Can you make oil and water mix? Can you make Republicans agree with Democrats? Can you make Democrats agree with Republicans? Can up and down ever get together?
Can you merge right brain divergent thinking with left brain convergent thinking?
Yes you can. Students / individuals can be taught to be more creative and they can be taught to be think critically, and both sides of thinking can enhance each other’s capacity to problem solve.
Parnes and those who have built on his model have developed a process where it’s possible to create solutions to issues, problems, and concerns, that plague us that would not have been “discovered” when using only conventional linear type thinking.
From time to time I will sprinkle in some of the methods Parnes et al have developed. This post is intended to continue the overview as a continued rationale for arguing that our present curricula and systems for schooling must be re-tooled for 21st century education.
Here’s an overview:
- Students are led to, or discover issues or problems that need solution.
- Teacher provides sources and / or instruction about the problem.
- Teacher uses specific problem-identification techniques to squeeze the problem to its core needs.
- Students engage these techniques to narrow and refine the problem.
- NOTE that each all of the above activities are left brain / convergent thinking strategies
- Now teacher switches to right brain / divergent thinking strategies such as brainstorming, force-fitting, SCAMPER, and piggy-back techniques
- NOTE I will devote separate posts about some of these strategies down the line
- Students, alone, and in small and large groups begin to generate as many potential solutions as possible
- NOW teacher switches back to convergent thinking by inviting students to identify criteria that would help students assess their tentative – creative solutions in order to evaluate these for their potential success.
- Using their criteria students begin to filter their ideas and to isolate those that appear to have the most promise.
- Students use additional or previous research, canvas other individuals, poll, use feedback to refine their ideas.
- Students use additional criteria to isolate the solutions they have created to choose the most likely ideas.
- Students identify the audience they will present their ideas to. They will attempt to pre-identify the audience’s values and feelings, background and levels of expertise to anticipate any questions the audience may have.
- Students use both creativity techniques and logical thinking to create presentations and evidence to sell their solution.
- Based on their audience’s response they may go back to re-tool their thinking and presentation.
Ok, I know that sounds kind of dry. My intent here is to give you the snap shot of how the process may evolve. In the next series of posts I will elaborate on each bullet with some real-world examples.
Now what should we use as a basis for investigation and solution? How about what a 21st century education should look like?!