Unlocking Higher-Order Thinking Skills - Exploring Systems Thinking, Problem-Solving and Metacognition in Secondary Schools

Oct 23, 2026

Workshop material for the Cambridge Schools Conference (June 2025) on unlocking higher-order thinking skills in secondary schools. It connects skills with knowledge through systems thinking, kind and wicked problem-solving, analogical and metacognitive abilities, and classroom best practices. Participants examine links between higher order thinking skills and Cambridge learner attributes, and engage in activities that help learners build these competencies. Includes prompts for discussing knowledge vs skills and a simplified mind model emphasizing working and long-term memory.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages30

Reading Time1 h 16 min

AccessFree to download

Today’s workshop

Skills and knowledge in the Cambridge Pathway

Question: knowledge, skills, or both

The good news

Curricula as knowledge-rich and skills-rich

Simplest mind model for thinking

What are ‘future’ skills?

Meta-categories of future skills

Cambridge Future Conference, preparing Unlocking higher-order thinking skills Exploring systems thinking, problem-solving and metacognition in secondary schools Abigail Barnett, Biljana Savikj June 2025 Schools June 2025 -ready: learners to thrive Presenters Abbi Barnett Director of Cambridge 3-19 Curriculum Biljana Savikj Senior Commissioning Editor Cambridge Schools Conference, June 2025 Future-ready: preparing learners to thrive Today’s workshop This workshop delves into the connections between skills and knowledge in the Cambridge Pathway. You will: • explore systems thinking, kind and wicked problem-solving, analogical and metacognitive skills • discuss best teaching practices and share experiences • examine the relationship between higher order thinking skills and the Cambridge learner attributes • participate in activities to help learners develop these skills. Cambridge Schools Conference, June 2025 Future-ready: preparing learners to thrive Let’s start with a question What will be more important for today’s learners, thinking about equipping them well for the future (considering technology change, sustainability issues, the pace of change, wellbeing): A. Knowledge? B. Skills? C. Both knowledge and skills? Cambridge Schools Conference, June 2025 Future-ready: preparing learners to thrive Won’t we be able to access all the knowledge and information we need instantly? Cambridge Schools Conference, June 2025 Future-ready: preparing learners to thrive 6 The good news Curricula can be both knowledge-rich AND skills-rich. Skills and knowledge are deeply intertwined. “Deeper thinking skills need content on which to work. You cannot use deeper thinking skills unless you have something to think about.” (John Hattie, 2015) Cambridge Schools Conference, June 2025 Future-ready: preparing learners to thrive Just about the simplest model of the mind possible | Working memory
(Site of awareness and of thinking) | | | --- | --- | | | | | Long-term memory
(Factual & procedural knowledge) | | Cambridge Schools Conference, June 2025 Future-ready: preparing learners to thrive Just about the simplest model of the mind possible Problem-solving requires: • Adequate info from the environment • The required facts & procedures in the long-term memory • Room in the working memory | Working memory
(Site of awareness and of thinking) | | | --- | --- | | | | | Long-term memory
(Factual & procedural knowledge) | | Cambridge Schools Conference, June 2025 Future-ready: preparing learners to thrive What are ‘future’ skills? • There are hundreds of skills that could be considered necessary for the future. • Researchers in the Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI) reviewed 99 frameworks. Their analysis generated this figure. Cambridge Schools Conference, June 2025 Future-ready: preparing learners to thrive 9 Meta-categories of future skills DEFI researchers recently conducted a scoping review ( Kotsiou et al. 2022), analysing 99 frameworks of future skills which cover 341 skills. These skills were grouped into 9 meta-categories. Higher order thinking skills Dialogue skills Digital & STEM literacy Values Selfmanagement

FAQs

What does the workshop focus on for secondary schools?

It explores connections between skills and knowledge in the Cambridge Pathway, emphasizing higher order thinking skills and how to develop them in secondary learners.

Which thinking skills and approaches are covered?

The workshop covers systems thinking, kind and wicked problem-solving, analogical skills, and metacognitive skills, along with related teaching practices.

How does the material explain the mental basis of problem-solving?

It presents a simple mind model showing that problem-solving needs adequate information, relevant facts and procedures from long-term memory, and sufficient room in working memory.

Oct 23, 2026

Upload by River Wang