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about the ithaka project
(you can also download this as a Microsoft Word document from the files section if you want)
What?
The guiding questions for the first phase of this project, which will take 18 months, come from the ideas raised by Ron Ritchhart in an article in the Roeper Review in 2002. He explores contemporary ideas of effective intelligence, and argues:
- Ability is only part of performance
- There must be the will or inclination to use these abilities, and
- The sensitivity to know when particular abilities are appropriate.
The article explores the overlap between some current theories of effective thinking, and presents an overview which proposes the following thinking dispositions.
The disposition to be:
- Openminded
- Curious
- Metacognitive
- A truth seeker
- Strategic
- Sceptical
Ritchhart argues that it is important that teachers model these behaviours, but that also they must develop students’ awareness of appropriate occasions for using thinking skills, and that there is more to be understood about the ways in which this sensitivity develops. He uses the term “intellectual character” or IC to emphasise an understanding of intelligence that is quite different from that based on fixed measures like IQ.
The centre of this project is to explore some of the questions raised implicitly or explicitly by these propositions, through practitioner research in schools. The overriding idea is to explore the meaning of Intellectual Character in the context of classrooms, using the following questions.
- How are the thinking dispositions manifested
- In different disciplines?
- At different stages of schooling?
- In different contexts?
- With different teachers?
- What are the stages in developing these characteristics?
- How are the components to be seen within ordinary school practice?
- How is development to be observed?
- How is it to be described?
- How is it to be nurtured?
Why?
Too often teachers work in isolation. The intention of this project is to use a common thread of inquiry to bring teachers together both within schools and across schools, and to do so in a way which does not ignore the role of particularity in terms of context and discipline.
The project is underpinned by two main theoretical strands.
- The quest to understand intelligence is ages old, and is defined anew each decade. We build on earlier work, focussing on unpacking the layers of everyday classroom action using the lens of thinking dispositions. We want to test the usefulness of the frame in helping us to understand how learning happens. For this part of the work, we draw particularly on the literature of talent development, of learning, and of the teaching of thinking.
- In better understanding effective learning, it is necessary also to understand more deeply effective teaching. We draw here from the literature on professional learning which argues for practitioner research, for the development of manageable reflective practice structures, and on the strengths and weaknesses of team learning. Our intention is to move from theory to practice, practice to theory, and in so doing to increase general understanding of the context and complexity of learning and teaching. A core principle underlying this approach is that practitioner research must have immediate outcomes for students, and immediate as well as longer term effects for teachers.
How?
The core questions of this enquiry will be answered through a mesh of discrete projects developed in schools, either by individuals or small teams, through discussion with a consultant who will retain an inside/outside perspective. Projects will use action research methods to develop more effective ways of seeing in classrooms – of making learning and teaching visible, so that they may be better understood. While the broad investigation focuses on the nature of intellectual character, each team or individual will develop projects relevant to their work, current needs and interests. Kinds and quantity of data, degree of analysis, and length of exploration will therefore vary in each project.These will be of three types:
- Individual projects
- Team projects
- Individual discussion to develop thinking and questions for future exploration
Teachers will meet on a regular basis in their teams, and the format of inquiry – key questions and purposes, kinds of data, ways of reporting – will develop through these discussions.
Who?
Teachers, like students, learn in different ways and have different preferences. This is not a project with easy answers. It is not neat; but nor is the classroom. The teachers attracted to this project have been, for the most part:
- Experienced teachers
- Open to new ideas
- Prepared to debate and to challenge theory
- Prepared to reflect on their practice and to take time to write and observe
- Able to accept that there are no easy answers in education
- Keen to examine the effectiveness of their teaching and their curriculum in an ongoing way
Effective professional learning in a school needs to provide layers of opportunity. This project offers a range of ways to explore practice in a rigorous manner; but no project will suit all. That said, the structure of Ithaka maximises the opportunities for participants to identify their own questions and choose their methods and time frames to seek answers.