Flexible Mindsets in Schools

Channelling Brain Power for Critical Thinking, Complex Problem-Solving and Creativity

Julie Dunstan, Susannah Cole

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000475630
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Bildung
• Subtopic: Bildung Allgemein

Flexible Mindsets in Schools abandons painstaking evolution in favour of a bold, transformative revolution. It blends research and easily implementable practice to drive solutions that give learners and educators the freedom to become self-directed: to unleash questioning, problem-solving and creativity.

This key text explores how to blend existing and new practices and unlock the potential of student agency as the pathway towards resilience and adaptation. The Flexible Mindsets Model fuses three components that rely on each other to drive self-directed learning: metacognition, "I CAN" mindset messages and executive function processes. This book presents a roadmap for how to create an environment and culture where learners are aware of what works when, feel safe to take learning-related risks, believe that they are capable and have the tools they need to learn.

Flexible Mindsets in Schools will give educators hope that there is a way to revolutionise education to meet the needs of students during these uncertain times by taking small, manageable steps.

SECTION III

Productive Puzzling in action

How do we target the 3C’s?

DOI: 10.4324/9781003204817-8

Now is the time to ask “Where are we in the journey of this book and beyond?”

In Section I we introduced the definition of Flexible Mindsets as the adaptive strategy use and perseverance that constitute the journey of self-directed learning. We illustrated the role of curiosity in activating the brain, and defined Productive Puzzling as the mechanism that drives Flexible Mindsets.

In Section II we focused on the conditions for Productive Puzzling. Chapters 3 and 4 started with condition 1: the importance of trusting relationships. In Chapter 5, we reiterated the importance of conditions 2 and 3, balancing challenge and attainable solutions by highlighting the value of practice and struggle. Chapter 5 also laid out the how-to’s for meeting conditions 4 and 5: multiple strategies and reflection. These include how to teach students about strategies, using Carefully Crafted Questions and targeting feedback with a combination of flexible strategy use and perseverance. We now have all the building blocks we need to empower our students to direct their learning journeys.

Here in Section III we will pull everything together and apply Productive Puzzling to Critical Thinking, Complex Problem-Solving and Creativity. Later, we briefly highlight the criteria for Flexible Mindsets strategies and present a table that summarises their application to the 3C’s. Chapters 6, 7 and 8 will elaborate on, and offer practical examples for, using Flexible Mindsets to bring the 3C’s to life.

Criteria for Flexible Mindsets strategies

Based on our model, we define a Flexible Mindsets strategy as one that meets the following criteria. They:

• can be taught metacognitively to deepen knowledge about ‘What Works When’;
• engage students in Productive Puzzling;
• reflect current evidence from the science of learning;
• can be applied to multiple content areas; and
• can be adapted to apply at different stages of development.

Section III Introduction Table 1 summarises the 3C’s and outlines Chapters 6, 7 and 8.

Section III Introduction Table 1: Flexible Mindsets summary of the 3C’s

	Ch 6: Critical Thinking	Ch 7: Complex Problem-Solving	Ch 8: Creativity
Keyword	Question	Solve	Imagine
Symbol
Target Question	Does it make sense?	What else can we try?	What are the possibilities?
Tool	Criteria	Shifting Perspectives	Novelty
Strategy 1	is! is Not!	Mix Master	Bending, Breaking or Blending
Strategy 2	Prove it!	Fork in the Road	Diffuse Dreams
Strategy 3	Grapple to Grasp	Mind Reminder	Crazy Connections

The 3C’s in action

Teaching the 3C’s requires schools to undergo the transformation from fixed mentalities to Flexible Mindsets. Educators will need the 3C’s to teach the 3C’s. This reconstruction is grounded in our capacities to empathise, struggle, grapple, puzzle, change our habits and persevere. By embodying Flexible Mindsets, we empower our students to chart their own course and embrace the endless adventure of self-directed learning.

CHAPTER 6

Critical Thinking

Does it make sense?

DOI: 10.4324/9781003204817-9

“Education is not the learning of facts, but training the mind to think.”

(Albert Einstein)

As we write this book, the globe is facing unprecedented challenges. People from some countries are looking at other countries and saying, “What were you thinking?” Many people are also looking at their own countries and saying, “How did we get here?” We argue that many of these circumstances have arisen from people who blindly follow ideology, people who fear repercussions and don’t feel they are in a position to challenge the system, and the privileged people who have no incentive to change the status quo. Simply put, we need to do a better job of teaching everyone HOW to think rather than what to think and ask the question Does it make sense?

Let’s think about a headline we might see that says, Veterans are better off than they were two years ago. Do we want to merely believe this position or should we verify the factual basis for the statement? The article supports its argument by saying that there are more veterans enrolling in social programmes and that there are fewer opioids being prescribed for veterans. Does this convince you? How would you investigate? What would you consider to be reliable sources for your research? What would you use to sift through the mountains of available data? If you came across figures showing that the suicide rate amongst veterans is significantly higher than it was two years ago, then what would you think?

How good are we at questioning and being questioned? Thought-provoking questions lie at the heart of Productive Puzzling. It is inquisitive minds that lead to thoughtful analysis, social change, entrepreneurship and innovation. If we are to adequately prepare people to think critically, we must teach them how to ask questions that predispose them to think in what-ifs and to use both ethical and deductive reasoning. To do this, the focus in education needs to shift from teaching students what to think to teaching students how to think. Educators need to be comfortable with encouraging struggle and asking provocative questions that challenge the status quo.

Critical Thinking is not just critiquing and decision making; it is about exploring ideas in greater depth. It is closely aligned with definitions of elaboration such as “the process of finding additional layers of meaning” (Brown, Roediger & McDaniel 2014). Without asking Does this make sense?, the civil rights movement would never have existed; Galileo would never have concluded that the Earth moves around the sun; and ancient Africans would not have built the pyramids, forged the earliest known peace treaty or made dramatic advancements in mathematics, medicine, agriculture and metallurgy. Critical Thinking is a mode of thinking that can be applied to any situation, from identifying counterfeit money to reducing our carbon footprint to legislative change. We need to develop the mental habit of questioning and to use it all the time. Without it, our minds become suggestible and vulnerable to misinformation (see Figure 6.1).

Figure 6.1 Critical Thinking: Does it make sense?

In this chapter, we will:

1. define Critical Thinking as it relates to Flexible Mindsets;
2. briefly illustrate how questions help the brain learn;
3. describe three strategies for asking and answering the question Does it make sense?;
4. share an example of a teacher using Productive Puzzling to engage students in Critical Thinking and reinforce Flexible Mindsets; and
5. present items from the Flexible Learning Activation Checklist (FLAC) to track your progress in creating an environment that feeds Critical Thinking.

Flexible Mindsets definition of Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking is the capacity that is built through the habit of independent thinking using reasoning, discernment and empathy to analyse issues, decisions, questions and problems. It requires the ability to keep an open mind, be inquisitive and apply strategies to think systematically. In Flexible Mindsets, we focus on using strategies to help us make meaning, dive deeply into concepts and arrive at judgements. Critical thinkers strive to:

• question from a place of curiosity and be aware that things are not always as they might appear;
• build the habit of noticing juxtapositions, paradoxes, contradictions and other things that don’t make sense;
• be receptive to information that contradicts their opinions and flexible enough to change their minds;
• appreciate the complexity of issues and avoid taking a simplistic view of what is being learned;
• be aware of their own biases, prejudices and self-interests;
• acknowledge that thinking is inherently flawed with mistakes and that thoughts are often irrational;
• be grounded in a strong set of ethics and principles that drive them to question whether or not something is fair or just and to stand up for their beliefs;
• follow the logic of an argument and recognise claims that warrant further evaluation;
• weigh up the pros and cons to make a decision or draw a conclusion; and
• back up a position s...