Abstract: The teaching of thinking has become the focus of a new interventionist paradigm in schooling. Four perspectives have been particularly influential in the development of the paradigm: (1) the cognitive view of intelligence, which asserts that intellectual ability can be changed; (2) the constructivist approach to learning, which maintains that children actively and independently construct knowledge by creating and coordinating relationships in their mental repertoire; (3) the social psychology view of classroom experience, which focuses on the learner as an individual who is a member of various peer groups and a society; and (4) the perspective of information processing, which deals with the acquisition, elaboration, and management of information. Three exemplary teaching strategies can be linked to these research perspectives: Reuven Feuerstein's instrumental enrichment program involving mediated learning experiences and psychological intervention; Stanley Pogrow's higher order thinking skills program, which includes computer-based instruction in information processing skills; and Robert Slavin's two cooperative learning programs for math and language arts. All three strategies include staff development components. Schools can facilitate the implementation of thinking programs by attending to six critical factors: clarity of objectives, importance of environment, staff development and program support, incentives for involvement, timing and ownership, and stable leadership. A reference list contains 69 citations. (AC)
Notes: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Association for Cognitive Education (3rd, Riverside, CA, February 9, 1992).
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