Benjamin Bloom first described intelligence as different levels of thinking. At each level was assigned the different thinking operations that required different amounts of effort from the child, from simple to complex.

In a simple operation the child needed to apply only 1 or 2 operations at any one time but as the levels increased to more complex levels the child was required to apply several operations at a much deeper and broader level of thinking. This became known as Blooms taxonomy.

HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS

As thinking skills rise from the lower spectrum to the HIGHER LEVELS they increase in complexity and dimensions.

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The HIGHER LEVELS of thinking are, therefore, generally achieved by the more intelligent thinkers.

At the top of the tier are the highest order thinking skills such as Evaluating and Creating. These skills require children to create new ideas, to provide creative solutions to complex problems, to think outside 'the box'. Students are challenged to exercise a multitude of mental operations in deep and meaningful ways (like juggling several balls in the air). They do multi-dimensional thinking. In doing so children become knowledge creators and inventors, and at the same time they apply sound principles to judge the wisdom imparted by others as well as develop empathy, resilience and cooperation.

Meta thinking is to metacognate or think about one's own thinking skills and processes. It is a reflective process where the thinker seeks to understand how they apply their thinking skills and whether they are effective thinkers. The reflect on the principles they apply during thinking and problem solving. They critically analyse their thinking and adapt their thinking behaviours to suit the problem at hand. Meta thinkers can recognise their brain's "settings" and how it affects their thinking applications during different moments of solving problems or creativity.

Metacognition is a powerful process that allows a learner or thinker to modify their learning behaviours. It is also a very complex process and does not just happen by chance. It is a process that needs to be taught explicitly and the principles of learning behaviours identified, labelled, explained and practiced.