7 Challenging thinking

Introduction
One of the most difficult tasks that any teacher faces is encouraging their students to
become independent; to be able to go that bit further. Independent learners are those who
can use the information the teacher provides to best effect. They interact with it, question
it, transfer it to different scenarios and ultimately develop their own ideas about the sub-
ject. If we were to suggest a model of the perfect learner, this would be it … curious, ‘bright’,
self-motivated and showing a genuine interest in the subject being taught. But why does it
seem there are fewer learners in our classes who match this description? This may simply
be a perception, but it does make us wonder whether there is something that we can do
as teachers to help our learners progress from being satisfied with simply getting a good
grade, to those who seek out opportunities to develop their learning? In other words, can we
help our students to become ‘expert learners’?
The objective of this chapter is to provide some ideas for helping learners to become
‘expert learners’, the learners that Ertmer and Newby (1996) describe as strategic, self-
regulated and reflective. Learners who are able to set their own goals, and continuously
use reflection to evaluate their progress (Zimmerman, 2002). As teachers we recognise
that all our students have different needs, wants, motivations etc.; some may not be able to
achieve the status of being an ’expert learner’ and others may need a lot of help along the
way. Nevertheless, by incorporating various ‘teaching tactics’ into our plans for teaching it
is possible that all our students will absorb at least some of the skills and strategies of the
expert learner subliminally, lodging them in their long-term memory where they will be able
(perhaps unwittingly!) to call upon them to transfer prior learning of one sort or another
from one context to another in later life.

Memory and learning

Before we can help our learners to become expert learners we need to have some
understanding of how students learn and how they store things in their memories.
Willingham (2002:6) suggests that the ‘human mind appears to be biased towards learning
the surface features of problems … [rather than] … the deep structure’ of knowledge. In
other words, students are likely to accept and memorise processes and facts (the surface

DOI: 10.4324/9781003385905-8
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features) when presented to them without fully understanding them, in preference to

thinking about them and interacting with the information to establish the underlying
principles or ideas (the deeper structures). The problem with surface learning is that it is
exactly that – something that is not connected with other learning so that it remains an
isolated piece of knowledge or a fact situated in the context in which it was learned. This
lack of integration with other learning means that it is somewhat inflexible, and its use-
fulness is limited. However, it can become useful or flexible if it can be ‘accessed out of
the context in which it was learned and applied to new contexts’ (Willingham 2002:5). For
example, learning how to calculate how much liquid a cylinder can hold may be something
that is in the school curriculum, but to most people it’s just a piece of isolated knowledge
until they have to work out the most cost-effective way of buying the tins of fizzy pop they
need to buy for thirsty children.
As you will remember from reading Chapter 3, the memory is divided into three areas,
short-term, long-term and working memory, each with their own specialist function. All new
knowledge and learning are initially received as surface learning and placed by the brain into
the short-term working memory, which can hold only a limited amount of information. From
there it can be passed into the long-term memory, which has a pretty unlimited capacity,
and either incorporated into existing schema or branched off to form a new schema (Sweller
et al., 2016). Again, this is something that was covered in Chapter 3 so if you would like a
more detailed reminder it might be worth referring back to that chapter. With the develop-
ment of large numbers of increasingly complex and sophisticated schema in the long-term
memory, connections between different elements evolve, and the level of understanding
increases.
One of the first things we want to know before we begin to teach is what the students
already know or can remember. This is often done through some sort of re-cap of previous
learning, perhaps by asking questions to ascertain the students’ recollection of what was
taught in a previous lesson or lessons, or to help you to establish their familiarity with a new
subject. Questions might be posed to test mechanistic or surface learning through recalling
of facts or information previously imparted. Alternatively, more complicated questions, often
posed in the form of problems, which require students to use existing knowledge, can be
employed. The second type of question must go beyond simple recall in order to test deeper
learning. For example – remember Iniko, the puppy you met in Chapter 5? He recently went
to the vets for a check-up after some medical problems. Whilst he was waiting for the prac-
titioner in the reception area, a group of students studying veterinary medicine arrived to
start the practical phase of their studies. The vet came into reception and put Iniko (who they
had never seen before) on the floor where the students could see him before starting to ask
them questions about him. Initially he asked them what they could tell about him by looking
at him (and in his case listening to him as he was protesting loudly at this point!); this was
followed up by asking them to draw on their previous learning to determine if there was any-
thing physically wrong with him. By asking them to utilise their deeper learning in a practical
context not only was he testing their recall skills but also checking their understanding.
Most of us will have asked questions about prior learning to check student knowledge
and/or prior learning at the start of the lesson, and been faced with blank expressions on
learners’ faces, particularly when posing questions designed to probe deep learning. At
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this point many teachers would simply revert to asking questions which rely on recall (sur-
face learning) rather than understanding (deeper learning) to reassure ourselves that the
students have ‘learned’ something from preceding lessons.
As the examples in this chapter suggest, if we want to help our learners develop into
expert learners, there are two issues we need to consider:

• How can teachers help students move information from their short-term memory into
their long-term memories?
• How can teachers help students develop the skill of deep learning?

The influence of others on learning

Having a basic understanding of how the memory processes and stores information is
useful, but there is more to learning than just processing information. New-born children
only experience sensory learning gained through touch, taste, hearing, sight or smell which
gives initial information to the brain which at this stage is effectively a tabula rasa. As the
child develops, language becomes an increasingly key factor in the learning process. It
allows them to interact with others and by so doing facilitates their understanding of social
situations by enabling them to interpret the context and the actions of others.
Vygotsky (1978), however, argued that theorists such as Piaget placed insufficient
emphasis on the role of language in learning, and by concentrating on the influence of
external stimuli he also overlooked the importance the cultural aspect. Although individuals
are the sum of their unique experiences, for Vygotsky, language and culture are shared
social phenomena which form the framework through which the individual learns to inter-
pret and develop meaning of the world. The experience of sharing language and culture
initially facilitates an interpsychological level of learning, i.e. the sharing of information
between individuals or groups. A second or higher level of learning, the intrapsychological
level occurs individually when first level learning is challenged in some way. This challenge
(which can be created by others or the context itself) causes the individual both to reflect on,
and interact with, the initial learning stimulating the process of deeper learning. Knowledge
and understanding for Vygotsky are not something which are simply constructed by the
individual but are co-constructed through interaction with others. We can take from this
idea that for students to develop new knowledge and understanding the process of learning
needs to be a shared rather than individual process. One which is the result of social con-
tact, cultural interaction and shared language with the process of learning itself being as
important as the acquisition of the new knowledge.
Any language is simply a code for expressing thoughts, emotions and of course shared
experiences, that includes learning which can be understood by other people. If you work
with young people you may well have found that at times they use language in a way which
is unfamiliar to you. We have all been confused by students describing something as ‘sick’,
which we took to mean something was bad, when in fact it was the opposite. By adapting
language in this way they were developing a code through which they could express them-
selves to those within their peer group but which excluded those not included in the group
(such as teachers and parents) – that is, until the code was cracked! When teaching we need
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to include all our students in the learning process and one of the ways of doing this is to
ensure that they all learn and use the terms associated with the specific subject. By doing
this they are becoming part of an exclusive club of sorts – one with shared language and
terms which others who are not studying the same subject are not familiar with – sharing the
‘secret language’ of the subject as part of a ‘club’ boosts learners’ self-confidence, fosters
their sense of belonging and helps develop a group identity.

Thinking about language

Think about the subject that you teach and identify some of the specific terms that
you use. How do you pass on those terms to your learners? How do you introduce
them to new terms? How do you ensure that they understand them? How do you
model their use?

Scaffolding
The importance of language in learning was also recognised by Bruner (1978) who saw its
critical role in students being able to understand and develop concepts and ideas. Bruner
also recognised that this development needed to be supported by others within the
learning environment, a process described as scaffolding. For Bruner (1978), scaffolding
is a structured interaction between an adult and a student whereby the teacher guides the
student towards the achievement of a specific goal by ‘reduc[ing] the degrees of freedom
in carrying out [a] task so that the [student] can concentrate on the difficult task they are
undertaking’ (Bruner, 1978:19).
Limiting choice in this way might initially seem to be counterintuitive if we are asking
students to research or explore a subject. By limiting the students’ freedom to seek their
own solutions, he argues that students can be guided by reducing the ‘trial and error’
aspect of learning, a process which can lead many students to stray from the task in hand
(or ‘disappear down rabbit holes’ as a colleague describes it) leading to frustration and
misunderstanding (Figure 7.1). A colleague uses this approach very successfully with his
learners – he offers them a choice between three or four different options (all of which he
knows will lead to the same goal but offer different ways of achieving it). The students feel
that they have options and autonomy in their learning as they can make a choice, and he
knows that by limiting their choice they will arrive successfully at the end objective without
wasting time and energy – a win-win strategy!
Learning can also be successfully scaffolded by breaking the task into bite size pieces
(a process commonly described as chunking the information or process, which we covered
in Chapter 3). This approach makes the task seem less daunting and can act as a motiv-
ational tool as students can not only see a way forward, but they can also see what they
have achieved. Whatever format scaffolding takes, the actions of the teacher in the process
are critical. All interaction with the learners during this process provides teachers
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Figure 7.1 Down the rabbit hole

with the opportunity to highlight important areas, model good practice and correct any
misconceptions. The learner can then imitate what the teacher is demonstrating and apply
this to the task they are completing.
Although the teacher is important in helping students develop new knowledge there are
other elements, such peer interaction, which can be just as important. Collaboration with
peers could help individuals move from their actual level of development (what they already
‘know’) to their potential level of development. A range of exchanges between learners
can be used here, for example group discussions which require learners to defend, justify,
clarify and communicate their ideas with others in a temporary ‘community of practice’
(Lave and Wenger, 2003). If their ideas are accepted, then they become shared knowledge
through which the individual is able to access a deeper level of learning. As we discussed
in Chapter 5, learning through collaborative or co-operative group activities is one of the
strategies that can be implemented in planning lessons to promote deeper learning but we
do need to remember that, as noted by Burke (2011), not everyone responds well to this
approach, so as with any strategy, we cannot become over-reliant on it.
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Checking the level of learning

Think about a recent lesson and any questions you may have used to start the lesson.
Write down the questions you can remember. Then, analyse the words and the
question structure and consider these in relation to level of challenge. Were there any
questions which were simply a recall of information? If so, how could you adapt these
so that they are checking deep learning?

If you were aiming to check deep learning through questioning and found that the level of
understanding was not quite as deep as you wished, then your next step is likely to be going
over the elements students are struggling with. Simply repeating the information might help
with recall skills, but it will be a ‘turn-off’ for students who have heard it all before and didn’t
understand it the first-time round. You may well need to consider a different approach to
try to grab their attention and to get them to think about the underlying principles which
will promote deep learning. One way of doing this is through dialogic teaching, which will
help you establish more precisely where students are having difficulty and challenge them
by asking them to reflect on and analyse learning.

Dialogic teaching and learning

Successful teaching and learning depend on ‘the extent to which instruction requires
students to think, not just to report someone else’s thinking’ (Nystrand et al., 1997, 72). This
often means that we are not accepting first responses unless they happen to be extremely
well thought out. In the general scheme of things it means we will use questions which probe
the answers in order to challenge and extend thinking. This type of challenge might sound
harsh … but of course it doesn’t have to be confrontational and to get things started you can
use some of the Socratic questions outlined in Chapter 6. An effective method of challenge
is the use of dialogic teaching (Alexander, 2020). When we use this approach, we are encour-
aging discussion but one in which the student ‘voice’ is as important as that of the teacher. It
is in essence a professional discussion. As a method to facilitate deep learning it has sound
philosophical roots being based on the Socratic practice of disciplined, thoughtful dialogue.
In this approach questioning is used to encourage students to examine ideas in depth and
ascertain their validity for themselves rather than simply echoing the thoughts of the teacher
and not only do learners have the opportunity to challenge their own thinking, they will also
be developing their use of language, which as Halliday suggests is the foundation of learning
(1993).
Dialogic teaching, rather than using questioning to simply assess knowledge,
uses questioning as a means of involving students in the learning process, encouraging
them to take some ownership of the subject under discussion by sharing information and
opinions whilst simultaneously extending and deepening their knowledge and refining their
thinking skills.
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There are five main principles which need to be employed in dialogic teaching and
learning. To be effective it needs students to be:

Collective – working together in groups to tackle a learning task.

Reciprocal – participating in the group by listening to each other, sharing their ideas and
considering and respecting the views and opinions put forward by others.
Supportive – able to bring their ideas, theories and comments to the table without fear of
being judged and through discussion they are able to mediate their views and reach a
collective understanding of the subject or theory under discussion.
Cumulative – to develop their own contributions and build on the thoughts and opinions of
those of others to form a logical sequence of ideas and understanding.
Purposeful – to take part in planned discussions. Although open and non-judgmental in form
these need to be structured by the teacher to move student learning towards a specific
objective or learning aim (Main, n.d.).

As a teaching strategy the dialogic method can be planned into lessons in a number of
formats. For example, it can be used in whole class teaching where all learners can be
involved in a single learning task, in teacher-led group work, in learner-led group work or
in a one-to-one discussion. However, a note of warning; as with any form of group activity,
before embarking on this type of approach it may be advisable to negotiate, confirm, peri-
odically review and possibly reinforce some ground rules with students to ensure that they
adhere to the principles outlined above. During the dialogic process, discussions entail an
open exchange of (sometimes challenging) views or explore issues, ideas and problems,
and care should be taken by the teacher to ensure that the British Values which will be
outlined in Chapter 8, are observed. The discussions themselves can be teacher, student or
group led, but it may be necessary for the teacher to scaffold the dialogue by encouraging
students to approach the subject in diverse ways, for example by:

• Asking and encouraging questions which require more than just recall;
• Following up on answers or views and building on these rather than just acknow-
ledging them;
• Encouraging feedback which not only recognises the response but informs and promotes
forward (or further and deeper) thinking on the part of participants (Rich et al, 2017);
• Encouraging contributions from others which are extended rather than fragmented so
that exchanges form links in a chain to create more coherent and deepening lines of
enquiry.

Using dialogic teaching

Take a look at one of your recent lesson plans or think about a recent lesson and
the sort of activities you included. Was there an opportunity for you to use dialogic
teaching to engage your students in the learning process? How do you think they
would respond to this method of learning?
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By acquiring personal knowledge and experience of learning processes students begin to

develop the ability for the individual to transfer their existing knowledge and skills to new
situations, something which is a primary objective of education as it enables students to
utilise their learning in real life and post-education contexts.

Transfer of learning
Earlier in the chapter Willingham’s notions of flexible and inflexible learning were introduced –
surface learning being narrow and inflexible and deep learning providing flexibility which
can be applied in a different context. Many learners are adept at surface learning and if
they are particularly interested in the subject, possibly some elements of deeper learning.
However, knowledge can become siloed – we learn things in a given context and find it dif-
ficult to transfer it elsewhere. This might be because human memory tends to be context
dependent; new information is ‘tied’ to the situation in which it is experienced, making it
difficult to apply in alternative situations. Have you ever had the experience whereby you
know you have taught something really well, you have checked learning frequently and
learners always give expected answers (i.e. ones which suggest they understand?). Perhaps
you are asking them to follow a process or apply some key principles in a given scenario? In
class they get it right every time. Then the exam comes around and the paper is expecting
them to do exactly the thing you have taught them (and the thing they have demonstrated
so well in practice exercises) but, the paper uses a different context, it sets a different type
of scene and maybe uses different language. What happens? Do your learners immediately
work out that what they are being asked to do is exactly the same thing that they have done
lots of times before … or do they panic, thinking that the different context is in fact asking
for something completely different to what they had learnt?
This is a significant barrier which is made more significant when learners only have a
limited understanding of what they have learnt. Such difficulties are likely to cause problems
when they come across different language or are expected to use their learning in a different
way. However, when learners develop their understanding to incorporate breadth and depth,
transfer of learning to an alternative context becomes much easier. Learning transfer can
take two forms, near transfer and far transfer (Barnett and Ceci, 2002):

• Near transfer occurs when there is an overlap between the context and conditions
of the original learning and the new situation. For example, we might learn essay
writing skills in an English class and can use this to write an assignment in history.
Here the conditions are very similar, and we are simply making a slight change to the
context.
• Far transfer occurs when the new situation is very different from that in which the
learning took place. For example, we may have learnt basic statistics in economics and
can transfer this to another subject where we have to analyse some data.

Helping learners to develop the skills necessary to transfer learning from one context to
another can be tricky. Bjork and Bjork (2011) suggest that ‘desirable difficulties’ that can
be planned into lessons by the teacher as part of the overall teaching programme may
be one way to enhance learners’ abilities in this area. In a sense, what we are doing here
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is ‘shaking up’ the learning environment by posing challenges which on the surface seem
to slow down the initial rate of learning but which over time, actually enhance it. Think
about what happens when we change the structure of a class, perhaps when we start
with something different which is a step away from the normal routine. Do you remember
the ‘learn from our experience’ story in Chapter 2 when we described the lesson with
no objectives? This situation created a lot of discomfort for the learners because it was
quite different to what they were used to, but whilst the initial discomfort was evident,
the overall learning (and certainly the retention of information) was higher than usual.
So, rather than relying on a narrow range of teaching methods (and we all have one
or two that we tend to favour and use regularly), it is suggested that we vary teaching
approaches and learning activities. In addition, introducing a range of revision or prac-
tice tasks spaced out at regular intervals in the teaching schedule, provides opportun-
ities for learners to recall information and adapt it to a range of scenarios. If learning is
revisited regularly and complexity is gradually increased, this provides learners with the
opportunity to build on their learning and reflect on any potential gaps in knowledge.
Interweaving other tasks, topics or subjects, so that learners revisit previously taught
information several times over a period of time, also generates deeper understanding
of the subject, which in turn supports the ability to transfer this to other situations.
Teachers can further support this by modelling the ways in which aspects of learning can
be transferred from one situation to another.

Strategies for enhancing learning transfer

There are five simple approaches which can support learners in developing the skills to
transfer learning:

1. Explicit teaching – obvious as this seems, sometimes we need to point out where
learning may be useful. This means discussing where current learning can be applied in
other parts of life. For example if we learnt the skill of developing a balanced argument
in order to complete an essay, we might be able to transfer this to the workplace when
we are convincing our boss we need a pay rise.
2. Learning in groups – provides the opportunity to collaborate and build skills that will be
welcome in the workplace.
3. Use metaphor or analogies – by comparing one thing that is familiar with something else
we are modelling learning transfer. For example, we might suggest that a heart might
work like a pump, or a well-known story might give us some insight. Just think about
Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up … a story which focussed on the importance of
imagination, positive thought, bravery and kinship.
4. Reflection – encourage your learners to reflect on their own learning and on the strat-
egies that work best for them. For example, if planning an outline of an assignment
helped them to organise their work in one subject, could this be transferred to
another?
5. Generalisation – by asking learners to generalise broader principles from specific situ-
ations we can create a framework for further learning.
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Learn from our experience

This is a reflection from one of the authors, so is written in first person.
I was once assigned to teach a unit on the physics of car traffic accidents. Even
though I have taught some maths, my degree is in Social Sciences, so this was some-
what of a learning curve for me. Whilst teaching the unit I had to ensure that learners
were able to understand and calculate SUVAT equations (equations of motion). I spent
an entire lesson explaining the meaning of each variable and walking learners through
each of the five equations and giving them practice examples to calculate. At the end
of the lesson, I asked a series of questions to assess their understanding of what we
had been doing for the last one and a half hours and it quickly became clear they had
no idea of the point of the lesson, or where they would need these equations. They
had seemed to be engaged for an entire lesson, they had completed the activities, but
had not fully understood any of it!
Reflecting on this event, I realised I had to take a different approach and would
need to completely reteach the lesson. The next week, I began the lesson by calling
a ‘mulligan’, I asked the group to pretend the previous lesson had never happened.
I was honest and told them I had taken the wrong approach and that it wasn’t their
fault that they didn’t understand SUVAT equations, it was mine. This time we watched
videos of crash tests and after each one we looked at the variables of the vehicle in
the videos and made predictions of the damage after choosing and calculating the
appropriate equation. We had all left the previous lesson frustrated because we felt
we hadn’t achieved anything, but the energy in this lesson was completely different.
Using real-life examples helped learners visualise the variables in question – we went
beyond words on a page.

Although we were still discussing physics, learners were transferring what had been,
until that time, abstract knowledge to live examples in an attempt explain the outcomes.
Obviously, most teachers won’t have to call a mulligan on an entire lesson, but in doing so,
it was possible to earn the trust and respect of the learners. Modelling, in this case showing
examples of the theory in practice, is undoubtedly at its most effective if learners can relate
to the model in some way. It may be necessary to use more than one model or example to
show how concepts can be applied in different contexts.

Activity
Reflect on a recent lesson. How did you model the transfer of knowledge/learning?
Did you include any models to demonstrate theory in practice? What was the reaction
of the students? Do you feel that you used the right model or is there something else
that you could have included which might have been more helpful?
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Figure 7.2 Kialo

Leveraging learning technology

One particularly effective method of driving deep learning is the ‘big question’. In line with
the notion of Socratic questioning mentioned earlier in this chapter, the ‘big question’
is simply an open-ended question that does not have a clear right or wrong answer but
facilitates debate. Although most online tools are geared toward assessing surface learning,
there are a few that can drive deeper learning by getting learners to apply knowledge to a
variety of contexts or pursue ‘big questions’.
Kialo (referenced in Chapters 3 and 6) is one of the best tools out there for this. Kialo is
a debate platform that allows teachers to post a question and invite learners to respond for
or against. One of the best features of the tool is that it allows for sub-debates to develop as
learners can refute or support individual points and as the debate develops the site creates
a mind map (like the image in Figure 7.2).
Learners can also support their arguments by adding links to sources, supporting
websites and even videos, and teachers can set tasks that require learners to include these.
As an alternative, teachers could also use Padlet which works well when using shelf mode to
create columns for multiple arguments around a question and assigning learners or groups
to defend those arguments with points and supporting evidence.
Digital storytelling is a really useful and creative strategy whereby learners use digital
tools to create a narrative. This could be as simple as using a collection of images and
overlaying text, or combining video clips with narration in more of a documentary style. It
sounds complicated but if you use the right tools it isn’t and given the potential impact it is
worth spending a little time developing this skillset. Storytelling is a very effective method
of learning as it drives students to combine surface knowledge with their imaginations and
apply this to real world contexts.
There are a number of video editing tools that were explored in Chapter 4. iMovie for
Apple devices, Windows Video Editor for PCs or Moovly.com are great online tools for this.
There are a multitude of video editing tools available for students and teachers to use and
most are pretty similar overall in terms of their capability; it is more about which ones you
have easy access to.
Remember that all of the tools discussed here, as well as some examples of digital stories
can be found on the companion Padlet page, which is accessed by scanning the QR code.
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Summary
In this chapter we have looked at how challenging students’ thinking can develop their skills
as learners. Not all our students can become expert learners, but many of them will with
your help and support. Understanding how the memory works with information to develop
deep learning as opposed to surface learning was our first port of call. We have looked at the
part you play in influencing students’ development by introducing activities which actively
involve students in the learning process. In this context we looked at different dialogic strat-
egies and using modelling as ways to encourage students to transfer learning from one
situation to another.

References
Alexander, R. (2020) A Dialogic Teaching Companion. Abingdon: Routledge.
Barnett, S. M. and Ceci, S. U. (2002) ‘When and Where Do We Apply What We Learn? A Taxonomy
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128.4.612.
Bjork, E. L. and Bjork, R. A. (2011) ‘Making Things Hard on Yourself, but in a Good Way: Creating Desirable
Difficulties to Enhance Learning’, in M. A Gernsbacher, R. W. Pew, L. M. Hough and J. R. Pomerantz
(eds), Psychology and the Real World: Essays Illustrating Fundamental Contributions to Society.
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Bruner, J. S. (1978) ‘The Role of Dialogue in Language Acquisition’, in A. Sinclair, R., J. Jarvelle and
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