Thinking Power
Henry Ford once said, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason so few engage in it.” Consider this for a moment: there is a lot of truth in what Ford says. Everyone gets so used to their own routines that habits form and we fall into a comfortable cycle doing what we do and knowing what we know. Some schools can be so focused on establishing formality, structure and an adherence to rules that the students within soon forget how to think for themselves. I don’t believe this is right.
As I think about the strategic direction of the school and how we can enhance the academic curriculum, I know that the starting point revolves around developing the cognitive abilities of the pupils. A child who is going to be successful in the twenty first century is a child who knows how to think, a child who can reason and substantiate their opinions, challenge perceived wisdoms, be willing to try ideas in the pursuit of solving a problem and then try again if it does not work the first time. Dr Carol Dwek calls this the “Growth Mindset” and this is what we shall be striving to develop in a new Middle School thinking skills programme we will be launching in September.
The goal is to create can-do attitudes rather than fixed mindsets that hide behind a lack of self-belief and this programme I believe will nurture the natural malleability of each pupil’s intelligence so that motivation and achievement increases in unison and enables them to tackle the academic challenges of Years 7 and 8, and then senior school, more independently and more confidently. It is an exciting development.