New Kinds of Smart

For a recent fuller analysis of this, see Lucas, B. and Claxton, G. (2009) Wider skills for learning; what are they, how can they be cultivated, how could they be measured and why are they important for innovation? Paper for the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, London. Available at: http://www.nesta.org.uk/ wider-skills-for-

Ericsson, A., Krampe, R. and Tesch-Romer, C. (1993) The role of deliberate practice in the

Helping students to develop states of mind conducive to different kinds of learning, specifically using their intuitive as well as rational selves. 5 Encouraging learners to understand which tools tend to help in certain situations and how to know when to use these. 6 Providing students with effective strategies for learning and working collaborati

Each student was allocated to one of three groups. The first group had a discussion about a social issue for ten minutes. The second undertook tasks such as a comprehension test and a crossword puzzle. And the third, the control group, watched a ten-minute extract from Seinfeld. All the students then undertook tests of their mental processing and w

The ‘1’ in our 4:5:1 model sits in the centre, because it refers to a quality we call presence of mind. Presence of mind is what is required if all the instruments of intelligent learning are to be brought optimally to bear on the challenges

Gesturing reflects the close connection between thinking and making – even when the only physical thing you have to make are shapes in the air! (Doodling also helps people attend, think and remember, for the same reason.11)

Education organized around a reasonable number of broad talents and interests, augmented and filled out by serious inquiry into common human problems, stands the best chance of achieving a meaningful equality. Such education, in which students are active co-creators of curriculum, is a truly liberal education for both personal and public life in a

cultivate the pattern-making

Roughly, the more mountainous the brain, the more your trains of thought are likely to be clear-cut, conscious and unambiguous; to follow the most well-worn and familiar grooves; and to travel fast. You respond to situations in a focused, confident and conventional manner. You don’t bother with the fine print and ignore any minor incongruities. But

practical terms it often takes the form of rules of thumb, thinking routines, instructions-to-self, good intentions, planning processes, heuristics, and so on. To make it more likely that high road transfer will occur we need to do the following: practise in as many different contexts as possible (just as with low road transfer but even more import