Introduction

Teaching thinking is important. Policy reports from around the world stress that education for higher level skills, such as problem solving, creativity and learning to learn, is crucial for future economic growth (e.g., World Bank, 2011). This policy push is influenced by social science research that strongly suggests a causal relationship between the level of cognitive skills in a nation and the level of economic development (Rindermann and Thompson, 2011; Hanushek and Woessmann, 2008). Beyond these familiar economic arguments there is also widespread recognition that dispositions required for good thinking such as resilience, tolerance, creativity and reasonableness are all also essential to personal and collective well-being in an increasingly globalised world (OECD, 2014).