Thinking Foundation - Research - Professional Learning Communities

Roosevelt Elementary Leadership Team: Success at a Multilingual School
Listen to the Leadership Team at Roosevelt Elementary School discuss their success with Thinking Maps as a staff and with the students. More information about Roosevelt Elementary School is part of the book Student Successes With Thinking Maps — read excerpts from the chapter and other information about the student successes. The video clip Roosevelt Elementary School Leadership Team.
Watch the Roosevelt Leadership Team in Quicktime (2:23)
Read the Roosevelt Elementary School Case Study

Thinking Maps: A Language for Leading and Learning
Student Successes with Thinking Maps, Chapter 17
Larry Alper, M.S.
The ability of people to make meaning together, visualize the unknown, and formulate effective action is vital to the success of any organization. In today’s school environment, where change is not an event but an ever present reality, it is imperative that people develop the individual and collective capacity to process information, transform it into new understandings, and shape their futures.
read more excerpts from Thinking Maps: A Language for Leading and Learning in Student Successes with Thinking Maps

Interviews with Leadership at the Thinking Maps^® International Conference
David Hyerle, Founder of Thinking Foundation talks with Ken McGuire about Thinking Schools. Ken McGuire is Principal of Bluebonnet Elementary School in the Keller Independent School District located in Keller, Texas.
Watch David Hyerle talk with Ken McGuire

David Hyerle, Founder of Thinking Foundation talks with Joy Wenke and Cynthia Manning about research and reflection, and creating thinking schools. Cynthia Manning is Curriculum Director at Learning Prep School in Newton, MA. Joy Wenke is English Language Development Facilitator at McKinley Elementary School in San Jose, CA.
Watch David Hyerle talk with Cynthia Manning and Joy Wenke

From Students to Leadership to School Board
Marcie Roberts, principal at Norman Howard School in Rochester, NY shares insights and successes with using Thinking Maps systemically with students, leadership decision making, and the school board. Macie shares how the school board learns and wants a new tool for their use - the same tool the students are using to organize their thinking.
Watch the From Students to Leadership to School Board video clip in Quicktime (7:11)

Development of the Teacher as a Metacognitive Agent
By Eleanor M. Papazoglou, Franklin Pierce University, 2010
Within teacher education programs and professional development there is a tenuous assumption that we all have the same understandings of reflection. Generic approaches to understanding reflection simply help teachers amass a repertoire of skills to apply in a relatively unvaried manner. Concerned about written reflections that focus on overly technical accounts of a mastery of methods and skills, this investigation inquires into understanding the metacognitive dimension of a reflective process and the development of the teacher as a metacognitive agent. This is a qualitative value driven study that attempts to reduce uncertainties and to clarify a particular stance on reflective thought in order to contribute to the development of theories and concepts that generate further investigations. Included in this study is a self-analysis of the researcher as a teacher educator exploring a transformative process with teachers-as-students. What do teachers say about what they do, and what can be learned from the language in their written and oral responses? From an analysis of data collected for this study, criteria emerged distinguishing the technical thinker from the metacognitive thinker.
Download the dissertation Development as a Teacher as a Metacognitive Agent (Acrobat PDF file)




		Research - Professional Learning Communities Leadership Thinking Maps^® International Conference Leadership Panel Thinking Maps are a language for transforming leadership. Hear a panel of educational leaders discuss their implementation, successes, and visions on using Thinking Maps^® as a language for leadership in their respective districts. The video clip takes place at the Thinking Maps^® International Conference held in Texas during July 2007. Watch the Thinking Maps Leadership Panel video clip in Quicktime (8:53) Roosevelt Elementary Leadership Team: Success at a Multilingual School Listen to the Leadership Team at Roosevelt Elementary School discuss their success with Thinking Maps as a staff and with the students. More information about Roosevelt Elementary School is part of the book Student Successes With Thinking Maps — read excerpts from the chapter and other information about the student successes. The video clip Roosevelt Elementary School Leadership Team. Watch the Roosevelt Leadership Team in Quicktime (2:23) Read the Roosevelt Elementary School Case Study Thinking Maps: A Language for Leading and Learning Student Successes with Thinking Maps, Chapter 17 Larry Alper, M.S. The ability of people to make meaning together, visualize the unknown, and formulate effective action is vital to the success of any organization. In today’s school environment, where change is not an event but an ever present reality, it is imperative that people develop the individual and collective capacity to process information, transform it into new understandings, and shape their futures. read more excerpts from Thinking Maps: A Language for Leading and Learning in Student Successes with Thinking Maps Interviews with Leadership at the Thinking Maps^® International Conference David Hyerle, Founder of Thinking Foundation talks with Ken McGuire about Thinking Schools. Ken McGuire is Principal of Bluebonnet Elementary School in the Keller Independent School District located in Keller, Texas. Watch David Hyerle talk with Ken McGuire David Hyerle, Founder of Thinking Foundation talks with Joy Wenke and Cynthia Manning about research and reflection, and creating thinking schools. Cynthia Manning is Curriculum Director at Learning Prep School in Newton, MA. Joy Wenke is English Language Development Facilitator at McKinley Elementary School in San Jose, CA. Watch David Hyerle talk with Cynthia Manning and Joy Wenke From Students to Leadership to School Board Marcie Roberts, principal at Norman Howard School in Rochester, NY shares insights and successes with using Thinking Maps systemically with students, leadership decision making, and the school board. Macie shares how the school board learns and wants a new tool for their use - the same tool the students are using to organize their thinking. Watch the From Students to Leadership to School Board video clip in Quicktime (7:11) Development of the Teacher as a Metacognitive Agent By Eleanor M. Papazoglou, Franklin Pierce University, 2010 Within teacher education programs and professional development there is a tenuous assumption that we all have the same understandings of reflection. Generic approaches to understanding reflection simply help teachers amass a repertoire of skills to apply in a relatively unvaried manner. Concerned about written reflections that focus on overly technical accounts of a mastery of methods and skills, this investigation inquires into understanding the metacognitive dimension of a reflective process and the development of the teacher as a metacognitive agent. This is a qualitative value driven study that attempts to reduce uncertainties and to clarify a particular stance on reflective thought in order to contribute to the development of theories and concepts that generate further investigations. Included in this study is a self-analysis of the researcher as a teacher educator exploring a transformative process with teachers-as-students. What do teachers say about what they do, and what can be learned from the language in their written and oral responses? From an analysis of data collected for this study, criteria emerged distinguishing the technical thinker from the metacognitive thinker. Download the dissertation Development as a Teacher as a Metacognitive Agent (Acrobat PDF file)