Thinking Schools in a South African context. | Sonja Vandeleur | TEDxNorrkopingED

Summary

The speaker reflects on their experiences living in Kenya and South Africa, highlighting the stark contrasts between the two countries. They discuss the dangers of the 'single story' of Africa, emphasizing the continent's diversity beyond poverty and conflict. The talk delves into South Africa's socio-economic challenges, including inequality and education quality, and shares successful interventions in teaching critical thinking skills to improve academic outcomes. The speaker advocates for a shift in educational focus to enhance students' analytical and creative thinking, ultimately arguing that education is a crucial social investment.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The speaker has lived in two African countries, Kenya and South Africa, highlighting the diversity within the continent.
• 🗻 Born in Nari, Kenya, with Mount Kenya as a backdrop, the speaker emphasizes the beauty and significance of African landscapes.
• 🏙️ A comparison is made between the infrastructure of Johannesburg and the social complexities faced in Africa, including issues like xenophobia and gender-based violence.
• 📚 The speaker discusses the 'single story' of Africa, referencing Chimamanda Adichie's TED talk, to highlight the dangers of incomplete narratives and stereotypes.
• 🇿🇦 South Africa is described as a country of contrasts, with high inequality and socio-economic challenges, despite being the most unequal country in the world according to the World Bank.
• 🏘️ Issues such as lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and land ownership are cited as contributing factors to South Africa's inequality.
• 🏫 The script mentions educational successes and challenges in South Africa, including the expansion of no-fee schools and the need for improved teaching resources and quality.
• 🤔 The importance of critical thinking in education is underscored, with an example of how it has been successfully implemented in less-advantaged schools.
• 🗺️ Thinking Maps, developed by David Hyerle, are introduced as a tool to improve students' analytical and higher-order thinking skills.
• 📈 The intervention using Thinking Maps at Belleville Primary School resulted in a significant increase in pass rates for national exams.
• 🎓 The speaker's school in Johannesburg focuses on teaching girls 'how to think' through strategies like de Bono's Six Thinking Hats and the 16 habits of mind.

Q & A

Where was the speaker born and what is the significance of the location?

The speaker was born in a small town called Nario, in the central highland region of Kenya. The significance of the location is that it overlooks Mount Kenya, which is the second highest mountain in Africa.

Why did the speaker move to South Africa?

The script does not provide specific reasons for the speaker's move to South Africa, only that it happened when they were seven years old.

What realization did the speaker have during the flight from Nairobi to Johannesburg?

The speaker realized the stark differences between the two countries, noting the good infrastructure, excellent road system, and world-class airports in Johannesburg compared to the complex social issues they returned to in South Africa.

What is the 'single story' of Africa according to the speaker?

The 'single story' of Africa, as mentioned in the script, is a narrative that portrays Africa as a continent of poverty, destruction, and civil war, which the speaker argues is an incomplete and stereotypical view.

What does the speaker say about South Africa's level of inequality?

The speaker states that South Africa holds the ignominious position of being the most unequal country in the world, as per the World Bank.

What are some of the socio-economic challenges South Africa faces according to the script?

The script mentions several challenges including lack of affordable housing, high unemployment, issues with land and land ownership, and dissatisfaction with the slow pace of socio-economic change.

What is the role of Vijay Reddy in the context of the script?

Vijay Reddy is a special research scientist at the Human Sciences Research Council who has reviewed educational priorities in South Africa over the last 25 years and has commented on the successes and areas needing improvement in education.

What is the significance of 'thinking schools South Africa' in the script?

Thinking Schools South Africa is an organization that the speaker is involved with, which aims to develop and infuse thinking skills into teaching and learning through whole school implementation.

What is the purpose of 'thinking maps' as described in the script?

Thinking maps, as developed by David Hyerle, are used as an intervention tool in education to help students organize their thoughts, make their thinking visible, and engage in higher-order thinking processes.

How did the intervention using thinking maps impact the academic results at Belleville Primary School?

The intervention using thinking maps led to a significant improvement in systemic pass rates for national exams at grade 6 level, increasing from just over 50% in 2013 to over 70% in 2015, a rise of 20%.

What is the approach to teaching thinking skills at the girls' independent school in Johannesburg?

The approach involves explicit lessons in thinking from grade not to grade 10 every week, focusing on the 16 habits of mind as described by Arthur Costa and Bena Kallick, and teaching students how to think rather than what to think.

How do the students apply the concept of 'thinking with understanding and empathy' in their lessons?

The students apply this concept through a strategy called pause, paraphrase, and probe, which encourages them to listen with intent, repeat back what they've heard to ensure understanding, and then ask for clarification or engage further in the conversation.

What issue did the grade eights research and discuss in the script?

The grade eights researched and discussed the issue of xenophobia in South Africa, making suggestions on what can be done to address it going forward.

What is the purpose of using de Bono's thinking hats in the script?

De Bono's thinking hats are used to structure conversations and thinking processes, allowing students to explore different aspects of a topic, such as facts, emotions, and solutions, in a systematic and comprehensive way.

What reflective task did the students undertake after their discussions on xenophobia?

The students undertook a reflective task from Harvard University's visible thinking strategies to consider how their thinking might have changed from before they started the task to after completing it, helping them consolidate their understandings and beliefs.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Cultural and Socio-Economic Contrasts in Africa

The speaker reflects on their experiences living in Kenya and South Africa, highlighting the stark differences between the two countries. They recount a recent visit to Kenya, which led to a realization of the diverse realities within Africa, challenging the 'single story' narrative that often portrays the continent as homogenously impoverished and war-torn. The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing the complexity and diversity within Africa, referencing Chimamanda Adichie's TED talk on the dangers of a single story. They also touch on South Africa's socio-economic challenges, including inequality, lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and issues of land ownership, as well as the slow pace of socio-economic change despite 25 years of democracy.

05:01

📚 The Importance of Critical Thinking in Education

This paragraph discusses the shortcomings in South African education, particularly the focus on rote learning rather than comprehension and critical thinking. The speaker introduces the work of Thinking Schools South Africa, an organization that aims to integrate thinking skills into teaching and learning. The narrative includes a case study of a school in Belleville, where the use of thinking maps as an intervention significantly improved academic results, particularly in reading comprehension. The speaker emphasizes the effectiveness of this approach in engaging students in higher-order thinking and improving their academic performance.

10:02

🤔 Cultivating Thinking Skills in an Independent School

The speaker shares their experience as the head of cognitive education at a girls' independent school in Johannesburg, where they have implemented explicit lessons in thinking from grade not to grade 10. They discuss the use of strategies such as the 16 habits of mind by Causton Beinac to teach students how to think critically. A specific focus is placed on the habit of listening with understanding and empathy, using the 'pause, paraphrase, probe' technique. The speaker also describes a project where grade eights researched xenophobia in South Africa and proposed solutions, using de Bono's thinking hats to structure their discussions and Harvard's visible thinking strategies for reflection.

15:02

🏛 The Power of Education for Social Change

In the final paragraph, the speaker concludes by emphasizing the profound impact of integrating thinking skills into education. They share reflections from grade eight students who have broadened their understanding of xenophobia from a narrow perspective to a more nuanced view that recognizes it as an international issue. The speaker asserts that education is the most critical form of social investment, capable of fostering understanding and driving social change, and ends with a note of gratitude and an applause from the audience.

Keywords

💡Central Highland Region

The Central Highland Region refers to the high-altitude area in the central part of Kenya. It is significant in the video as it is the birthplace of the speaker and provides a geographical context to the narrative. The region's mention sets the scene for the diverse experiences the speaker has had across different African countries.

💡Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya is the second highest mountain in Africa and is a prominent geographical feature that the speaker's hometown overlooks. It symbolizes the natural beauty and significance of the African landscape in the speaker's early life experiences and contributes to the theme of diversity within Africa.

💡South Africa

South Africa is one of the two African countries where the speaker has lived. It represents a contrast to Kenya in terms of infrastructure and social issues. The mention of South Africa in the script highlights the disparities and complexities within different African nations, challenging the single story narrative.

💡Single Story

The term 'single story' is used to describe the phenomenon where a singular narrative or stereotype is used to define a group of people or a place. In the video, it is a central theme that the speaker critiques, emphasizing the importance of recognizing the diversity and complexity within Africa, rather than reducing it to a single narrative of poverty and conflict.

💡Chimamanda Adichie

Chimamanda Adichie is a Nigerian author who is mentioned in the script for her 2009 TED Talk about the dangers of a single story. Her work is relevant to the video's theme as it underscores the importance of multiple narratives in understanding the diverse identities and realities within Africa.

💡Inequality

Inequality is a key issue discussed in the context of South Africa, where the speaker notes the country's position as the most unequal in the world according to the World Bank. This concept is integral to the video's exploration of socio-economic challenges and the need for a nuanced understanding of African societies.

💡Educational Priorities

Educational priorities refer to the focus areas identified for improvement within the South African education system over the last 25 years. The script mentions the expansion of early childhood development programs and the introduction of no-fee schools as examples of progress, which tie into the broader discussion on the importance of education in social change.

💡Thinking Schools South Africa

Thinking Schools South Africa is an organization mentioned in the script that aims to develop and infuse thinking skills into teaching and learning. It exemplifies the video's emphasis on the importance of critical thinking and pedagogical innovation in education, particularly in less-advantaged schools.

💡Thinking Maps

Thinking Maps are a tool developed by David Hyerle, used in the script to help students organize their thoughts and engage in higher-order thinking. They are a visual representation technique that aids in understanding and remembering key concepts, as demonstrated in the intervention at Belleville Primary School.

💡Xenophobia

Xenophobia is the fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners, which is a significant social issue discussed in the video. The speaker's students research this topic, reflecting the video's theme of encouraging critical thinking and informed discussion on complex societal challenges.

💡Cognitive Education

Cognitive Education is a teaching approach that focuses on how to think rather than what to think. In the script, it is used in a girls' independent school in Johannesburg, where students are taught to develop critical thinking skills through strategies like de Bono's Six Thinking Hats, which is a method to structure discussions and enhance understanding.

Highlights

The speaker was born in Nario, Kenya, with a view of Mount Kenya, and later moved to South Africa at the age of seven.

A recent two-week holiday in Kenya highlighted the stark differences between the infrastructure and social issues of Kenya and South Africa.

Johannesburg's infrastructure is praised for its excellent road system, world-class airports, and fast train, contrasting with complex social issues.

Chimamanda Adichie's TED talk on the danger of a single story is referenced to emphasize the importance of not stereotyping Africa.

South Africa is identified as the most unequal country in the world, with multifaceted reasons including lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and land ownership issues.

The slow pace of socio-economic change in South Africa is a source of dissatisfaction, despite some successes in early childhood development and social protection.

Infrastructure in South Africa's schools is criticized, with many lacking proper facilities, electricity, and the necessary resources for teaching and learning.

The importance of changing the focus to teaching and learning resources is stressed, given the poor quality of education and reading comprehension.

The Thinking Schools South Africa organization is introduced, with a mission to infuse thinking skills into teaching and learning.

Elmarie Peterson's intervention using thinking strategies in a school with socio-economically disadvantaged and refugee children is highlighted.

The use of thinking maps, developed by David Hyerle, is described as a tool to improve academic results and critical thinking.

A significant improvement in pass rates for national exams at Belleville Primary School is attributed to the use of thinking strategies.

The speaker's school in Johannesburg implements cognitive education, teaching students how to think through the use of habits of mind.

The use of de Bono's Thinking Hats is described to structure conversations and promote deeper thinking on complex issues like xenophobia.

Students' reflections on xenophobia show a profound understanding and a shift in perspective after applying thinking skills.

The integration of thinking skills and strategies is praised for its effectiveness in improving education and addressing social issues.

Education is emphasized as the most important form of social investment.

Transcripts

I have lived in two African countries I

was born in the central highland region

of Kenya in a small town called nari

that looks out over Mount Kenya the

second highest mountain in Africa when I

was seven my family and I moved to South

Africa last month I went back to Kenya

on a two-week holiday and we went to the

northern country of like capilla and

with Peter our are sized spotter and

then we went down to the coastal region

of Kenya within flew back from Nairobi

to Johannesburg and on that flight it

made me realize that our countries are

so different we arrived back in

Johannesburg with its good

infrastructure excellent road system

three world-class airports a fast train

that takes you from our Tambo

International Airport into santen the

financial hub of southern Africa but we

arrived back to a complex social world

within a phobia and gender-based

violence had reared their ugly heads

again so why am I telling you this many

Africans living in countries and

continents other than Africa speak about

the single story of Africa and the

single story of African identity a

single story is where one views people

or people's as one thing thereby

creating stereotypes Chimamanda Adichie

in her 2009 TED talk speaks about the

danger of a single story so the dangers

of single story so not that they are

untrue but that they are incomplete the

dangers of single stories are that they

become the only story

so it is a single story of Africa it is

one of poverty destruction civil war a

a continent that is lacking this is

an incomplete story South Africa is a

country of contrasts we have the

ignominious position of being the most

unequal country in the world so World

Bank says that all countries have

inequality but that South Africa is the

starkest example so what are the reasons

for this well it is multifaceted there

is lack of affordable housing and urban

areas there is unemployment is the issue

of land and land ownership so in 25

years of democracy there is much the

satisfaction with a slow pace of

socio-economic change at school level

Vijay Reddy who's a special research

scientist at the Human Sciences Research

Council has said there has in her her

review of educational priorities in the

last 25 years of State of the Nation

Address addresses the first given by the

end President Nelson Mandela says that

there has been much success in early

childhood development so the expansion

of this program has been successful

social protection has been on on a good

rise in 2006 no-fee schools were

introduced and this has now been

expanded to most public schools which

enables children to stay in school

longer government was mostly delivered

on infrastructure however there are

still a hundred schools to be built

9,000 schools use pit latrines and there

are 300 schools that do not have

electricity so there are so much work to

be done

however the focus now needs to change to

resources for teaching and learning

because the quality of our education is

not good so the quality of education

remains elusive reading for meaning is a

huge problem in the most recent progress

progress in international reading

studies showed that 78% of our grade for

learners cannot read for meaning a

teacher will stand in front of a class

classes are sometimes 30 40 50 60 pupils

they are crammed into discs they share

books the readers the pupils read in a

sing-song fashion the teacher will

correct pronunciation reading continues

pupils are assist entirely on their

ability to read correctly they are not

asked about what the story means about

the characters in the story they are not

asked perhaps to finish the ending of a

story and make a difference in the

creative way so they are taught as their

teachers were taught so how do we change

the cycle well one way would be to have

an emphasis on reading page at pedagogy

at in-service training and both at

teacher education courses at University

I am on the board of an organization

called thinking school South Africa the

core mandates of thinking schools South

Africa is to develop the infusion of

thinking skills into teaching and

learning using whole school

implementation this is al Marie Peterson

she is a trainer for thinking schools

South Africa she teaches at a school in

Belleville which is just outside Cape

Town

and children are bused in there from

Khayelitsha many of these children are

refugee children so they come from a

very difficult socio-economic background

they speak up to 9 languages so at her

school she realized that critical

thinking is not required in list

less-advantaged schools but this became

an area of contention and their star

friend because many teachers said that

these children should have an easy time

at school because they have such a

difficult time at home but Elmarie

realized that if you don't have high

expectations then children went rise to

those expectations so she started an

intervention and she introduced some

thinking strategies and this is a quote

from what she said the thinking

strategies allowed the learners of my

class to meet higher expectations become

aware of the possibility within them and

strive to improve their own

circumstances these strategies open the

mind and allow for growth on a much

deeper level than normal as well as

significantly improving academic results

so the intervention she used our

thinking maps as developed by David

Haley these are concrete images of

abstract thoughts so what learners have

to do is go through text or photos

pictures find key words and put them

down into one of these 8 thinking maps

the 8 thinking maps relate to PR js8

cognitive processes so this helps

students to organize the thinking it

helps make their thinking visible it

allows them to get engaged in

higher-order thinking by analyzing by

going through text and finding key words

and so this is the intervention that

they used at Belleville primary school

this is an example of one of your grade

six learners so this is a thinking map

comparing and contrasting the lines of

longitude and the lines of latitude so

the similarities are in the circles down

the center and the differences are on

the outside so you can see that from a

map like this it is far easier to

remember the key words because it is a

visual representation you can see there

is use of color as well so for the pupil

the grade six pupil to then go and

writes a paragraph ramas or to develop a

presentation allows them to not

plagiarize which is a big thing and also

just to help structure their thinking in

a better way so the results of this

intervention which was only one of the

interventions at both or primary school

if we look at the home language so this

is systemic pass rates for national

exams done at grade 6 level and you will

notice that in 2013 it was just over 50%

where is going up to 2015 over 70

percent that is the rise of 20% which

was highly significant so it was a very

successful intervention I thought I

would not just take you to a completely

different context and that as the school

in which I teach so I teach at a girl's

independent school in Johannesburg

I have been head of cognitive education

there for the last 10 years we go from

grade not grade 12 and our girls have

explicit lessons and thinking from grade

not to grades 10 every week so we teach

them how to think not what to think but

how to think so one of the strategies we

use are at Causton beinac Alex 16 habits

of mind

so the habit

of mind are thinking dispositions and

these are what intelligent people use

we're now confronted with problems to

which they do not know the answer so the

unit of work I've just done with our

grade eights we focus on one at a time

and we get our pupils to get better and

better at these habits of mind so we

focused on number three which is

listening with understanding and empathy

so in a previous lesson they would have

done a strategy called pause paraphrase

probe so we say to them if you are going

to listen with understanding you need to

listen with intent so you need to pause

your brain in other words don't think up

think up an answer or a reply when

somebody is talking to you you need to

listen carefully

the paraphrase is you repeat back what

that person has said to make sure that

you have understood them correctly and

then you can probe you can ask for

clarification or you can disagree you

can agree you can open up the

conversation so the task that we gave

the grade eights was to research the

issue of xenophobia in South Africa make

suggestions on what we can do going

forward and I can tell you that five

years ago we would never have suggested

on having such a difficult conversation

about such a difficult topic with grade

eights so the thinking skills have

enabled us to do that and at grade eight

level we also want them to make

suggestions on going forward so that

there's always hope there's always a way

out of a difficult situation we want

them to keep a reference list so that

they come from an informed point of view

not just from opinions on social media

and they are taught in their IT lessons

to be careful of fake news so we want

them to be careful of that and to choose

reliable resources

we used de Bono's thinking hats to give

them the structure to their conversation

so they would work in groups of five or

six so they normally start off with the

blue hat which is the metacognitive hat

would make which makes them plan the way

that they are going to structure their

conversations so they use one hat at a

time and all of them discuss that pet

and that allows for deeper thinking so

for example they might start with the

white hat which was about facts so they

would go and find out what xenophobia

means they would find out any data on

xenophobia then they might move to the

black hat which was about cautionary

aspects difficulties into the red hat

which was about emotions so what are the

emotions of the foreigners coming into

South Africa what are the emotions about

the South Africans who's feeling

threatened by foreigners so they would

examine that and most groups then said

to me about the yellow hat that they

could not think of anything in official

about xenophobia and I suggested to them

that maybe does opening up the

conversation was beneficial than they

could go and speak to parents and people

in their community green hat was what we

wanted them to come up with which was

solutions so when they finished their

discussions I asked them to do a

reflective task and this comes from

Harvard University's visible thinking

strategies and this enables them to

think how they thinking might have

changed from before they started the

task to after the task and it helps them

to consolidate what their understandings

and they believe so so I've given two

examples here one of our girls wrote I

used to think xenophobia was only South

Africans being prejudiced I thought it

was only against illegal immigrants I

thought it was generated by racism I

didn't think there were any solutions

I didn't think it was a very big problem

in South Africa now I think xenophobia

is an international issue immigrants

boost the economy it has nothing to do

with racism there is a lot that we as a

community can do to stop this it has

killed people living in South Africa so

that's quite profound for a grade grade

8 the second one wrote I used to think

xenophobia was a result of foreigners

leaving their homes for a better life

education etc now I think xenophobia is

a result of South Africans not

understanding why there are foreigners

in South Africa and receiving incorrect

information from leaders in their

communities about the immigrants and

tensions in the country so I think with

the integration of thinking skills and

strategies we are doing quite good work

with our girls in our school and so I'd

just like to finish with one idea and

that is to say that education is the

most important form of social investment

that we can make thank you

[Applause]

[Music]