George’s Education Day: 15 November 2017 Transformational Education: learning for life Hilary Wason, Cheryl Whiting, Fran Arrigoni and Colin Clarke Abstract: Our contribution focuses on the innovations in learning and teaching that have arisen from the outcomes of an interdisciplinary international research collaboration on critical thinking, aiming to enhance curricula and improve students’ development as required by employers. This has culminated in the development of a critical thinking skills framework and toolkit designed to inform learning, teaching and assessment practice. Our transformative educational endeavours are illustrated in three posters. Collectively these highlight our approach to developing student’s self-efficacy to master critical thinking and explore the challenges faced in leading students through ‘conceptual gateways’ to a more accessible way of thinking about information (Meyer and Land, 2005). Our key message is that to overcome such challenges we must as educators firstly transform ourselves by revising our own personal assumptions about learning and embrace a reflective and evidence-based exploration of our own methods of practice, l expectations of ourselves and of our students. Keywords: Critical Thinking; Learning and Teaching; Student Engagement; Curriculum Development Reflection Transformation is a process of change, in the context of developing ourselves and our students as independent autonomous and critical thinkers. Prior knowledge and experiences constrain our perceptions of the world around us and our ability to avert the ideas and opinions of others. This can deny us the opportunity to make the most of our learning experiences. Overt teaching of critical thinking (CT) skills builds self-efficacy, improves learning and enhances students’ academic performance (Putwain et al.,2013). Kingston and St George’s University has been at forefront of developing interventions to embed CT skills within undergraduate curriculum to equip students for academic success, and future employment. The outcomes of an interdisciplinary international research collaboration have informed the development of a CT skills framework and toolkit designed to inform learning, teaching and assessment practice. The toolkit, which is underpinned by the work of Abrahmi et al. (2015), operationalises our institutional adaptation of Facione's CT skills framework (Facione,1990). Containing 10 branded teaching tools, it offers a flexible framework of instructional guides and worksheets are tailored to a variety of learner levels and assignment tasks. With the aid of a small HEFCE Catalyst project fund the toolkit has been piloted within the first year of 5 undergraduate degree programmes across two diverse employment sectors (Business and Healthcare). Our series of 3 posters builds a picture of our approach to the development and evaluation of CT skills. Our quest to enhance student’s ability to independently and systematically analyse problems and make decisions, has uncovered the challenges faced by students and how they make sense of the concept of critical thinking. This has encouraged us to review personal assumptions and transform our approaches to learning and teaching. It is evident that there is