How to Teach the Twelve Cognitive Processes 135 in every task they undertake. They must talk about and write about what they do until the description process becomes second nature to them. So, describing cannot be taught in and of itself. It must be part and parcel of other events students undertake. Writing classes make no sense, therefore. They exist because of the subject-based divisions in school. Writing and speaking must be part of everything that is go- ing on. SUMMARY Proficiency at all the cognitive processes depends on discovery and being able to extrapolate from one’s experience about what has been discovered. These processes depend strongly on prior cases, and prior cases are best learned slowly in childhood. They also depend on an analysis of those cases, which is best done with help from a teacher. Discussion, reflection, and analysis of prior cases make one better able to deal with new cases. New cases must be compared with old ones in a way that helps one reason better from them. This comparison is the basis of teaching analytic cognitive processes. Learning cognitive processes means having prior experiences with events that are similar to current events and being able to extrapolate from them. When we go to a doctor, we want one who has seen our problem, and described it to others, many times before. Only then can we detect the nuances of difference that will determine an effective course of action. Teaching cognitive processes means providing students with ex- periences, hopefully each one more complex than the one before, and helping students discuss those experiences and compare one with another. Knowledge is experience, but it is experience that has been analyzed so that it can be retrieved again just in time as needed. This will happen only if we have thought about what we have experienced. A teacher’s job, therefore, is to help provide the experiences and to help the student reflect upon the significance of those experiences. Good parents d