
PARTICIPANT RESOURCES
Teacher
Asks good questions
• Prepares a variety of questions that require
in-depth thinking and analysis
• Uses student answers as a start for further
probing questions
• Involves other students in a discussion after
one student has given an answer
Teacher
Provides effective feedback
• Provides feedback that is focused on the
task, not the person
• Focuses feedback on smaller aspects of
the task
• Includes goals for the student on what to
do next
Teacher
Creates a learning environment that supports
critical thinking and problem solving
• Encourages students to freely express their
opinions and ask questions
• Uses student experiences as a way to begin
exploring complex ideas
• Regularly makes critical thinking visible, for
example by saying ‘now we will explore this
issue from another perspective’
Teaching critical thinking and problem solving
 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

16
 

References

1
Willingham, DT (2007) Critical Thinking: Why Is It So Hard To Teach? American
Federation of Teachers, Periodicals, Summer 2007. Available at: www.aft.org/sites/
default/files/periodicals/Crit_Thinking.pdf
2
Wiliam, D (2010) The role of formative assessment in effective learning
environments, in Dumont, H, Istance, D, Benavides, F (ed) The nature of learning:
using research to inspire practice, OECD Centre for Educational Research and
Innovation, pp 135–159. Available at: www.educ.ethz.ch/pro/litll/oecdbuch.pdf
3
Wees, D (2012) 56 different examples of formative assessment.
Available at: https://docs.google.com
presentation/d/1nzhdnyMQmio5lNT75ITB45rHyLISHEEHZlHTWJRqLmQ/
4
Kahney, H (1993) Problem solving: current issues. Buckingham:
Open University Press.
5
Woodward, J, Beckmann, S, Driscoll, M, Franke, M, Herzig, P, Jitendra, A,
Koedinger, KRand Ogbuehi, P (2012) Improving mathematical problem solving in
grades 4 through8: A practice guide (NCEE 2012-4055). Washington, DC: National
Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education
Sciences, US Department of Education. Available at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/
publications_reviews. aspx#pubsearch
6
ibid.
7
Mckinsey.com (2015) Education to employment (online). Available at:
www.mckinsey.com/features/education_to_employment
8
BBC News (2015) Viewpoints: How should radicalisation be tackled? BBC News
(online). Available at: http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22683452
9
EL Education (2015) Analyzing Perspectives through Multiple Sources, Part 1
(online). Available at: https://vimeo.com/131805947
YouTube (2015) Hans Rosling and Ola Rosling: How not to be ignorant about the
10

world (online). Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm5xF-UYgdg

11
Troy Campbell, J (2015) Why People ‘Fly from Facts’ (online). Scientificamerican.
com. Available at: www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-people-fly-from-facts
(Accessed 28 May 2015).
12
Austin’s Butterfly: Building Excellence in Student Work. (online). Available at:
https://vimeo.com/38247060
13
Dumont, H., Istance, D. and Benavides, F. (Eds.) (2010) The Nature of learning:
Using Research to Inspire Practice. OECD: OECD Publications. (online) Available at:
http://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/50300814.pdf
14
Threeacts.mrmeyer.com (2015) (online) Available at:
http://threeacts.mrmeyer.com/sugarpackets/act1/actone.mov
15
Threeacts.mrmeyer.com (2015) Sugar Packets (online). Available at:
http://threeacts.mrmeyer.com/sugarpackets

Teaching critical thinking and problem solving 41

 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

16
Woodward and colleagues (2012) op. cit.
17
OECD, Future of work in figures (2016). (online) Available at:
https://www.oecd.org/employment/ministerial/future-of-work-in-figures.htm
18
Mathforum.org (2015) Math Forum – Ask Dr Math (online). Available at:
http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/56219.html
19
YouTube (2015) MORE THAN A NUMBER 1. The measure of success (online).
Available at: http://youtu.be/1OjEW8oTbZA
20
Inquiry-Based Learning: From Teacher-Guided to Student-Driven. (online)
Available at: https://www.edutopia.org/video/inquiry-based-learning-teacher-
guided-student-driven Edutopia:
21
OER4 Schools (2015) (online) Available at:
http://oer.educ.cam.ac.uk/w/images/9/92/Activity _template.pdf
22
Source: Willingham, D (2007) op. cit.
23
Willingham, D (2002) Inflexible Knowledge: The First Step to Expertise, Available
at: www.aft.org/periodical/american-educator/winter-2002/ask-cognitive-scientist
(Accessed 28 May 2015).
24
Willingham, D (2002) op. cit.
25
Gick, M and Holyoak, K (1983) Schema induction and analogical transfer.
Cognitive Psychology, 15/1: 1–38.
26
Willingham, D (2002) op. cit.
27
Adapted from Willingham, D (2002) op. cit.
29
EL Education Reading and thinking like scientists (online). Available at:
https://eleducation.org/resources/reading-and-thinking-like-scientists
30
Willingham, D (2002) op. cit.

42 Teaching critical thinking and problem solving

 PARTICIPANT RESOURCES

Core skills definitions

Critical thinking and problem solving:

self-directed thinking that produces new and innovative ideas and solves
problems. Reflecting critically on learning experiences and processes and
making effective decisions.
Collaboration and communication:
communicate effectively orally, in writing, actively listen to others in diverse and
multilingual environments and understand verbal and non-verbal communication.
Work in diverse international teams, learning from and contributing to the learning
of others, assuming shared responsibility, co-operating, leading, delegating and
compromising to produce new and innovative ideas and solutions.
Creativity and imagination:
economic and social entrepreneurialism, imagining and pursuing novel ideas,
judging value, developing innovation and curiosity.
Citizenship:
active, globally-aware citizens who have the skills, knowledge and motivation
to address issues of human and environmental sustainability and work towards
a fairer world in a spirit of mutual respect and open dialogue. Developing an
understanding of what it means to be a citizen of your own country and your
own country’s values.
Digital literacy:
using technology as a tool to reinforce, extend and deepen learning through
international collaboration. Enabling the student to discover, master and
communicate knowledge and information in a globalised economy.
Student leadership and personal development:
Honesty, leadership, self-regulation and responsibility, perseverance, empathy
for contributing to the safety and benefit of others, self-confidence, pupil voice,
resilience, personal health and well-being, career and life skills and learning to
learn/life-long learning.

Teaching critical thinking and problem solving 43

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