ThinkWorks News

Educators Push for Thinking Skills in American Schools

July 7th, 2008

Ithaca, NY - Educational Leadership, a leading magazine for educational leaders, devoted a recent issue to thinking skills.  Educators of all stripes called for greater focus on thinking to prepare students for the 21st Century. The issue is entitled "Teaching Students to Think." and includes contributions from noted educators Nel Noddings and Howard Gardner.

ThinkWorks COO Dr. Laura Colosi applauded Educational Leadership's choice to highlight thinking skills.  "As we move into the 21st Century, students clearly need thinking skills, something our schools have historically had trouble teaching," she said.  "We're out to change that, and it's great to see a major publication like Educational Leadership engaging in this discussion."

Debby Fulcher, a curriculum designer with Fairfax Country School District explains that the importance of thinking skills is not new. "Educators have known for a long time that thinking skills are essential. They are the things that students remember when they've forgotten the facts," say Fulcher, "the difficult part is knowing how to teach these illusive skills." Fulcher explains that thinking skills are difficult to teach but that new developments have made teaching thinking skills possible.  "The Patterns of Thinking Method is simple yet powerful.  And ThinkBlocks are a tremendous tool for teaching these skills. Our teachers are implementing in thinking skills in the classroom with unprecendented success."

About Educational Leadership: A monthly publication of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, this magazine offers research and viewpoints to over 175,000 educational leaders.  In addition to school-based educators, the magazine has a large audience of curriculum designers and superintendents.