Secondary school teachers from around Otago became students again for a day during a series of seminars about "thinking" at Otago Girls High School on Friday.
About 150 teachers from Otago Girls, St Hildas Collegiate, Otago Boys High School, Kavanagh College and The Catlins Area School attended the teachers-only day at which New Zealand Council for Educational Research chief researcher Dr Rosemary Hipkins gave the keynote speech.
The seminars were held as part of the schools' Hotspot Cluster Project, which aimed to enhance the use of higher order thinking skills by all pupils, not just advanced or under performing pupils.
Themes of the day were "Embedding a culture of active thinking and learning into classroom practice" and "Enhancing and sustaining improved practice by building stronger links between schools and developing a wider professional community".
It was hoped Dr Hipkins' investigation into the idea of "thinking as a key competency" would help dedicated project leaders within the schools work with curriculum managers and staff to assist them in implementing advanced thinking skills into departmental schemes, unit planning and lesson plans.
