Thinking strategies
How can we develop alternative thinking strategies to help our learners achieve in the classroom? Find out more in our essential guide for educators.
Thinking strategies describes the deliberate methods learners use to plan, monitor, evaluate and adapt their thinking during a task. For teachers, the aim is not to add generic thinking skills to a lesson. Instead, teachers should teach the strategy through subject knowledge, because critical thinking depends on what learners already know (Willingham, 2007; EEF, 2021).
Key Takeaways
- Embed Strategies in Subject Knowledge: Avoid teaching generic 'thinking skills' in isolation. Instead, integrate specific cognitive strategies directly into your curriculum content, as effective critical thinking relies heavily on what learners already know.
- Model the 'Plan-Monitor-Evaluate' Cycle: Explicitly teach metacognitive strategies by thinking aloud. Verbalise your own internal dialogue (e.g., "I am checking whether this approach works because...") to demonstrate exactly how learners should plan, monitor, and evaluate their own tasks.
- Name and Scaffold Specific Thinking Moves: Clearly identify the exact type of thinking required for a lesson, as evaluating a historical source differs vastly from conducting a scientific investigation. Provide worked examples and prompts, then gradually fade your support as learners gain independence.
- Deploy Targeted Cognitive Tools: Match the right structural tool to the learning objective. Use Graphic Organisers to dual-code complex concepts, Checklists to build independent self-monitoring habits, and Learning Journals to develop long-term reflective thinking.
- Differentiate Problem Solving by Discipline: Recognise that problem solving is domain-specific. Tailor your modelling and scaffolding to the specific criteria of your subject, ensuring learners understand the unique rules for evidence and context within that discipline.
- Promote Collaborative 'Interthinking': Use Oracy Frameworks to scaffold structured classroom discussions. Providing clear frameworks for active listening and collaborative problem-solving helps learners articulate their thought processes and refine their strategic thinking together.
In a Year 6 history lesson, this might mean modelling how to compare two sources, identify missing context, and decide whether a claim is reliable before learners try the same process with a new source. The same class would need a different strategy for a maths proof or a science investigation, so teachers should name the thinking move, model it aloud, and then fade support as learners gain control.
What are thinking strategies?
Metacognitive strategies help learners notice how they plan, monitor and evaluate their work (Flavell, 1979; EEF, 2021). Critical thinking and problem solving overlap, but they are not the same. A learner solving an algebra problem needs subject methods, while a learner judging a historical source needs criteria for evidence, context and reliability. Teachers build independence by modelling these steps clearly, giving worked examples and prompts, then reducing support as learners gain control.
| Feature | Graphic Organisers | Learning Journals | Checklists | Planning Tools | Oracy Frameworks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best For | Visual learners tackling complex concepts | Reflective thinking and metacognitive development | Task completion and self-monitoring | Project management and goal setting | Collaborative learning and discussion |
| Key Strength | Uses dual coding for deeper understanding | Builds self-awareness and tracks progress | Simple, clear structure for all abilities | Develops strategic thinking skills | Promotes active listening and interthinking |
| Limitation | May oversimplify complex topics | Requires consistent practice and time | Can become too rigid if overused | Needs teacher guidance initially | Requires confident speaking skills |
| Age Range | All ages with adapted complexity | Upper primary onwards | Early years to secondary | Middle primary onwards | All ages with scaffolding |
Key Takeaways
- Metacognitive strategies are fundamental for developing independent learners: Explicitly teaching learners to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own thinking significantly enhances learning outcomes, as evidenced by extensive research on self-regulation (Hattie, 2009).
- Critical thinking must be explicitly taught and integrated across the curriculum: Learners do not automatically acquire these skills; teachers need to design tasks that require analysis, evaluation, and synthesis, building deeper understanding rather than rote memorisation (Willingham, 2009).
- Effective implementation of thinking strategies requires systematic planning and ongoing support: Teachers should utilise structured frameworks, such as the provided 8-Week Roadmap, to embed these approaches consistently across units and subjects, ensuring sustained impact on learner learning (Wiliam, 2011).
- building thinking strategies directly correlates with improved academic attainment and problem-solving abilities: When learners are equipped with metacognitive tools and critical thinking approaches, they develop resilience and adaptability, important for navigating complex academic tasks and real-world challenges (Dweck, 2006).
What sorts of thinking strategies help learners?
Visual thinking strategies help learners organise information without overloading working memory. Schools can use these techniques when teachers model the process clearly, give guided practice and remove support step by step (Rosenshine, 2012; Tricot & Sweller, 2014). A graphic organiser helps when it cuts irrelevant load, but it becomes noise when learners do not yet know enough about the topic to use it well.
1) Graphic organisers
2) Learning journals
3) Checklists
4) Planning tools
5) Oracy frameworks
Thinking strategies help learners answer complex questions when the strategy fits the subject content. See Thinking Hard strategies for more support.
Thought-provoking questions need clear scaffolding, worked examples and time for guided practice. Dual coding and graphic organisers can help teachers and learners by making relationships visible.
Oracy builds active listening and speaking skills. Mercer and Littleton (2007) describe how classroom talk can build shared understanding.
In the AI classroom, the strategy also has to change. When a learner uses a large language model to draft ideas, the thinking task shifts from generating an answer to checking the quality of a synthetic output. Teachers should ask learners to verify claims, identify missing evidence, compare the answer with subject criteria and explain what they kept, changed or rejected (Lodge et al., 2023).
Strategies are tools for learners to use thinking skills and reach targets. We developed the Universal Thinking Framework (UTF) for two years. It helps teachers and learners plan how to meet tough learning goals. The taxonomy in UTF organises words we use when describing educational tasks.
The Universal Thinking Framework helps teachers make the 'how' of learning visible. It sits alongside the curriculum content, or the 'what', so a class can discuss both the knowledge being taught and the strategy used to work with it.
Learners use the colour-coded language to plan a route through a task. In an English lesson, that might mean choosing whether to compare, infer or justify before writing. In science, it might mean deciding whether to classify observations or test a variable. The strategy only works when it is tied to the subject task.
How do learners use thinking strategies?
Critical thinking improves when teachers show learners how to plan, monitor and evaluate their work within a subject (EEF, 2021). Schools often call this metacognition. The key difference is between metacognitive monitoring, where learners notice whether they understand, and metacognitive control, where they decide what to do next.
Teachers also need to account for emotion. When a learner freezes during a hard task, the issue may be working memory under stress rather than weak effort. A short routine such as recognise, relax, reframe and respond can lower intensity before the learner tries the thinking strategy again (Immordino-Yang & Damasio, 2007).
Teachers start with professional development, so they grasp the theory (Wiliam, 2011). They learn how the framework helps them plan learning (Black & Wiliam, 1998). Then, we focus on the learner's progress (Hattie, 2009).
Learners are often unaware that a task can be approached in more than one way. For more on this topic, see Learner process. Keeping the framework visible helps the class choose a strategy, test whether it is working, and adapt it as the task changes.
Teachers can start with simple prompts: 'How should we get started?' and 'How should we organise our ideas?' In a geography lesson, learners might first map causes of flooding, then compare which causes are human and which are physical. The prompt turns strategy selection into a shared classroom habit.
Learners choose strategies to organise lesson content, like sequencing or comparing (e.g. sequence, compare or connect).g. researcher names and dates).
Critical thinking strategies for driving the curriculum
The Education Endowment Foundation (2021) reports that metacognition and self-regulated learning can have high impact at low cost when schools teach strategies explicitly and support implementation over time. These strategies can work in teacher-led and inquiry lessons, but only when learners have enough prior knowledge to think with. Without that knowledge, a visual strategy can add load rather than reduce it (Tricot & Sweller, 2014).
Strategy formation helps learners choose a method for a specific goal. The thinking and learning words act as prompts for action: compare two poems, sequence events in a historical account, classify results in a science table, or justify a mathematical step.
No single strategy fits every task. Learners become better prepared when they can select from a small set of taught strategies, explain why one fits the task, and change approach when evidence shows it is not working.
Unit planning using thinking strategies
We focus on the strategic planning process of learning from individual lessons through to unit planning. Whole-school metacognition training rarely changes outcomes if departments do not map the strategies to the knowledge, tasks and assessments in their own subject. A useful unit plan shows where learners will first see a strategy, where they will practise it with scaffolding, and where support will be faded (EEF, 2021).
Without that mapping, strategy work can become another set of resources on the drive. With it, the curriculum becomes coherent: learners can see which thinking move they are using, why it fits the content, and how it helps them complete the next task.
Our resources help teachers discuss learning with learners. Arrange physical cards to show the path to success, then use short retrieval checks so learners practise recalling the strategy without the cards. Karpicke (2008) showed that retrieval strengthens learning more than restudy. Future apps will let teachers drag actions into lesson plans. (Bjork, 1994; Dunlosky, 2013; Hattie, 2008).
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Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly are thinking strategies and how do they differ from traditional teaching methods?
Marzano (1998) showed that thinking strategies build learners' problem-solving skills. Visual tools and learning logs support learners' thinking. These strategies help learners manage challenges on their own.
Using digital tools to build learners' metacognition offers helpful classroom strategies (Lai, 2011). Research by Zimmerman (2000) shows learners benefit from reflecting on their learning processes. Check out work by Dweck (2006) on growth mindsets for more support.
How can teachers practically implement the Universal Thinking Framework in their everyday lessons?
The Universal Thinking Framework helps teachers guide learners. Display it and use prompts like "How do we start?" Learners choose thinking strategies (sequence, compare, connect)., 2017; Swartz & Parks, 1994).
What are the main benefits of using visual thinking strategies with learners?
Visual thinking strategies use dual coding, which links words and visuals, to help learners understand. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) notes good impact at low cost with metacognition. Learners build strategic thinking for challenges and gain independence (EEF, n.d.).
Which thinking strategies work best for different age groups and learning needs?
Adjust graphic organisers to suit learners' age and the complexity of the task. They help visual learners grasp new concepts.
Checklists help learners complete tasks (Hattie, 2008). Scaffold oracy frameworks and collaboration for all ages (Mercer, 2000).
What challenges might teachers face when introducing thinking strategies, and how can these be overcome?
Fixed strategies can limit learners when teachers use them too often. Learners need time and practice to build skills, and some tools need teacher guidance at the start.
Vary your approach and support learning, as proposed by Vygotsky (1978). Seek professional training so you can grasp the theory behind the work (Dewey, 1938). Start with simple prompts, then increase the challenge slowly (Bruner, 1960).
How do thinking strategies support metacognition and independent learning?
Thinking strategies build learner metacognition, which means thinking about how they learn, and help them choose the right skills (Abrami et al., 2015). Learners become more aware of their own learning processes (Zimmerman, 2000). Reflection helps them track progress and build useful independent habits (Flavell, 1979).
Costa and Kallick's (2009) work on habits of mind gives practical classroom strategies. These aid teachers in developing learners' thinking skills. Research builds on this area, offering further support.
Flavell (1979) described metacognitive experiences as feelings during thought. Learners may realise they lack comprehension. Teachers can use these "aha" and "stuck" moments to help learners. The moments support learners in building awareness of their own thinking.
Can you give specific examples of how different thinking strategies work in practice?
Paivio (1971) showed that graphic organisers help learners see ideas more clearly. Journals give them space to think about their learning. Checklists give tasks a clear structure and support self-monitoring.
Planning tools help learners manage projects. Mercer & Littleton (2007) found that oracy frameworks improve discussion.
Plan Your Metacognition Implementation
Metacognition improves learning. Tailor an 8-week plan to your subject and learners, and consider your current teaching too. Use it as a starting point for professional discussion: identify the learner's current need, record evidence from more than one lesson, and agree the next classroom adjustment with the SENCO or family.
Brown et al. (1983), Flavell (1979), and Hattie (2012) show benefits. Use research from Bjork et al. (2013) and Dunlosky et al. (2013).
Further authoritative guidance on metacognition: EEF guidance report on metacognition and self-regulation.
References
Karpicke, J. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
Further Reading: Key Research Papers
Peer-reviewed studies inform thinking strategies for classroom use. These papers offer teachers research-backed insights for practice. See Researcher Names and Dates to explore resources for learners.
Sui-Chu and Bushong (1993) found links between self-efficacy, teaching styles and practice. Sternberg's (1997) theory suggests teaching styles affect learner thinking. Hattie (2009) shows teacher beliefs and practice matter greatly. These factors all influence learner outcomes (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001).
Yalçın Dilekli, Erdoğan Tezci (2016)
Virtual classrooms provide another option for education. They can help learners build critical thinking skills (View study). This approach may aid learners during public health crises like the coronavirus pandemic (Facione & Facione, 2000; Ennis, 2018; Lipman, 2003).
T. Lestari, Z. Arifin, B. Jatmiko* (2021)
Critical thinking helps learners succeed in the 21st century and Industrial Revolution 4.0. This study develops a Virtual Classroom Critical Thinking (VC2T) Model. The model's validity, practicality and effectiveness improves learner critical thinking skills.
Researchers examined critical thinking instruction (Yang et al., 2022). They compared online, flipped, and in-class methods. Results showed the flipped classroom produced the biggest learner gains. This study focused on critical thinking skills and dispositions.
Ali Orhan (2023)
The research examined how three teaching types impacted learners' critical thinking (skills and attitudes). We compared online, flipped and traditional methods in a quasi-experiment (Paul et al., 2024). Learners took tests before and after the study (Ennis, 1991; Facione, 2015).
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