This thesis critically examines the early stages of introducing higher order thinking skills to the students of Years 7 in a Melbourne Secondary College. These skills were part of a Thinking Oriented Curriculum initiative aimed at better meeting the present and future needs of students. The College's new direction was in response to increased pressure being placed on educational institutions to equip students for a future purportedly determined and dominated by technological and societal changes. One method available for educators to address this challenge is to ensure that thinking skills are deliberately taught within classrooms. In this thesis, the term thinking skills implies the ability to use, apply or practice those attributes of the cognitive process of thinking. Recognising the benefit of raising the cognitive level of students as part of a school curriculum is not a new addition to pedagogy. However, in the past, activities to strengthen thinking skills were seen as most appropriate to use only with 'gifted' students, or as incidental addenda to a classroom task. Effective thinking procedures can no longer be seen as the sole domain of able students. Strategies should be available for all students to affect how they construct and apply knowledge within their environment. These are the skills required to take them into the next stage of their lives, their workplace, as more sophisticated thinking is needed in employment than was required by previous generations. Appropriate higher order thinking skills thus become invaluable life management skills for all students.