Justice — As Well As Creativity And Innovative Thinking — For All
The best of novel ideas do not come out of the ether, but emerge from identifying the already existing parts, products, and pieces, and rearranging them into something new. This process only occurs in learning spaces where experimental thinking is encouraged (not just occasionally permissible), where students are at liberty to explore and discover new meaningful connections. Science writer Steven Johnson refers to this concept as the “adjacent possible,” which inhabits the space immediately next to that which presently exists.
Like networks of neurons, the meta-discipline STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) provides the best academic platform for students to discover the infinite possibilities residing next door to the familiar. Transdisciplinary problem-solving is a new approach to education where each discipline is no longer a distant island, but island hopping is highly encouraged. STEM workers today command higher wages than their non-STEM counterparts, earning 26 percent more in annual salaries. Fortunately, student interest in STEM-related careers is overall quite high, although STEM preparation for teachers is not yet commensurate.
It is also quite common for students attending schools in low-income areas to receive a stack of worksheets daily. In some of these schools, computer technology is available and the bandwidth permits internet access to “learning” programs that are little more than costly “electronic worksheets.” Educators, administrators, and parents should have noticed that worksheets are the “kryptonite” of creative and innovative thinking. Fortunately, when creativity and innovative thinking are school goals with corresponding learning spaces, we are reminded that student creativity is evenly distributed across the zip codes, although dispensing creative thinking opportunities is frequently done subconsciously.
Many practices found in contemporary education are still longing for data to justify their sustained usage. They must be retired so that innovation with information becomes more important than the accumulation of information itself, and creating the future is more valued than memorizing the past. The new goal of education is not teaching memorization, but teaching students generally how to think and use innovative thinking in particular.
Contrary to the pronouncements of its opponents, the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards are not intellectual detours. Instead, they emphasize the importance of collaborative learning, critical and creative thinking, and long-term research projects where student claims are supported by evidence (not opinions) and logical thinking. The educational goal is no longer to memorize massive amounts of information, but to cultivate and transfer intelligent practices utilizing all disciplines simultaneously in standard and nonstandard contexts. During the processes of reflection and analysis, students learn to construct their own explanations rather than memorizing what their textbooks say. The teacher’s role is shifting, from transferring information to students, to teaching instead how to process informational literature, and to use it effectively (that is, teaching “thinking”).
“Nothing is more costly to the nation than untapped potential,” said Jon Erickson, ACT president of education and career solutions, “that’s why we must do more to ensure that all students understand the career opportunities that match their interests, particularly those that exist in important STEM fields.”
At a recent Middle East North Africa STEM conference in Dubai, where I delivered the keynote address, there were innovative educators from throughout the region sharing novel and practical ideas for implementing STEM under nearly any learning condition imaginable. In San Jose, California, Dartmouth Middle School recently opened the doors to their new STEM lab where students (and faculty members) are enthusiastically applying the notions of STEM and creativity.
If you were asked to recall the things you remember best about high school or junior high school, you would likely begin listing the dances, talent shows, or even your first dissection in biology class. Not many lectures would make it to the list. No matter how absolutely stellar we think we were as educators and effective communicators, students remember best what they did and the times when they were active producers constructing knowledge together, not when they were passive recipients of information.
Every student in school should have a clear pathway to the high-wage, high-demand STEM jobs of the future. Creative individuals in a stagnant environment, or dullards in a dynamic innovative learning space, are not the desired combinations that produce results. The school “accountability metric” of the future should require that every school superintendent, school board member, and administrator make certain that the schools for which they are responsible are spaces for creative learning. Students who have been encouraged to practice creativity must be given opportunities to continue learning under conditions that foster innovative thinking. The world’s most complex problems will also be the world’s biggest opportunities for deploying the creative problem solvers that should be blossoming under STEM education in every school right now.
This article is updated from its appearance in Brain World Magazine’s Fall 2016 issue.
Related Articles
- Broadcasting The Breakthroughs: An Interview with Dr. Max Gomez
- Education for the Real World: 6 Great Ideas for Parents and Teachers
- Has Standardized Testing Run Its Course?
- It’s a Matter of Confidence: Brain Education in El Salvador
- 3 Ways for Teachers to Enhance Learning a Language
- Summer Study: Tips for Parents and Educators
