Higher-Order

Getting a grip on anything worthwhile isn’t easy. Higher-order thinking isn’t easy, but it’s worthwhile. Engaging learners with it isn’t easy. Is it worthwhile? 

Thinking skills underpin every syllabus of learning. Tackling algebra requires higher-order thinking skills. Writing a persuasive text requires higher-order thinking. 

Do you know if the skills are teachable? They are. Learners from an early age use them. Watch a child in kindergarten paint, build something, or climb a tree. Their brains constantly assess, design, make decisions, calibrate, analyse, evaluate.

Many children of that age skip the lower-order skills. When the painting is completed, ask the child the story behind it. There will be one. There will be reasons why the blue triangles or the yellow circles are in those particular spots.

What if there isn’t a story? Here’s where we step in. Neatly framed questions will tease it out. You know the kind of questions. They begin with: 

Why? 

How come?

Where?

How long?

What?

Can you tell me?

What happens if?

Any question that can’t be answered with a simple yes/no is a question that will trigger higher-order thinking. 

Regular practice with these questions will encourage your students to access their deeper knowledge or at least coax them to search for it. 

Gather–Organise–Communicate.