A review of three models for teaching thinking skills in the school context

Abstract

The development of thinking in the school context is an educational priority that has been recognized by various countries. Considering thinking as a set of skills that can be learnt and taught, this paper delimits four key dimensions of thinking to be promoted at school (metacognition, critical thinking, problem solving and creative thinking), and then discusses some alternative models for teaching them (separate teaching, immersion and infusion). From a constructivist and sociocultural point of view, the infusion model is proposed, and, within this framework, some criteria to teach thinking skills are presented. It is argued that keeping a known and intended action both in the classroom and in the whole system, and an active participation of every subject involved in the process, is necessary in order to develop such a model.