Monday, September 7th, 2015

 Today brings a much needed day of rest for the teachers, staff, and children of Holiday Park. The hard work of learning can be exhausting and we have all earned a day of rest and relaxation. 

It is often in this state of rest and relaxation that our most powerful thoughts and ideas start to form. As I spent the day thinking about our current reality and the work that we do together, I started to synthesize some recent learning opportunities into the start of a fluid thought that I would like to share with you today.

We live in the world of "education". Teaching and learning is what we do. It has been so for almost 100 years. As most of us now realize, the future of schooling and the 21st century are bound to undergo dramatic changes in the next several years and we move away from traditional ways of teaching and into creating learning environments that allow student to engage in collaboration, curiosity, and creativity. 

 Collaboration-
We have acknowledged collaboration for some time in education. For most of us providing students with the structure of working together is something we already do. What I am wondering is how often do we allow students the opportunity to choose who they work with? Thinking about how we collaborate as adults, we search out information and knowledge from each other as well as experts in the field. We choose to collaborate with those that will keep us on target, that share like ideas, and that have different strengths than we do. I wonder if we have set up an environment that encourages and expects students to work together based on the idea of purposeful learning. When we ask our students to collaborate, is it clear that the outcome is learning? Have we shifted to understanding that collaboration means much more than setting up opportunities for grouping, to expecting learners to all share thoughts and help each other make meaning along the way? Have we set up the understanding with our students that different collaborators for different learning would ensure a positive outcome for each learner? 

Curiosity-
Everything starts with a thought, question, or "I wonder..." that is followed up with searching for the answer and discerning what is relevant to each of us. Have we nurtured creativity in public school? I am not sure we have the organizational structure in public schooling that encourages curiosity over fact based learning. Schooling, back in the day, required the teacher to "fill" the students brains up with as much information as possible. This information, which we considered important, was shared through public schooling all across America. Going to school, to the library, buying encyclopedias, and sharing stories was how we gained knowledge. Times have changed. It is now possible to have acsess to knowing literally about almost anything at the touch of your fingers. I believe this changes our role in public education. While some rote information is necessary, our role more than ever is to ignite the curiosity in our students that drives their desire to learn more and search for information. 

Creativity- 
Creativity and knowledge are infinity entwined with each other. Knowledge, in it's basic forms, depth of knowledge level 1, and depth of knowledge 2, can be considered convergent thinking. Convergent thinking does not allow for creativity as it is looking for "the one right answer" the "factual answer" and "the most straightforward answer" If we are basing our teaching on fact based answers, it will be hard to move that knowledge to a deeper level of understanding. While some level 1 and 2 knowledge is necessary as foundations to learning, moving our students to a deeper level will allow for more critical thinking.
Opposite of convergent thinking is divergent thinking. This is the birthplace of creativity. Divergent thinkers always look at things in a new way. They love to think outside the box and look for many possible answers to problems. Divergent thinkers understand the necessity to apply practical analysis to their many options and select the optimal solution that they can defend with precision. Thinking about our work last week with DOK, it seems that allowing for divergent thinking is the only way we will get to the 3rd and 4th level of knowledge. 
This is the fun part; once the divergent thinking is humming away, creativity should easily follow. There has to be a way for the new knowledge learned to be presented and moved out of the head and into the world. Making something with your knowledge is the key to creativity. I once heard a quote from the African Asaro Tribe that went something like this - Knowledge is only a rumor until it lives in the muscle. Wow! How do we provide opportunities for divergent thinking and creating? That is the question before us.      

The following is a link to an article that I found interesting.
http://www.fastcompany.com/3031994/the-future-of-work/the-secret-to-creativity-intelligence-and-scientific-thinking

As we work together this week, please reflect on how often you are able to provide opportunities for divergent thinking and creating.

Go Roadrunners!