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Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities

Unit 2

Planning for Infusion

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Learning Intentions

Participants will:

• know what is meant by infusion;• be aware of strategies to support the infusion of

different types of thinking skills and personal capabilities in lessons/activities; and

• be aware of how to plan for the development of skills and capabilities in the medium and longer term.

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What is Infusion?

Infusion means:

‘…to introduce into one thing a second thing which gives it extra life, vigour and a new significance.’

–Webster’s Dictionary

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Activity 1Map from Memory

• What sort of skills are most important when working with others?

• What sort of skills do you think are most important for problem-solving?

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Activity 1Map from Memory

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Your Processes

• What was your group’s plan at the start?• Did it change as you went along?

• What made the task easier/more difficult– for the recorder?– for the viewer?

• How did you select the last person to go up?

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The Model in Detail Strategies for Launching

• Reframe tasks as a challenge.• Share the learning intentions

and expectations.• Connect the learning to

previous learning/activities.• Provide time for pupils to

seek clarity.• Model skills/capabilities

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The Model in Detail Strategies for Activity

• Have pupils plan and organise work.

• Have pupils think-pair-share ideas and opinions.

• Use thinking frames as part of the activity or lesson.

• Use effective questions to further embed skills.

• Have pupils complete tasks in groups.

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Strategies for Debriefing

• Conduct a well-planned plenary.

• Use a set of questions.• Create a whole-class

closing activity.• Connect learning to other

contexts.

The Model in Detail

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The Model and Activity 1

Learning Intentions: Be aware of how to plan for the development of skills and capabilities in lessons/activities

The Launch: Working with Others and Problem-Solving were established as success criteria.

The Activity: Plan (Problem-Solve) and Work with Others

The Debriefing: Reviewed the process to highlight the skills used

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Content Thinking Skill / Capability

Challenging taskThinking Diagram

Pair/group workDialogue and Questioning

MetacognitionReflection

DiscussionEvaluation

Near Transfer Far Transfer

From ACTSHandbookC. MC Guinness Lesson Introduction

Thinking Actively

Thinking about Thinking

Applying Thinking

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Self- and Peer-Review Sheet

What were we good at? What have we learned for next time?

What was I good at? What have I learned for next time?

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Tip 1 for Infusion

• When still in the early TS&PC implementation phase, be specific about the skills you want to introduce and develop.

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I can think of different options

I can come up with pros and cons

for each

I can compare and weigh-up options

I can explain my choice

This week’s TS&PC is about Making Decisions

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Tip 2 for Infusion

• Revisit skills and capabilities in different and more complex contexts.

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Tip 3 for Infusion

• Look at where in your existing practice/planning you can incorporate strategies to enhance TS&PC.

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Key Stages 1 and 2 Medium-Term Planner

TS & PCs Starting points Home Learning

PD Literacy across the curriculum

Numeracy across the curriculum

ICT WAU The Arts PE

Learn

ing

In

ten

tion

sSucc

ess

C

rite

ria

Teach

ing

Appro

ach

es

Topic: _______________________

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Observations/assessment (of learning intentions)

Evaluation

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Sept – Oct Nov – Dec Jan - Feb Mar - Apr May - June

Key Question(s)(the need to know)

Main content and contexts

Learning experiences

Integral Skills and Capabilities

Key Stage 3 Subject Planner

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Summary Points

• Infusion is the blending of instruction in specific TS&PC into subject instruction.

• The focus on skills should be narrow and specific when starting out.

• We need to give pupils opportunities to demonstrate TS&PC (open-ended questions and tasks, thinking frames, etc.).

• Remember to always build in opportunities for observation and debriefing.