The Festival of Metacognition Day 2: Visits to Thinking Schools
Comparing and Contrasting Thinking School Practice
Lorna Gardiner, Thinking Matters Consultant, shares her reflections on the recent school visits to Edgware Primary School and Notting Hill Prep School during the second day of the Festival of Metacognition 2024.
Introduction
The recent Festival of Metacognition in London provided attendees with lots of information, stimulation and inspiration, but an enthusiastic group of 30 attendees wanted even more, and stayed on for a further day to join us on a tour of two Exeter University accredited Thinking Schools! The visiting group was very diverse, with delegates from primary, secondary and special schools, from state, independent and international schools, and from across many parts of England, Northern Ireland, Belgium, Bulgaria and Nigeria.
The purpose had been agreed as an opportunity to meet staff and students who would share how they have adapted the Thinking Schools approach in their unique contexts. The two schools visited are quite different settings, so it is interesting to reflect on the extent to which what was seen, heard and felt during the visits reflected this, or whether there was rather more in common than might have been expected – so let’s compare and contrast some key observations!
The Differences
School Contexts
In both schools, the visit commenced with a warm welcome and presentation by key staff which aimed to provide some background information on their school – this is where we could see some distinct differences in the school contexts.
In Edgware Primary School, situated in North London, the Headteacher, Alison Jacobs, provided an interesting history and context for this state funded primary school. The school population has above average numbers of Pupil Premium students, of students with English as an Additional Language (EAL), and of students who have Special Educational Needs (SEND). Alison also outlined other challenges facing the school, including mobility, with many students leaving and arriving mid-year, of the need for creativity in efforts to engage parents/carers and of the school adopting the role of seeking to meet some of the practical needs evident within the school community.
The school had also been required to address some significant areas for improvement following an inspection 10 years ago which led to an amalgamation of the infant and junior schools. Under Alison’s leadership, the school has made impressive progress in that period from a school improvement perspective – not only in relation to academic outcomes, but also in raising standards of student behaviour, attendance and attitudes, and in relation to quality of teaching provided across the school. Alison explained how the prioritisation of thinking/metacognition enabled a solid focus on improving consistency in pedagogy across the school, contributing significantly to the improvement process.
In Notting Hill Prep School, an independent school for children 4-13 years situated in Central London, the Deputy Headteacher, Nicola Swales provided the welcome and introduction to the school. This non-selective, co-educational, independent school was founded in 2003 and operates on a split-site in three purpose-built buildings.
The school ethos promotes academic rigour and the innate joy of childhood, and many of its students progress to prestigious independent senior schools. As an independent school, it has adopted an informal style and seeks to build strong relationships with parents. The attendees were given an informative booklet which provided background to the school’s unique approach to developing as a Thinking School in the past 10 years.
The Focus for the Visit
Each school had identified a specific focus for their visit, which sought to reflect an important priority for their school in its Thinking School journey.
For Edgware, the focus was How to use metacognitive tools effectively to ensure progress of your most disadvantaged pupils. Using a Categorising Frame to illustrate, Alison detailed the main strategies on which the school had originally focused to address areas for improvement under the headings of improving behaviour, developing learners and raising attainment and progress and developing a community of learners. As well as articulating a clear vision for the school, the school has prioritised investment in teacher professional development, ensuring that all staff had a robust understanding of pedagogical theory and the Science of Learning to inform their practice.
Assistant Headteacher and Metacognition Lead, Sarah Marshall, with the assistance of a group of enthusiastic students, then outlined how a specified range of metacognitive tools were being used to deepen learning and to extend children’s thinking and oracy with positive impact on outcomes and also on attitudes to learning, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Notting Hill’s focus was Embracing the Thinking School ethos for innovative research, which reflects the school’s wider interest in engaging in action research, in encouraging staff members to be reflective practitioners and in their commitment to be at the cutting edge of educational developments. Arabella Chute, Thinking School Coordinator, outlined the process by which the school consults with the wider staff team to identify research areas of interest as future priorities. She described the process which has been used to explore identified research questions, including careful planning for the Drive Team, engaging the whole staff in the process, with tips for keeping it on the agenda throughout the year and of course the importance of reflection and review.
A recent project taken forward by the school with Guy Claxton was outlined, which had explored how movement affects our thinking. The purpose was to explore how and if bringing movement into teaching practice was beneficial to overall learning. The qualitative feedback from the project was very positive and concluded that 98% of the participating teachers would continue to integrate movement into future lessons. The next action research topic for the school will seek to explore the uses and impact of AI in education. In leading the interest in innovative research, the Drive Team is both modelling many of the learning habits prioritised across the school and also contributing to growing a culture of enquiry, of critical, creative and reflective thinking.
The Similarities
Whilst the two schools operate in distinctly different contexts, there were remarkable similarities in fundamental messages communicated during the visits, which are indicative of the key characteristics of effective Thinking Schools and are worthy of consideration in exploring how universally applicable the tenets of the Thinking School approach may be.
An Environment Conducive to Learning and Thinking
Both schools have agreed and shared with their school communities a strategic vision focused on metacognition/thinking and learning and have defined an ethos which is underpinned by important values. They also articulate clearly what it means to them to be recognised as a Thinking School in their unique contexts. The visibility of messages about the core values leaves any visitor – and indeed the students – in no doubt as to the school’s commitment to these. Classroom and corridor environments include helpful displays which celebrated students’ work, which profiled key messages of a common language for thinking and learning and which provided support for learning and promoted independence in enabling ease of access to resources.
Edgware’s values are identified as Respect, Tolerance, Honesty, Resilience/perseverance, Kindness and Being Reflective. Notting Hill’s as Wonder, Challenge, Self-Knowledge and Community. As the visitors moved from the presentations to be guided on a learning walk around both schools, the physical and visual environments and the affective environments tangibly reflected the respective school values through the general atmosphere in corridors and classrooms, the manner in which staff were speaking with students and the language and ideas being communicated by the students.
As visitors to the schools, the warm welcome which was given, the generous hospitality, the openness of staff and students to share their experiences and to talk about their school’s approaches all communicated a positive ethos in which relationships and community are valued. Both schools expressed how important it was that staff know their students, are genuinely interested in them and believe centrally that students must be happy if they are to learn effectively. It was interesting to note the focus in both schools in developing their student’s self-knowledge and self awareness alongside their emotional intelligence and capacity to express and manage their emotions using strategies such as the Zones of Regulation and Restorative Justice approaches in managing behaviour – an integral aspect of supporting the development of self-regulated learning.
Cognitive Coaches – Teachers as Reflective Practitioners
Key to creating this positive and supportive ethos in which metacognition is promoted and valued is the role of the teacher – or in Thinking Matters terms, the Cognitive Coach. It was clear in both schools that there were high expectations of the staff, that they promote the values and establish a conducive learning environment in which each student feels accepted, valued and supported, and also that they demonstrate a thorough professional knowledge and utilise a robust pedagogical toolkit. In their Thinking Classrooms it was evident that teachers model the behaviours of an expert thinker, scaffold students’ thinking, stimulate dialogue, ask skilful questions, provide meaningful feedback and utilise the agreed metacognitive tools with effect.
In Edgware, Alison spoke about the importance of staff being calm and kind and prioritising well-being as a foundation for learning, as well as having a clear understanding of quality teaching with consistent approaches to lessons informed by the Science of Learning – understanding the ‘why as well as the what’ of teaching. Similarly, Notting Hill have identified six areas of pedagogy to ensure consistent high-quality teaching across the school – attitude, method, organisation, reflection, environment and well-being – aiming to ensure that all students thrive within a dynamic and inspiring atmosphere.
As the visitors toured each school and had the opportunity to see teachers in situ and to chat informally to many staff, we were impressed by their depth of professional knowledge and understanding, and their commitment to wanting the very best for their students.
Common Use of Tools and a Common Language for Thinking and Learning
A fundamental characteristic of practice in both schools was the consistent use of agreed metacognitive tools and strategies – the Thinkers Toolbox in Edgware, the Building Blocks Tools in Notting Hill. Importantly in both schools, was the prioritisation of establishing a shared understanding that use of the tools is underpinned by a robust understanding of the Science of Learning. Although each school had identified their own set of tools, so they were not identical, there were marked similarities in the level of commitment to utilise the tools consistently across the school and in the visibility of the tools within the school environments and in students’ work.
In both schools, Metacognitive Visual Tools are used widely for a range of purposes across the school. They were visible in classroom displays, in student work and also in administrative aspects of the schools. It was clear that they provided a common visual language for thinking and learning. When talking about their use with students during the visits, they were very able to enthusiastically describe their purpose and how they used them regularly to help organise and display their thinking, to solve problems and to ask questions using the Reflective Lens.
The importance of supporting students to develop intelligent learning behaviours and positive dispositions is also prioritised in both schools. Art Costa and Bena Kallick’s 16 Habits of Mind were visible, audible and felt in the practice of Edgware. Inspired by Costa’s work, Notting Hill have developed their own model based on the character of the Rabbit with the Habits. In visiting classrooms and speaking with students in both schools, there was a tangible awareness of the commitment to developing, modelling and embodying these positive dispositions in learning and in life.
Other metacognitive tools were evident in the practice of each school, and there were interesting examples of how various tools could be integrated and used in a complementary way. There was a particular focus on strategies which promote reflective thinking and skilful questioning exemplifying the desire to encourage students to articulate their thinking, to explain their reasoning, to be self-motivated, critical, curious learners, which brings us to our observations of the students…
Meta-Learners in Action!
As the visiting group were guided on learning walks around the school, they had opportunity to visit some classrooms, to view examples of student work to see the metacognitive tools in use and, importantly, to chat informally to students who accompanied us on our tour. This was undoubtedly the highlight of the visits for many!
There was an emphasis evident in both schools on enabling students to understand themselves as learners through opening doors to the Science of Learning. The recognition was clear that students will become more effective at planning, monitoring and evaluating their learning when they have knowledge of how their brain works, how neural connections can be 7 strengthened, how to manage cognitive load, how to utilise effective memory strategies, etc.
As well as the focus on developing Habits of Mind, awareness of the emotive brain, use of mindfulness strategies and of the Zones of Regulation all fuse to raise students’ levels of self-awareness and capacity to self-direct, self-monitor and ultimately become a self-regulated learner. The focus on setting appropriate levels of challenge for their learners and encouraging students to accept that error is part of the learning process and to understand that we can learn from failure and mistakes contributes to the growth mindset culture in both schools.
Central in the practice of both schools was, not only the expectation that staff will utilise the agreed metacognitive tools in their pedagogy but more importantly, that students will take responsibility for using them with increasing independence in their own learning. There was lots of evidence of authentic and appropriate use of a variety of metacognitive tools in lessons observed and in student work. In talking with students about their work, they communicated a deep understanding of the tools they were using and how they supported their learning.
As the visiting group left each of the schools, many of the comments reflected a recognition of the standards of work that had been observed. Notting Hill’s commitment to academic rigour was very apparent in the range and quality of work observed, for example with students encouraged to pursue their own individual topics of interest in project in the Upper School. In the opening presentation, Alison and Sarah had shared Edgware’s school progress statistics which clearly demonstrated the positive impact the school was seeing from adopting the whole school approach, and this was reinforced by the quality of written work and presentation evident in student work.
From a personal perspective, my biggest takeaway from each school was embodied by individual students who I met during the visits. The Year 7 student who guided my group on the Notting Hill Prep learning walk was impressively confident and articulate in answering our questions, in describing the school ethos and what it meant to be a Thinking School and in talking about how he uses metacognitive tools in his own learning.
Likewise, I had an inspiring conversation with a Year 4 student in Edgware PS whilst perusing some of her books, and was blown away by her ability to explain how visual tools helped her memorise important information, which of the Habits of Mind she felt were her strengths and weaknesses, and how green and purple pen marking was helping her continually improve her work… Had I ever seen the video of Austin’s Butterfly? she asked… her class had viewed it to help them understand how having a growth mindset and being open to feedback can help you improve, as well as illustrating how to give kind and constructive feedback. She wants to be a neuroscientist by the way, and I have no doubt she will achieve her goal!
Concluding Thoughts
At the end of the visits to both schools, TM CEO Alisdair Wade expressed thanks to the governing bodies, staff and students on behalf of the visitors. The views of many of the attendees were that the visits had been very worthwhile and inspiring and had also stimulated some fresh practical ideas for implementation. There was no doubt that the input from the students in both schools, and especially the chance to chat informally to them had been a highlight. It speaks volumes of the universal adaptability and the flexibility of the Thinking School approach that, despite the markedly contrasting contexts within which both of these schools are working, there were many more important similarities than differences noted – how wonderful to have both schools as beacons of good practice within the Thinking Matters Network of schools!
TM would like to sincerely thank the leadership teams, staff and students of Edgware Primary School and of Notting Hill Prep School for opening their doors to other members of the TM network, for their warm hospitality and for the generous sharing of their practice. Further information on the schools can be found on their respective websites:
