FEX2162 Chap.9 Graphic Organisers for Thinking and Reflection
Graphic Organisers for Thinking and Reflection
A thinking tool inside a course about schools
Session two interrupts its material on school philosophy to ask you to draw the relationship between a school's mission, curriculum goals and implementation strategies as a graphic organiser and to share it in three minutes. Two booklets on organisers sit with the session.
The reason is practical: an organiser makes relationships visible, and relationships are what the portfolio tasks reward.
What organisers are and why they help
The first booklet defines a graphic organiser as a visual display that gives information a structure, setting out the key parts of a concept or topic in a labelled pattern.
It gives three reasons for using them, each tied to a named theorist: they support critical and creative thinking by highlighting key concepts and their relationships; they help organise information because the mind stores it in networks, following Ausubel; and they serve as mental tools for understanding, in Vygotsky's sense.
It also notes that pupils who use them in class go on to use them independently for notes, planning and revision.
Four families
The booklet sorts most organisers into four basic families.
Cyclical organisers show events that loop back, conceptual organisers show a concept supported by facts and characteristics, sequential organisers show events in time order, and hierarchical organisers show a concept and its levels.
It names four primary ways organisers build thinking: compiling information, generating ideas, analysing or evaluating ideas, and reflecting, and adds that they make thinking visible so that it can be observed and assessed.
Organisers in a mixed-ability class
The second booklet assumes a mixed-ability class and recommends one organiser shared by a small group of pupils with different abilities and learning styles, with roles such as recorder, timekeeper, summariser and reporter.
It lists organisers such as the ranking ladder, funnel, double Venn diagram, four corner organiser and tri pie, and notes that organisers support formative assessment because pupils can see how much they understand. For your portfolio, an organiser counts as non-text evidence, so it can carry structure without using words.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Why session two asks you to draw the mission
- 02
A definition of the graphic organiser
- 03
Three reasons organisers support thinking
- 04
Cyclical, conceptual, sequential and hierarchical families
- 05
Four ways organisers build thinking skills
- 06
A sequence for introducing an organiser
- 07
Shared organisers and group roles
- 08
Organisers as evidence that costs no words
Worked example · free
Choose an organiser for a portfolio job
- 2Choose and justify an organiser for the school chain.
- 2Choose and justify an organiser for the causes.
Key terms
- Graphic Organiser
- A visual display that gives information a structure by setting out the key parts of a concept or topic in a labelled pattern.
- Hierarchy Diagram
- An organiser showing a concept or topic with its superordinate and subordinate levels.
- Double Venn Diagram
- An organiser that sets two things side by side to show what they share and where they differ.
- Concept Definition Map
- An organiser that sets out a concept's definition, its properties and examples, with a justification for each example.
- Fishbone Diagram
- An organiser in which several possible causes branch towards a single effect, built by a small team with headings supplied.
Graphic Organisers for Thinking and Reflection FAQ
Do graphic organisers count towards the portfolio word limit?
Evidence included as non-text, such as figures or text boxes, does not count towards the limit, so a clear organiser can carry the structure of an argument while your sentences carry interpretation. Label it and refer to it in a clause.
How should I introduce an organiser to pupils?
The first booklet suggests getting to know the types yourself, explaining what organisers are for, presenting one for the topic, modelling it with examples, assigning it to individuals, pairs or groups, and then reviewing the work together.
Assessment move
Before the placement, draw your school's mission-to-practice chain as a hierarchy diagram from the website alone. Revise it after week two with what you have observed, and keep both versions. The difference between them is a short, visual piece of evidence that your understanding of the school developed during the placement.
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