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Explicit & Targeted Teaching of Intelligence
Explicit & Targeted Teaching of Intelligence
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
Should we expect children to develop their thinking skills exclusively from the stimulation they receive from their daily environment?
Should we expect children to develop their thinking skills exclusively from the stimulation they receive from their daily environment?
Should we rest easy that children will discover, identify and utilise their dormant thinking by means of self discovery alone?
Should we rest easy that children will discover, identify and utilise their dormant thinking by means of self discovery alone?
If thinking and intelligence is important then is it enough to just let our children explore their way through their intelligence landscapes?
If thinking and intelligence is important then is it enough to just let our children explore their way through their intelligence landscapes?
Intelligence is NOT a fixed, static or permanent aspect of our brain. Rather, it is made up of dynamic qualities, open to mutability and improvement. Intelligence can be taught and improved by isolating, coaching and igniting dormant skills.
Classroom learning used to be about mastering subject content, preparing children for a society that had dedicated professions awaiting them. Mastery of subject matter ensured success in a profession.
Explicit and targeted teaching of intelligence by isolating children's thinking skills from their subject content, was not seen as a very big part of mainstream education system historically.
THINKING WAS ALWAYS IMPLICIT IN THE CONTENT AND PROBLEM SOLVING.
In the past, therefore, when children showed signs of struggle in their ability to learn they were most likely placed in remedial lessons which provided a more intensive focus on the prescribed content and subject matter, albeit in bite size and modified version for the slow learner.
Rarely was the child's basic ability to effectively apply their inner thinking functions addressed in a systematic fashion, removed from subject content.
Rarely was the question asked "Has this child got mastery over their own thinking processes?".
Rarely was thinking skills taught explicitly.
Modern classrooms, however, pay more attention to a child's brain functions and how they apply their thinking skills. The idea of "igniting their dormant thinking functions, is more broadly accepted now within the mainstream education system.
School curriculum places very heavy emphasis on a child's ability to think critically and creatively. Children achieve much higher marks when they apply higher order thinking skills in their academic assignments.
EXPLICIT TEACHING OF INTELLIGENCE
EXPLICIT TEACHING OF INTELLIGENCE
A programme that explicitly isolates and targets intelligence development allows a child the opportunity or the platform to understand and appreciate their own thinking habits, patterns and limitations.
They break this down into smaller steps and appreciate the many dimensions and levels of their own thinking habits. Some of these habits could have been a result of finding short cuts to problems, and these may not be the best option for them going forward. This can be compared to driving without a driving instructor. This is what can happen when a child is left to pick up thinking skills on their own.
In a programmed situation, however, once they understand the dimensions and mechanisms of their own thinking, they learn to consciously apply them effectively, be it at school or in relationships, in business and community, and in all other choices and decisions in life.
The content upon which these skills are applied is unlimited because the basic engineering of the skill has been achieved and the child is empowered internally. They drive their own thinking consciously.
The child further develops intrinsic motivation and empowerment just by learning how to apply their thinking skills consciously.
They can also consciously exist in the HIGHER ORDER THINKING spectrum and learn to reach much complex and sophisticated manner of thinking.
They learn to be more intelligent.
WHO ARE INTELLIGENT THINKERS?
WHO ARE INTELLIGENT THINKERS?
Intelligent thinkers are able to independently scaffold Higher Order Thinking because they understand the mechanisms of thinking.
They are able to metacognate their thinking.
Intelligent learners can process several thinking problems together and find connections between them.
They can "juggle several thinking balls in the air" at the same time.
Intelligent learners' field of operation can be broader and deeper than those whose thinking skills are vague and unstructured.
When children navigate the multitude of learning landscapes around them everyday, they are constantly faced with new and novel challenges to apply their thinking skills effectively, efficiently, intelligently and to their highest capabilities.
When children navigate the multitude of learning landscapes around them everyday, they are constantly faced with new and novel challenges to apply their thinking skills effectively, efficiently, intelligently and to their highest capabilities.
Whether we are learning at school or at home, or playing sport or socialising, or even when we make life's big decisions, our ability to think effectively and intelligently will be the difference between success and failure.
Whether we are learning at school or at home, or playing sport or socialising, or even when we make life's big decisions, our ability to think effectively and intelligently will be the difference between success and failure.
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