Abstract
This presentation will focus attention on how the idea of infusing instruction in critical and creative thinking skill development into content instruction – what I call “Thinking-Based Learning” -- has ben translated into effective classroom practice both in individual classrooms and in organized programs of instruction in whole schools. What are the instructional strategies that have made Thinking-Based Learning one of the most powerful alternatives to standard memory-based/rote learning modes of instruction around the world? I will show TBL lesson examples from instruction for infants to the highest level of high school and across the subject areas of the curriculum and focus on the organizational structures and instructional techniques that make these lessons truly lessons in which students engage in active thinking and learning first guided by their teachers and then self-guided by the students themselves. Emphasis will be put on how the skills the students develop can be translated into action-oriented thinking through the use of skillful decision making and problem solving, and how communication can be enhanced by helping students translate good thinking into good writing.