Alex Warren is a DELTA trained teacher trainer with over 19 years’ experience of working in ELT as a teacher, teacher trainer and academic director. He has presented in over 50 countries throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. Alex is currently the Academic Training and Development Manager for National Geographic Learning.

Email: alex.warren@cengage.com

 

Introduction

In the world of English Language Teaching, teachers are constantly seeking innovative strategies to enhance students' learning journeys and develop their own teaching. As with many other likeminded teachers, I would spend hours scouring my favourite ELT resources for engaging activities and ideas to kickstart my Monday morning (and every other morning) classes. However, in recent years, I've begun to broaden my horizons beyond the ELT sphere to explore educational trends from a broader spectrum of mainstream and global education, which is how I came across Visible Thinking Routines (VTRs).

But what exactly are VTRs? Well, the clue is pretty much in the name. Originating from a research project at Harvard Graduate School of Education under the name of Project Zero, VTRs are compact strategies designed to scaffold students' deeper thinking and augment content learning. While not tailor-made for English classrooms, many routines are easily adaptable across diverse ages and proficiency levels in the language classroom. Indeed, the Visible Thinking Routines Toolbox (https://pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines) is home to over 100 routines, categorized into boxes like “Digging Deeper Into Ideas”, “Global Thinking” and “Perspective Taking”.

 

Why VTRs?

The question really is, however, why should language teachers bother using them in their classes? Surely our job is to teach grammar and vocabulary and to develop students’ language skills? Well, that might be our primary goal, but it shouldn’t be our only concern. Far from it. As we know education (should) transcend rote subject instruction; it should cultivate critical and creative thinking and other 21st century skills essential for real-world success. And that’s exactly what VTRs promote. As such they fit into a more holistic approach to language learning, while fostering cognitive development in students and promoting authentic communication - the cornerstone of communicative English lessons. And that’s the real kicker for language teachers: they are highly communicative.

In regards to providing opportunities for critical thinking, activities like See-Think-Wonder, The 4Cs and Compass Points stimulate learners to analyse, evaluate and synthesize information, developing a deeper understanding of content in the process. Furthermore, this process not only fosters critical thinking skills but also encourages intellectual curiosity and inquiry as well as driving communication. Activities like GOGO (Give One, Get One), Question Starts and Think-Puzzle-Explore, also promote collaboration and peer interaction, creating a supportive and inclusive learning environment where every student voice is valued. They give learners the space to practice articulating their ideas, to listen carefully to each other and engage in meaningful and authentic dialogue, thus further enhancing their communication skills. And instead of passively receiving information, students are encouraged to actively observe, reflect, and engage with the material. This active engagement fosters a sense of ownership over their learning and promotes deeper retention of knowledge. All things, I’m sure you’ll agree, we want for our classes. Indeed, the research from Project Zero suggests that this in turn can help develop not just greater engagement in class, but motivation too, helping to create a shift in classroom culture towards more enthusiastically engaged thinkers and learners.

Other routines like The 3 Whys, Same-Different-Connect-Engage and Step Inside also have communication at their heart, but offer opportunities for perspective-taking while encouraging greater empathy and acceptance of other views and beliefs in the classroom. And that’s where the real beauty of the routines lies. As the focus is on sharing thoughts, ideas and opinions, there is rarely a “wrong” or “right” answer and so learners feel more at ease in speaking out, thus helping create a more inclusive classroom environment.

From a teacher perspective they are a great tool to add to your own “Teacher Toolbox”, due to the fact that they are remarkably flexible and can be used with a wide array of topics. That said, naturally some work better with certain topics than others. From experience, they are particularly well-suited to real world content (readings/videos) and topics based around global issues and sustainability. They also work really well with TED Talks. In addition to that, they also offer flexibility in where you use them in your lessons. Some can be used as warmers for new topics/unit or pre-reading/viewing tasks (e.g. KWL, The 3 Whys), while others like Used To Think, Now I Think and The 4Cs work better as follow-up discussions and reflection tasks. Arguably even more appealing to teachers, is that the majority of the routines require zero prep, meaning you can drop them into your lessons whenever needed.

To sum up, as we have seen, integrating visible thinking routines into the ELT classroom offers a myriad of benefits that extend beyond language acquisition. By nurturing critical thinking, communication skills, reflection and creativity, they empower students to become lifelong learners equipped to navigate the complexities of the modern world. And that, ultimately, is our job as educators – to prepare learners for their futures and the real world.

Pathways Listening & Speaking 1
 

Pathways Reading & Writing 2

 

Pathways Reading & Writing 2

Here are 10 of my favourite visible thinking routines that can add an extra dimension to your lessons and help bring them to life. Full descriptions can be found at https://pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines).

1. See-Think-Wonder: Kickstart discussions with captivating images, prompting students to observe, interpret, and speculate.

2. Beginning-Middle-End: Supercharge your students’ creativity and story-telling skills with thought provoking and unusual images.

3. Same-Different-Connect-Engage: How are we different to people on the other side of the world? How are we the same? A wonderful activity to help humanise the other.

4. GOGO: Brainstorming with a difference and that involves every student in the class. 

5. The 3 Whys: Encourage multi-dimensional thinking by exploring personal, local, and global perspectives on a given topic.

6. Think-Puzzle-Explore: Activate prior knowledge, stimulate curiosity, and pave the way for deeper inquiry into a subject.

7. Question Starts: Facilitate question brainstorming using provided language frames, igniting inquiry into a topic.

8. The 4Cs: Foster text-based discussions by prompting students to make connections, challenge ideas, identify key concepts, and contemplate implications.

9. The 4 Ifs: What if we tried to make a difference? What if we didn’t? What would change?

10.  I Used to Think, Now I Think: Encourage reflection on evolving perspectives, consolidating learning and promoting an inquiry-based approach.

 

References

Ritchart, R & Church, M. (2020). The Power of Making Thinking Visible, Jossey-Bass

Project Zero (2022), Project Zero’s Thinking Routine Toolbox. Harvard Graduate School of Education. https//pz.harvard.edu/thinkingroutines

 

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