Think fresh in Malta

The development of Thinking Skills is embedded within our local National Minimum Curriculum. It is also the agenda of the "Think Fresh!" Comenius 1.3 project, which held a meeting in Malta last month.

The week-long meeting took place at Guzè Muscat Azzopardi Primary B, Qormi, headed by Saviour Sciberras, which is one of the partner schools in the project.

The "Think Fresh" Project involves the collection, evaluation and dissemination of a variety of thinking methods within the partner schools. The result is the proficiency in problem solving, decision making, creative and analytical thinking.

The Maltese organisers of this project meeting were Tania Mercieca and Shirley Pulis, both Thinking Skills teachers and accredited trainers in Edward de Bono's Six Hats thinking method. Participants from the five countries involved in the project - Malta, England, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium, the co-ordinating country - attended the meeting.

During the very intensive yet interesting week, the participants were involved in talks and workshops on different topics in the field, by various professionals. The group also had the opportunity to spend a whole day of meetings at the World Centre for New Thinking at Bighi, Kalkara.

Topics of discussion included lateral thinking, creative thinking, the brain as a self-organising system, biases in thinking, learning styles, the six thinking hats method and the CoRT programme. The CoRT 1 and Six Hats Thinking methods are being taught directly in Malta by the Thinking Skills teachers.

The group also had the opportunity to observe lessons delivered by Thinking Skills teachers in local primary schools, namely, Patri Guzè Delia Primary C Siggiewi, Dun Gorg Preca Primary B Hamrun, and Qormi St Sebastian Primary School 'A', where the participants learnt about the Thinking Skills Programme in Malta.

Each participating school shared its experience in the teaching of thinking. Furthermore, the "Think Fresh!" Website was another topic of discussion. Mr Sciberras, the headmaster of the Qormi school, proudly presented an impressive students' concert where the participants watched a mini-musical and other presentations including a variety of songs representing the different countries. Cultural visits were also on the agenda. By the end of the project week, the group evaluated the first year of "Think Fresh!" and planned the way forward.

The meeting has now come to an end. What remains is the strong motivation to continue implementing thinking skills local schools. The aim is to create thinking communities which value the skill of operacy (a set of thinking tools to manage your thinking) as an integral part of the school curriculum.