Full Description
This book is a call to action for educators who seek to move beyond superficial learning and engage students in deeper, more meaningful thinking. At a time when education is dominated by standardisation and a crowded curriculum, this book champions a different path, prioritising student agency, curiosity, and thinking.
Grounded in the influential Cultures of Thinking approach developed by Dr. Ron Ritchhart from Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, this book showcases real-life case studies from Australian classrooms where these principles have been successfully applied. It explores how teachers can develop students' thinking dispositions, make thinking visible, and shape classroom cultures that foster engagement and intellectual growth. Editors Cameron Paterson and Simon Brooks, who have worked extensively with the Cultures of Thinking approach, bring together voices from across Australia, offering a rich tapestry of insights, strategies, and experiences. Through practical examples and compelling analysis, Cultivating Cultures of Thinking in Australian Schools provides educators with a concrete blueprint for transformative teaching.
This book is an essential read for teachers, school leaders, and education professionals who want to create vibrant learning environments that prepare students for the complexities of the modern world. It is a powerful resource for those seeking to move beyond traditional assessment-driven teaching and cultivate a culture where thinking and learning flourish.
Contents
Table of Contents
Foreword - Ron Ritchhart
List of Contributors
Introduction - From Control to Curiosity
Cameron Paterson and Simon Brooks (Eds)
Section 1 - Empowering Learners
Chapter 1 - Unlearning Control
Cameron Paterson
Chapter 2 - Stoking The Fires: How Cultivating Curiosity Leads to Enhanced Engagement and Deeper Understanding
Simon Brooks
Section 2 - Shifting Paradigms
Chapter 3 - Restructuring schools for relationships, play, and time to think
Pasi Sahlberg
Chapter 4 - Indigenous Knowledges - valuing different thinking paradigms
Professor Melitta Hogarth, Dr John Doolah & Mr Justin Wilkey
Section 3 - Transforming Classrooms
Chapter 5 - "Will this be on the test?": How Teachers in Australian Schools Help Students Focus More on Learning and Less on Work
Simon Brooks
Chapter 6 - Exploring Collaborative Learning
Milica Savic
Chapter 7 - Encouraging Learners to Do the Heavy Lifting
Lana Fleiszig
Chapter 8 - Creating a Culture of Self-Directed learning: Risk-taking, Feedback, Goals, repeat
April Taylor
Section 4 - Leading Professional Growth
Chapter 9 - Pathways to Cultures of Thinking in Troubled Times
Nicole Mockler
Chapter 10 - Cultivating a Culture of Thinking at Masada College: Something We Are, Rather Than Something We Do
Ryan Gill & Carla Gagliano
Chapter 11 - Principles of Adult Learning in Cultures of Thinking: Challenges, Calls to Action and Triumphs
Samantha Gooch
Chapter 12 - Empowering Educators: Using Professional Learning Communities to Embed Cultures of Thinking
Kara Baxter
Chapter 13 - Why are school meetings so bad? Some reflections on improving collaboration in schools
Doug Broadbent
Section 5 - Navigating Change
Chapter 14 - Pitfalls and Pathways: Transforming Culture and Sustaining Change in a Culture of Thinking
Mark Church
Chapter 15 - Breakfast, Phonics and Cultures of Thinking: Modern tools for an education renaissance
Lani Brockwell
Chapter 16 - Seeping Upwards and Across: Embedding Cultures of Thinking at Brisbane Girls Grammar School
Dr Bruce Addison & Susan Garson
Chapter 17 - Thinking at the Forefront: Immanuel College's Cultures of Thinking Journey
Martyn Anderson
Conclusion - The Best Teachers Are Subversive
Cameron Paterson and Simon Brooks (Eds)
