Michael is the lead trainer and has been working closely with BIS HCMC for 3 years. Apart from modelling Let’s Think lessons, the focus this year was on understanding how metacognition works. Metacognition is being aware of and understanding your own thoughts. In teaching and learning, it is about making children aware of how they think and how they are able to change their reasoning and opinions based on others’ ideas.
Let’s Think in English is based on the concept of Cognitive Acceleration which is designed to encourage students’ deeper, more abstract thinking with the emphasis on reasoning and justification for their ideas. The programme helps both Primary and Secondary pupils to develop their higher-order thinking skills which then has an impact not just in English but also on other school subjects. The programme also develops students’ ability to express ideas, and improve their confidence with unseen texts - whether fiction, poetry or non-fiction.
In the highly engaging Let’s Think lessons, children are challenged to work at their upper limit of cognition which creates what is known as “desirable difficulty”; thus making them think harder. And as we know, successful teaching and learning happens when children think harder and are challenged.
It appears Let’s Think is challenging children to think harder and, as we are seeing, this is positively impacting on their learning.
Ms Shaheena Pall, Let’s Think in English Lead