THE STREET SMARTS MODEL
Street Smarts model portrays a set of skills and steps which can be used within or outside a classroom setting. It enables students to make their way along the model starting from Respect for Self and finishing at Respect for Change, repeating the cyclic model with different ideas and contexts. These four components assist in practicing the skill of critical thinking, no matter the context or scenario. The model can be divided into it’s four fundamental components; Respect for Self, Respect for Reason, Respect for Difference and Respect for Change. These components are explained in each module below.
Critical Thinking
in New Zealand Curriculum
“…about using creative, critical, and metacognitive processes to make sense of information, experiences, and ideas. These processes can be applied to purposes such as developing understanding, making decisions, shaping actions, or constructing knowledge. Intellectual curiosity is at the heart of this competency.”
“Students who are competent thinkers and problem-solvers actively seek, use, and create knowledge. They reflect on their own learning, draw on personal knowledge and institutions, ask questions and challenge the basis of assumptions and perceptions.”
essential for students
fundamental thinking skills
Formulate a viewpoint and provide reasons which support your views
To situate and contextualise your reasoning
To give the proper weight to all views, including the opposing views
To deliberate in groups
To update or change your views based on the deliberative process
To ask deep philosophical questions
To ask questions of one another
The Street Smarts Model Explained
The X symbol represents the central starting point for a thinking journey-oneself. By being metacognitive and self-aware we can become firmly planted and ready to tackle the concepts of reason, difference and change.
A useful way to think about a sound argument is one which is well rounded. The circle represents the idea that with equal support from all sides we can create something that is (by definition) defensible from all sides.
When it comes to thinking differently, we are often encouraged to "think outside the box'. The square symbol reminds us that the same idea can have quite different angles and that we therefore need to get 'outside the box' of our own thinking in order to explore these other, often very different or abrupt, angles.
Like the upper-case delta symbol in maths, the triangle represents change. It can also be seen as an arrow pointing up to represent progression in our thinking as we take on board new perspectives and knowledge to grow as thinkers.
Everyone is capable of learning and using complex sets of skills such as critical thinking if they are taught how and allowed time to practice this skill. Overtime, critical thinking skills become habitual, and you will be able to apply these skills with ease, even in unfamiliar scenarios.