persist, and they could call on a highly developed system for reflection
and metacognition. In the end, these students’ test scores were second
across the whole state of Maryland on the combined scoring of six per-
formance assessments—well beyond the mark where students in the
school had performed previously. Exactly how was it that the student and
her classmates, in the midst of a stressful test, were able to pull up a Think-
ing Map in their mind’s eye?
Thinking Maps:
A Common Visual Language for Learning
It is easy for us to recognize that carpenters, cooks, and computer
programmers—and their mentors—have particular tools in hand for trans-
forming raw materials into unique final products. The well-designed, effi-
cient home, the thoughtfully placed array of items on the plate, and the
user-friendly interface of a software program are engendered with both
practicality and, in the most effective cases, artistry. Over their careers
these craftspeople develop methods and strategies as they move from
novice to expert use in these tools. They also develop an interdependent
array of habits of mind that enrich their capacities to use the tools of the
trade strategically, purposefully, and with a sense of design that often inte-
grates mind, heart, and soul.
As we look into the classroom, though, we may ask: What are the
tools of cognition for teachers to use to directly facilitate the specific
thinking skills of apprentice learners so they move from being novice
thinkers to expert thinkers and develop lifelong Habits of Mind? This is
the animating question for this chapter. An answer surfaces from Linda
Darling-Hammond’s insight about how “cognitive maps” are at the inter-
section of effective teaching and improved student performance. In this
chapter, we investigate a common visual language found in eight funda-
mental cognitive tools called Thinking Maps.This theory-embedded lan-
guage offers pre-K to college students—as well as teachers, leadership
teams, and business people—a coherent, consistent, and flexible model
of visual tools for
- Representingcognitive patterns as connected to prior experience
and content knowledge.
Thinking Maps: Visual Tools for Activating Habits of Mind 151