‘How does it feel to be British?’ ‘What would happen if animals didn't exist?’ ‘How could you move without any bones?’ Three of the many ‘Thinking Questions’ generated by our Form 1 and Form 2 children during their Thinking Skills mornings. These sessions are designed to improve the quality of the children’s questioning and to help to show children that many things we take for granted contain all sorts of mysteries that can be explored. Encouraging an active sense of curiosity about the world is one of the most important aims of any thinking skills programme.
The Thinking Skills initiative has been developed in Byron House to enhance the children’s ability to be logical, critical and creative thinkers. A wide range of transferable skills are taught through lessons across the curriculum and discrete thinking-skills lessons offer a further opportunity to practise decision-making, lateral thinking and mindmapping. The children are encouraged to gain a deeper understanding of their own preferred learning styles and to gain familiarity with a range of study and revision strategies. Lessons continue to focus on encouraging those habits of mind, such as curiosity, resilience and tenacity, that can play a significant role in a child's academic success and personal happiness.
Children in Form 1 talked about the difference between ‘right answer questions’, closed questions with just one possible right answer, and open-ended ‘thinking questions’, with lots of possible answers. They agreed that the latter make us think hard and lead to much more interesting discussions where ideas can be shared. They compared the straightforward ‘How old is X?’ with ‘What might X be when they grow up?’ and the more thought-provoking ‘How do we know that X is happy?’. Form 2 considered, ‘Why should we be curious about the world?’, ‘What are the possible benefits to asking questions?’ and ‘Are some questions more valuable than others? If so, what makes a good question?’