Are special methods required for teaching Let’s Think through Science! 8 & 9?
By now you will have realised that teaching for the stimulation of thinking may require different
teaching methods from those employed in your normal curriculum work.
Shifting your philosophy
During the Let’s Think through Science! 8 &
9 activities you often need something of a shift in
philosophy from being a ‘leading’ teacher, anxious to ensure that pupils receive all the help
they need, to one who sets difficult problems and gives pupils more responsibility for finding
their own solutions. This does not mean that you simply sit back and watch them struggle. Your
role becomes that of a ‘mediator’, asking open questions that progress pupils’ thinking without
providing them with answers. Your modelling of this role of mediation encourages pupils to
begin to adopt it themselves in order to help other members of their group. Also you are trying
to ensure that all pupils experience some cognitive conflict while listening and contributing to
the search for a combined solution. This is challenging work.
Characteristics of the ‘listening’ teacher
During group work, your role is mainly to listen — so as to retain important ideas, explanations
and questions that the pupils are discussing. When it comes to the class discussion, you will
then be able to ask specific questions of particular groups, so that the main points emerge. As
you listen, it is useful if you do not repeat what individual pupils say for the benefit of others; it
is important that all the members of the class learn to listen carefully to their peers.
Here are some other characteristics of the teacher who is helping pupils to develop their
thinking abilities. He or she will:
• suspend judgement, leaving pupils to make up their own minds;
• encourage pupils to listen to one another with respect;
• understand ‘mistakes’ as opportunities to learn;
• help groups learn to share their thinking with the class;
• accept inconclusive or uncertain endings: it is the thinking along the way that matters;
• rarely ‘tell’; frequently ask and always respect;
• test ideas with pupils, working towards a consensus but accepting differences;
• allow time for reflection on ‘how we got to this point’.
Just two final points. First, this is a special kind of teaching for intellectual stimulation. It would
not be practicable to use this mode of teaching all the time, but it does provide an extra set of
skills to add to your pedagogical armoury. Secondly, it takes time to develop these skills: you
can expect to get worse before you get better. So persevere through the ‘implementation dip’,
and give yourself time to develop your practice.