Creating a culture of thinking and dialogue at home

Posted by Tara Della Rocca

Jeffrey, T. 2007. Creating a culture of thinking and dialogue at home. Gifted Child Today, 30(4), 21-25.

This is a simple article promoting the idea of enculturating thinking at home. The author informs parents that their behavior has an enormous impact on their children, in terms of forming the kinds of thought and communication habits they develop. He aims to encourage parents to make the thinking they do more visible to their children and to take opportunities to practice thinking dispositions with their children.

"The way a group communicates, what it communicates, and what it values are all components of a culture of thinking... Tishman, Perkins, and Jay describe the process of establishing a classroom culture of thinking in four distinct ways; modeling, explanation, interaction, and feedback (p.21)."

"Aristotle once said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit (p.22)." Parents (and teachers, I believe) can model thinking behaviors or dispositions such that they become recognizable to and adopted as habits by our children/students.

"Thinking dispositions are comprised of one's attitudes, emotions, and motivations that emerge when facing a situation that requires thinking (p.22)."

Thinking Dispositions That Parents Can Experiment with at Home
Seek multiple approaches to problems
Persistence
Risk-taking
Curiosity

"Many children learn more from watching parents' behaviors than listening to their words (p.22)."

"Thinking dispositions are cultivated through social interaction (p.22)." This article is clear support for creating a culture of thinking in that the author recognizes the power of the environment and community interactions in shaping the behaviors/dispositions of children.