Critical and Inventive Thinking in the Secondary Classroom
Date: 19 November 2018 Monday Workshop Fee:
Other Information: School/Cluster Based Workshop Registration Workshop Description Critical thinking is widely acknowledged as a powerful instrument for cognitive development. Central to much of it is inventive/creative thinking. It provides skills in analysis of reasoning, evaluation of the significance of claims and reasoning, interpretation, and production of argument. What is the value of a student having the skills of analysis?
What is the value of a student having the skills of interpretation?
What is the value of a student having the skills of argument-production?
Content
NB: In each section, material from a range of subjects will be used to illustrate how critical thinking is required in them, and how inventive/creative thinking is an important part of such critical thinking. Learning Outcomes By the end of the workshop, staff should be able to: 1. understand the nature of critical thinking; 2. understand the creative/inventive thinking possibilities within critical thinking; 3. carry out a critical thinking skills audit of their subject syllabus(es); 4. use strategies for developing and reinforcing critical thinking (and thus creative/inventive thinking) with their students; 5. develop resources for critical thinking in their own subjects; 6. produce assessments in critical and creative thinking to use with students.
Target Audience About the Trainer - Dr Roy van den Brink-Budgen Dr Roy van den Brink-Budgen has been working in the area of Critical Thinking for 31 years, 18 of which he worked on the development of assessment materials not only in Critical Thinking but also other thinking skills. He was employed by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (now Cambridge Assessment) for part of this time, developing assessments in both 'Critical Thinking' and 'Communication' as part of a Thinking Skills assessment programme. Roy was also employed as the Chief Examiner for the British GCE 'A'-Level subject in "Critical Thinking" between its inception in 1999 until 2005.
He has taught the subject for twenty-two years to a diverse variety of groups and ages, ranging from primary children to higher education students, prison inmates, to teachers at all levels, and to staff in organisations and companies. Roy has brought the subject to a wider audience of teachers as well as students than anyone else in the UK. Dr Roy has also delivered papers and workshops at various international conferences on both Critical and Creative Thinking. First published in 1996, his book "Critical Thinking for Students" was a pioneering piece of work in the fact that, unlike other literary resources on Critical Thinking that catered to the niche of university undergraduates, his book was tailored to benefit a wide range of students. Dr Roy's educational resources are not only limited to his books on the subject but include online courses and even a Critical Thinking game. His resources are now widely used in many countries around the world. He is currently Head of the Critical Thinking Advisory Board for a London-based company that specialises in the development of resources for both the assessment and learning in the subject. He is also an advisor to an international company that has developed self-coaching by AI. Click here to view Dr Roy's videos on The Skills of Critical Thinking & Critical Thinking - Issues of Training and Creativity |