Thinking Skills teachers reach more schools

This scholastic year, Patri Feliç Sammut School 'C', St Paul's Bay, and Marija Bambina School 'C', Mellieha, have benefited from Thinking Skills sessions we held as Thinking Skills teachers.

The programme involved teaching children of Years 4, 5 and 6 to familiarise themselves with, and make use of Edward de Bono's CoRT 1 Thinking Tools both during Thinking Skills lessons as well as in other academic subjects and in life outside school.

Thinking Skills has been implemented in state schools since September 2000 to complement Principle 3 of the National Minimum Curriculum, entitled 'Stimulation of Analytical, Critical and Creative Thinking Skills' which states that students should be regarded 'not as passive recipients of static content but as critical and creative thinkers and producers of knowledge.

Thinking Skills is part of the PSD section within the Education Division, which falls under the responsibility of Education Officer Lawrence Muscat.

The topics chosen by the Thinking Skills teachers for discussion during lessons were both fantasy items as well as topics from the syllabuses allocated for each year group. This not only helps to liaise with the teachers' syllabus but also to enhance the children's creative thinking.

Children's response to our lessons was a very positive one, as they showed enthusiasm and motivation for the lessons. Throughout the lessons they showed their interest in the subject by producing a lot of material related to the topics discussed during lessons, which were later displayed in an exhibition in the respective schools.

The exhibition at St Paul's Bay Primary School was set up during the school Prize Day (in January), with the aim of being seen by a greater number of viewers. Moreover, the Thinking Skills Programme has been appreciated very much in both schools. In fact several teachers at St Paul's Bay School 'C' used our topics for their weekly compositions with their classes.

Furthermore, at Mellieha School 'C', Monica Micallef delivered a Professional Development Meeting on the CoRT 1 Thinking Tools so that teachers would familiarise themselves with Edward de Bono's Thinking Skills and see how they can be used in day-to-day teaching, as well as for personal use.

Since the training was found to be very beneficial, the school administration expressed their wish to have another Thinking Skills training session, which we consequently held in January.