Learning how to learn?

THE QUEST FOR ‘DEEPER LEARNING’
Hewlett’s Barbara Chow writes in RE: Philanthrophy: When I joined The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation last year as the director of its education program, my colleagues and I took a hard look at public education in the United States, our own grantmaking, and the lessons we’ve learned. We talked to lots of smart people, read everything we could, and visited the widest possible diversity of schools. After months of research, and consulting with more than 100 top thinkers in education, business, and public policy, we asked ourselves one question: What could we do to make the biggest impact? Our answer was to focus on a set of skills and knowledge that reinforce each other and together promote rigorous and deeper learning. These include:
• Mastery of core academic content
• Critical thinking and problem-solving
• Working collaboratively in groups
• Communicating clearly and effectively
• Learning how to learn