There are two strategies of learning that are essential to the way we solve problems, generate ideas, and process information; these two strategies are called convergent and divergent thinking. Our education system is mainly defined by a convergent style of thinking, which focuses on typical intelligence. Convergent thinking is the practice of solving a problem quickly and efficiently, by choosing the single best solution from many. Divergent thinking, is taking a problem or “challenge,” and attempting to indicate all possible solutions, listing all of the ways the problem could be addressed (Charron). As I have stated before, There is a large focus on convergent based thinking in schools. Although knowledge based skills are necessary to know, …show more content…
A vital aspect of convergent thinking is that it creates one right answer, which also means there is no room for doubt; or skepticism. Your answer is either right or wrong.
Although it is important to be able to think convergently, it is also just as important that students can think creatively. Divergent thinking is important for coming up with your own innovative ideas, learning from others, learning basic social skills, as well as learning from mistakes. Being able to make mistakes and learn from them is a major factor of becoming successful. Every successful person has tried and failed many times, which is one thing that divergent thinking allows-room to learn and grow from mistakes.
Schools should not reduce education to academic intelligence and “direct instruction.” Decreasing the emphasis on standardized testing in schools, and replacing with innovation and creativity would improve the academic environment and promote a sense of motivation to students. One way to do this would be to advocate collaboration. Collaboration ties into divergent thinking, as it encourages students to come together to teach each other. Collaboration teaches students to learn cooperation, improves social and interpersonal skills, and helps create a better understanding of the materials being learned, through discussion and team effort. We are by nature, social beings, and I believe being social is also the best way to learn. The most fulfilling way to learn and prepare for
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Collaborative learning (divergent thinking) in schools may be achieved by mixing up learning styles, decreasing emphasis on standardized testing as a measure of what a student knows, encouraging students to work together to come up with a solution, creating group projects, student “collaborative” sessions,
“brainstorming” in class, and engaging students with fun and interactive activities.
Another issue I believe is holding us back from creating the best learning opportunity is the lack of coaching for our educators to become better teachers. Teachers need the quality, professional training necessary to effectively incorporate creative thinking and individualism into the modern day classroom, as an alternative to teaching every student a single body of knowledge. This would improve the learning experience and increase a student's motivation to want to learn. School needs to be fun again, and half of that issue largely relates to how an educator teaches, their learning style, and attitude, among other things.
Generally speaking, success isn’t just about what you accomplish in life, it’s how you accomplished it and the impact you
thinking helps us to become an active learner to not only absorb information, but to probe and
Scriven, M. & Paul, R. 1987, ‘A Working Definition of critical thinking’, The Critical Thinking Community. Retrieved 18 May from
Robinson states that divergent thinking is “not the same thing as creative thinking" but that it is an "essential capacity for creativity."Milena Segal
But not through impossible math problems or writing impossible papers on dead people no one really cares about. Students should be taught creative and critical thinking in a way that is specific to each individual child. We grow up being told we are unique, so why do we all have to learn the same way? Today, schools force the students to learn the same way. They are forcing us to conform instead of giving us the chance to be creative and allow us to find our identity. If we are given the chance, we can blow your minds and make a difference in this world. Maybe the difference that the world needs. But if we are forced to conform, forced to learn about things we do not care about, then the odds of making a difference
to be incorrect about everything because he has doubt, and to posses doubt, there must be
Critical thinking is a significant and essential topic in recent education. The strategy of critical thinking skills helps identify areas in one's courses as the suitable place to highlight, expand and use some problems in exams that test students' critical thinking skills.
Focusing on clarity in thinking. If thinking is unclear, we cannot determine whether it is accurate or relevant. We cannot tell anything about it because we don't yet know what it is all about.
Conclusion: In conclusion, as Steve said "I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance" that the secret of success. The person who wishes to success, he should recognize his weakness and formulates a plan to overcome them and he must have a clear goal for life. What's need is an idea put into action followed with proper planning and persistency.
The overall essence of education or knowledge acquisition is reflected in an axiom by Confucius which says “Tell me, and I will forget; show me, and I will remember; but involve me, and I will understand. Back then, it was clear that learning was a comprehensive process which involves passionate exchanges between students and their teachers; unfortunately this is not the case in most modern classrooms. Instead of the expected bidirectional communication between learners and teachers, in the modern learning environment there is a unidirectional system which involves the teacher incessantly hurling facts at students who, due to their passive roles as mere receptacles, have fallen asleep or; in the case of “best” students are mindlessly taking notes. This leads to a situation where knowledge has neither been conferred nor acquired.
I believe that it is important to students to teach them how to learn such as test taking skills to reinforce success, not failure. I think we as teachers should make it relevant and give them the knowledge that will help them survive and thrive in the world outside of the education setting. I believe that teachers should work with others and integrate the curriculum across the domains. Students must have access to the use of technology, as this is the world the lay before them. Let students teach students, they love to be in charge even if it just for a little while. This will help create the hunger and curiosity to help motivate and move your classroom forward into proactive learning.
...nd make similar problem situations, and then, they provided the students with a little bit of practice because practice makes perfect! After that, teachers may put the students on the situation given just now.
It doesn’t matter if they are failing or success, the only thing matter is how hard people are trying during the process. The value of success will worth and have respect after they walk through failure. It’s important on how people stand up after they failed, not how they failed, because everyone will fail at least one time on their life. A good example of people who fail but they stand up and learn from it is people who play sport. At first time of playing, no one will good at sport. Sometime they make a common mistake when they start play but if they learn from it, they won’t make that same mistake again during the game. To have that success they have to make mistake and fail during the practice so they can learn from it and practice to overcome their failure. But people who never fail when they play, they may make a common mistake on the
Posing questions on materials covered and the quality of materials selected can create the desired environment for students to thrive. I want to inspire my students to think outside the box and to ask questions. Society needs thinkers not robots. The classroom plays an important part in aiding the growth of an individual. It is my duty as a teacher to impart knowledge because ideas have a way of changing lives. Examining and discussing ideas with students allows them to move to a new level of understanding, so that ultimately, they may be transformed.
Students need to be inspired to think critically. By this they comprehend what has been learned and be able to use it. I hope my students will be able to achieve their greatest potential that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to. We can give our children these building blocks thru education to use in decision making situations, moral value of their thoughts and actions. This will guide them to realize how their actions and decisions will affect themselves and others.