As with most traditional teaching’s challenges, this picture reflects the problem in an ex post facto way.

The picture only highlights the problem after the fact—when it’s already too late to intervene.”

The paradigm shift is to grasp that the real problem is NOT how we test learners—but how we expect them all to learn the same way.

It’s time to stop trimming every brain to fit the same mould—and start scaffolding thinking so that each learner can reach the same standard, by following the path their brain is naturally wired to take

Giving every learner the same method is like giving every animal the same ladder—and then wondering why only the monkey succeeds.

With Thinking Tools, we don’t change the tree. We change the cognitive journey.

The Monkey – Naturally Equipped

🐒Swings up the tree with ease.
🧠 They are: Fast processors.
✅ Needs: Depth beyond speed. Push to synthesize, not just perform.

🐘 The Elephant – Can’t Climb, but Can Move the Tree

The elephant doesn’t climb—but it can shake the tree, tilt it, or knock it down and access the top another way.
🧠 They are: Deep, analytical thinkers who struggle with procedural methods.
✅ Needs: Respect for their strategic depth. Visual organisers, critical questioning, and time to reframe the challenge.

🐟 The Fish – Builds a Water-Powered Elevator

The fish doesn’t need to grow legs—it needs a system: maybe a bowl on a pulley, or help from the eagle.
🧠 They are: Learners completely outside the conventional model (neurodiverse, highly creative, kinaesthetic).
✅ Their cognitive journey needs are: Concept-based learning, experiential tasks, and multimodal input.

🐕 The Dog – Waits for Instructions

Loyal, willing, but needs someone to show the way.
🧠 They are: Learners who need encouragement and scaffolding to move from imitation to thinking.
✅ Their cognitive journey needs are: Positive reinforcement, step-by-step tools.

🐦 The Bird – Flies Straight to the Top

The bird doesn’t climb—it soars.
🧠 They are: Gifted learners who quickly grasp patterns, leapfrog steps, and need no ladder.
✅ Their cognitive journey needs are: Stretch thinking, open-ended problems, and the chance to scaffold others.

🐧 The Penguin – Builds an Ice Ramp

The penguin waddles, slides, and may build its own path from the bottom up.
🧠 They are: Learners with coordinated logic but non-linear approaches.
✅ Their cognitive journey needs are: Sequencing tools, lateral thinking activities, and time to process deeply.

🦭 The Seal – Creates a Water Path Around the Tree

Not built for land—but can swim under, build a canal, or redirect water.
🧠 They are: Learners who thrive in movement, simulation, or tactile learning.
✅ Their cognitive journey needs are: Hands-on tasks, role play, problem-solving in action—not on paper.

We need to give each learner the mental scaffolds they need to approach the task from their own cognitive strengths.

Don’t lower the standard.
Don’t remove the tree.

The only way to equip learners to build their own route is through formative assessment in real time to support, stretch, or redirect—before the test ever happens.

Most teachers think formative assessment is a small weekly test before the big test or exam. IT IS NOT.

Same Tree. Different Journeys. Equal Growth.

This is the shift:
We don’t remove the challenge. We remove the assumption that there’s only one way to reach it.

Let’s stop trimming brains into the same shape.
Let’s stop wondering why the fish can’t climb.
Let’s help each learner build their own way up the tree—because the world needs all of them at the top.

“It's not how smart you are. It's how you are smart”

Howard Gardner – Developer of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

🔗 Read more:           
https://learningdesigns.co.za/lets-trade-the-scissors-for-scaffolds/