Managing Information - Using Initiative

Hi there,

This week I have been thinking about the concept of 'Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities.' What does it mean? How can I do this? How can my pupils do this? - These questions have been racing through my head as we are now in the last term of the year and I really want to develop them with our Year 10 before they move on to their next school.

But what actually is the 'thinking' behind 'Thinking Skills?' They are tools that teachers can incorporate into every day lessons to encourage pupils to go beyond the acquisition of knowledge in order to search for meaning, apply ideas, analyse patterns and evaluate their progress. Through the development of these skills, children's self-esteem and self-confidence are fostered.

Let's start with Managing Information - what is it & how can pupils develop this skill?

The purpose of 'Managing Information' is to develop pupils' abilities in an information-intensive environment to really think for themselves, use initiative and become less reliant on the teacher.

• Pupils should be encouraged to ask focused questions
• Planning and setting goals are imperative, pupils need to use their initiative to break larger tasks into sub-tasks
• Pupils need to select, classify, compare and evaluate information
• Rather than being told the exact steps to take in completing a task, pupils should be able to select the most appropriate method for a task and think it all through for themselves
• Pupils should be able to use appropriate information to commuincate with a sense of audience and purpose

I am starting an ICT project with Year 10 which strongly encourages pupils to 'Manage Information.' Thinking for themselves, using their initiative and communicating with a sense of audience and purpose. It will be interesting to facilitate pupils in this process and to see the final product.

A :) x