Foreword<br > WHO wOULD NOT WANT WHAT IS TAUGHT IN SCHOOL TO INCLUDE AN EMPHASIS ON<br >student thinking? Yet we know that the activities and interaction patterns in many<br >classrooms do not contribute to growth in thinking. Numerous attempts have<br >been made to change the situation， with varying degrees of success and frustra-<br >tion. The authors of this book offer a fresh approach.<br > Bemuse of the bewildering array of strategies offered by various advocates，<br >many educators are confused about just what it means to "teach thinking" and<br >how， other than buying a packaged program， schools can provide for it. As a<br >partial answer， the authors of Dimensions of Thinking have developed a frame-<br >work intended to be the basis for curriculum and staff development programs.<br >They have organized and clarified research and theory from several sources，<br >induding philosophy and cognitive psycholog34， in a form intended to be useful<br >to practitioners.<br > As you read ~ of Tt~ nking， you may be challenged to rethink<br >conventional views on such matters as student motivation and reward systems<br >and the relationship between thinking skills and content knowledge. You will<br >doubtless begin to wonder about the possible impact of teaching thinking on the<br >perennial problems of student failure， disillusionment， and unmet potential. And<br >you will probably be excited by the possibility of gains in student achievement<br >that we usually only dream about.<br > Because this publication challenges traditional notions about purposes and<br >methods of instruction， it has implications for preservice and inservice teacher<br >education and for refocusing the efforts of supervisors， principals， superinten-<br >dents， and boards of education. A powerful yet flexible model， Dimens/ons of<br >Thinking promises to influence education far into the future.<br > MARCIA KNOtt<br > ASCD Pmg.dz， m， 1987-88<br >