Growing Thinking Schools Training

Growing Thinking Schools Ethiopia is training and an accompanying guidebook, much like a travel guide and/or website that you have closely looked through before visiting a new place, with information about different pathways for investigating a new concept.  Growing Thinking Schools training and guidebook is only used with support of a certified Thinking Schools International trainer who will guide you and your colleagues through a process of:

  • envisioning what a “Thinking School” might look like in your culture and environment;
  • considering the different possible approaches you may take; and
  • beginning the planning stage for the short and long term process of explicitly and systematically integrating “thinking” processes into the existing “learning” processes within your school.

The Growing Thinking Schools Guide is in English and translated into an Amharic edition.

Growing Thinking Schools training and guide offers starting points for the journey toward becoming a “Thinking School” of the 21st century.

  • UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) has written a Letter of Support  to promote the concept and practice of Thinking Schools Ethiopia. Thinking Schools Ethiopia aims to promote modern teaching and learning methods in Ethiopian schools through the Thinking Methodologies and Whole School School and System approach. IICBA, as an Institute engaged in the  promotion of modern pedagogy and support to teacher education institutions in Africa has been participating  in  the  workshops that were organised  to familiarise school teachers in Addis Ababa with the methodology and confirms that the new approach to teaching and learning be very beneficial to students in Ethiopian schools.
  • Addis Ababa Education Bureau (AAEB) head Ato Dilamo Otore  shared at an earlier Thinking Schools session facilitated in Addis Ababa by Dr. David Hyerle,  teaching-learning approach changes that have been made available for [Ethiopian] government schools, adding that a number of trainings have been given to teachers. This however did not guarantee immediate positive outcomes, and hence Thinking Schools Ethiopia (TSE) would serve as a medium to assist in filling the gaps still troubling the system. As part of the notable success in the new government undertaking, Ato Dilamo said that students are engaged in a group-thinking and working approach that is used both in and out of the classroom. He also pledged support to TSE throughout the coming endeavors and said that starting with leadership being key, the initial spark had been ignited through the diverse pool of decision makers that were present at the workshop. Ato Dilamo has been instrumental in coordinating the upcoming AAEB experts training from 27 Aug—1 September 2012, and the upcoming implementation with 60 whole schools across ten sub-cities in the AAEB school system beginning the end of September 2012.


Growing Thinking Schools Approach  

Below are some excerpts from the Growing Thinking Schools guide to provide insights and understanding of the Growing Thinking Schools process. The first three stages of the journey as presented in this guide are to engage you in reflective questions such as:

  • What is the relationship between “learning” and “thinking”?
  • What is a “thinking” student?
  • How have other schools created Thinking Schools?
  • What are a variety of ways, definitions and approaches to thinking?
  • How do these beliefs fit within your belief system?

Guide Table of Contents

1. Getting Started
To get started, here is a visual mapping process…will support us in getting a view of the school and the environment around the school. Part of the process and guide includes the Working Field Guide for a hands on collaborative process.

2. Exploring Pathways
How does Change Happen?  The research on “change” processes in any organization can be summarized using this sequence…

3. Planning the Journey

  • What are the best ways to approach the teaching of thinking for YOUR school?
  • What do you think is involved in a whole school approach?
  • What transformative steps are necessary for success?
  • How far are you along in this process already?
  • How will you build consistency through a developmental  planning process?
  • Are there clear timelines and actions for training, monitoring and sustaining the plan?

4. Leading the Way

Working Field Guide
The Working Field Guide is part of the guide and Thinking Schools Ethiopia process — practices applied in a practical manner.

 

Growing Thinking Schools Ethiopia Process and Timeline
The Multi-Flow Map below (inputs -> outputs) provides an insight to goals and inputs to support the goals successful outcomes. The map below is focused on the collaboration with the Addis Ababa Education Bureau and its’ 300+ schools.

Timeline (Flow Map) of Thinking Schools Ethiopia Implementation
The timeline below (Flow Map) provides a sequence of Thinking Schools Ethiopia implementation leading up to the Addis Ababa Education Bureau collaboration and the actual implementation.

 

 Project Overview
The visual map below provides a general overview of the whole Thinking Schools Ethiopia project focused on sustainability with the initiative.

 

Reflections from participants of the two day Growing Thinking Schools training…
(English and Amharic with subtitles)

Addis Ababa Education Bureau
Experts Training
27 August—1 September 2012

The Addis Ababa Education Bureau (AAEB) collaboration with  Growing Thinking Schools Ethiopia continues with the training of the whole AAEB experts team. Twelve members of the AAEB experts team previously participated in a Growing Thinking Schools training earlier this year. The training of the experts will be then followed by the training of leadership teams from 60 pilot schools in September. This will be followed by whole school Thinking Schools training with the pilot schools at their school sites. The training includes the Growing Thinking Schools training followed by specific support trainings.

PHASE 1:  from 2009 —2011 over 2000 Ethiopian educators have been through multiple day Thinking Schools Ethiopia training in Addis Ababa and Hosanna Ethiopia. Many of the sessions are documented in the blog.

PHASE 2:  from August 2012—December 2012 the AAEB expert team and 60 schools will be part of the initial pilot project. They will all receive Growing Thinking Schools Ethiopia training.

PHASE 3:  from January 2013—July 2015 the project will expand to the whole AAEB school system. Concurrently there will be projects with rural regions and collaborations with children / youth organizations.

For more information on the upcoming training please contact TSI Global Trainer Robert Price or  Atsede Tsehayou. Contact information may be found clicking on ‘contact’ in the menu.

Thinking Schools Ethiopia demonstration in Addis Ababa Education Bureau Government School.