Let’s Think in English is a teaching programme created since 2008 to help young people develop the thinking and reasoning skills required for success in reading, writing and education in general. Let’s Think in English is based on 30 years’ research at King’s College London which shows that structured development of pupils’ cognitive skills over two years raises the attainment of primary and secondary students significantly. Previously called Cognitive Acceleration, it is one of only three programmes which have repeatedly been shown in international trials to have this effect.
Let’s Think in English draws on research by Piaget and Vygotsky that young people learn best when exploring ideas together and is an oracy programme where pupils discuss and collaborate together. The lessons are based on structured challenge and include the development of understanding through discussion (social construction), problem-solving (cognitive challenge) and structured reflection (metacognition) which makes pupils more aware of their thinking processes and how they think most effectively.
We offer a structured training programme for teachers from Year 1 to Year 11. We cover the cognitive development of pupils and focus on key pedagogical aspects such as: oracy, prior learning, setting appropriate challenge, metacognition and the application of knowledge. Teacher evaluations including from BIS HCMC all report an improvement in students critical thinking but also teachers’ ability to develop this. When undertaking the training schools are provided with over 70 primary and over 50 fully trialled and resourced lessons.
Michael Walsh is the co-originator or Let’s Think in English developing the programme since 2008 at King’s College London. Michael is the Lead tutor for primary and secondary LTE and is a Trustee of the Let’s Think Forum. He also directs and leads a voluntary collaborative of 22 schools in London called: Futurezone. a collaborative aiming for excellent outcomes for children.He was a secondary English teacher before being seconded to lead teaching and learning for an Education Action Zone. He was a senior consultant for a School Improvement Team in London and has worked, advised and collaborated with the Arsenal Study Support, British Film Institute, English Heritage, Open University as well as leading LTE internationally in Europe, South America and South East Asia.
Michael has provided Keynote lectures in a number of settings including to 700 delegates at an International Schools Conference in Rio de Janeiro and numerous workshops and seminars on Let’s Think in English. He’s also led the international development of LTE in Brazil, Finland, HK, Vietnam, Latvia, Poland, and Switzerland. He’s worked with BIS HCMC and BVIS HCMC since 2016 to support them in their successful implementation of LTE.
Let’s Think in English evolved from the Cognitive Acceleration, a programme with proven evidence of impact over decades see:
https://www.letsthink.org.uk/about-us/impact-evidence/
Let’s Think in English is a live research programme but already has a considerable body of evidence of impact. See:
https://www.letsthinkinenglish.org/evidence-of-success/
and the impact of the programme in international settings is becoming evident. See case study:
Our programme has developed from recommendations in the UK to the point where we’ve now trained 500+ schools. LTE is spreading rapidly internationally and we’re keen to build the programme in South East Asia based upon our experiences in HK and Vietnam and look forward to working in partnership with FOBISIA.
Feel free to contact: Michael.Walsh@letsthink.org.uk for further information or to discuss the programme further.