Approach

Growing thinking schools from the inside out ….

David Hyerle explains.

Why the Thinking Approach?

Larry Alper,  Designs for Thinking sums it up…..

What is a Thinking School?

Larry Alper gives an explanation of what a thinking school means….

How?

In partnership with your unique school community, TSI facilitates systematic, whole school transformation starting with research based options:

A step at a time: Our Role as Facilitators of Thinking

Most professional development groups focus on improving teaching, learning, and leadership by  “training” people in a single programme and then move on, or what is called 1^st order change.  Every year educators receive workshops and online course training that also helps them initiate new practices.  While we do offer training in specific programmes and approaches, we also have a more “big picture” role. We see our role as facilitators in the process of working with you as YOU transform over multiple years toward becoming a Thinking School.  This is third order change as shown in this excerpt from our Growing Thinking Schools guide:

Our approach as facilitators occurs over time and is adaptive to your needs.  We are also  guided by fourteen Criteria for Thinking Schools developed by Professor Bob Burden of Exeter University.

Here are some basic guidelines we have set for ourselves and all facilitators who are certified under the banner of TSI.

• We are facilitators of the thinking and planning for each school.

• As facilitators certified by Thinking Schools International, we are guides and offer our collective background, experiences and knowledge to help schools plan their own path over time as an ever-evolving Thinking School.

• We do not believe that there is only one way to becoming a Thinking School.

• Each school will create its own unique design for the ever-evolving process or journey toward a vision of a Thinking School.

• We, as facilitators, may have answers to many of the questions we are asked—and when we don’t have a solution or answer–we will actively seek out our links to experts in the field for their views.

• What we DON’T have is a solution for what your school “should” look like. This does not fit with the purpose of our work.

• We strongly believe in the interdependency and networking Thinking Schools so we all share the “practice” of Thinking Schools, qualitative and quantitative research, and the development of new ways of approaching this work.  We invite you to become a of member TSI with access to resources and other people and school communities who are on a similar journey.

We believe in the transfer of knowledge, so we have developed pathways for training and certification for individuals and school systems, organizations, and whole countries to develop their own Thinking Schools facilitators using our training guides.