Patterns of Thinking Method

“Problems, and the solutions to these problems, are inextricably tied to how we think."  - Peter Senge, Author of the Fifth Discipline

The demands of the 21st Century point to the need for a kind of “amphibious” thinker. Someone who is: as cognitive as they are emotionally capable, as analytical as they are creative, and as specialized as they are interdisciplinary. Specifically, the 21st Century requires proficiency in seven areas - content knowledge and six types of thinking skills:

  1. Deep and broad content knowledge in various subject areas 
  2. Critical Thinking: to analyze, deconstruct, and evaluate ideas,
  3. Creative Thinking: to construct new ideas and lines of thought,
  4. Systems Thinking: to understand complex patterns in context,
  5. Scientific Thinking: to observe, hypothesize, predict,and validate with evidence,
  6. Interdisciplinary Thinking: to unify, transfer, synthesize, and integrate, and
  7. Prosocial Thinking: to build team relationships through conflict resolution, negotiation, compassion, concern, and shared experience.

The Patterns of Thinking Method (DSRP) is a single method for teaching deep content knowledge and all six of these thinking skills at the same time. The Method is comprised of four thinking skills (Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, Perspectives) that are universal--they are used to think any thought on any topic and to construct mental models which are used to gain a deep understanding of content knowledge, make decisions, innovate,  problem solve, and interact with others. Each of the four patterns is made up of two elements that complement each other: 

  1. When drawing distinctions, we differentiate between identity and other. Making a distinction is the process of determining what something is (identity) and what something is not (other). We use distinction making to name and define, to compare and contrast in order to find similarities and differences, to draw and test boundaries, and to make choices.
  2. When organizing systems, we must look at parts and wholes. Every whole is made up of parts, while also serving as a part of a larger whole. We organize  systems by either splitting wholes into parts or combining parts in new ways to create new wholes. We often use both of these processes simultaneously. Whenever we sort, group, nest, or categorize, we're organizing systems of parts and wholes.
  3. When recognizing relationships, we examine cause and effect. When two ideas relate to each other, they have a mutual effect on each other that changes them both. Recognizing relationships among ideas leads to interdisciplinarity, transfer of learning, analogical thinking, and the ability to form new ideas by combining seemingly disparate pieces of prior knowledge. Relationships are often implicit and require us to recognize them; when we do, we make associations, interactions, and connections explicit.
  4. When taking perspectives, we understand both point and view. Every idea is a perspective comprised of a point and a view. The point is the subject, or the position from which the idea is viewed; the view is the object, or what is viewed. Because the point affects the view and vice versa, we expand what we know about any idea in profound ways when we become conscious of both point and view. Making perspectives explicit increases creativity, innovation, conflict resolution skills, and prosocial  behaviors, such as compassion and empathy.

The four patterns of thinking are used by students to structure knowledge and to change it. All four patterns form an integral whole, which can be summed up as "the way we think." The four patterns do not exist in isolation but are constantly working together. We cannot make a single distinction without eliciting part-whole thinking, relational thinking, and perspective taking. We cannot recognize a relationship without also making a distinction, differentiating the related parts, and assuming a point of view. No matter which pattern we're focused on, the other three play an integral role in the creation of knowledge.

The Patterns of Thinking Method is "contextually agnostic". that means that they can be used by any age student (Preschool to PhD) and in any content area or subject as well as in any language.

When students are trained in the universal patterns of thinking that underlie deep understanding of content and the process of learning itself, they will truly be prepared for the 21st century.

A Note about ThinkBlocks and the Patterns of Thinking Method: ThinkBlocks and ThinkTiles were developed as tactile tools to ensure that what to know and how to know are balanced in the classroom. They are one system that can be used to teach, learn, and use the Patterns of Thinking Method, but the Method itself should be used both with and without the aid of these tactile tools.

"The Patterns of Thinking Method has given me a concrete structure for understanding my own thinking and has helped me provide my students with a framework upon which to build new knowledge and thinking skills."

Shannon Maxson, Teacher Center Director

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