Professional inquiry: promoting deep thinking across the curriculum

This is a report on a professional inquiry by six teacher researchers from the One Cumbria teaching school hub, a school-based provider of teacher education in the north of England. Supported by a school-based facilitator and a research mentor from the University of Cumbria these experienced teachers investigated how to promote deep thinking in their classrooms. The project involved engagement with practice and with relevant literature including dialogic teaching, inquiry-based teaching approaches, and application of the semantic dimension of Legitimation Code Theory. In two cycles of the teacher researchers generated lesson evaluation data, including pupil voice, and an overall thematic analysis. The analysis showed teachers using a range of teaching strategies with variety within and between lessons, the practical use of theory in lesson evaluation, and an impact on deep thinking by pupils in their lessons.