Think Before You Speak, Possibly the Greatest Opportunity in Education.
Alistair Owens www.keen2learn.co.uk
The thinking man’s guru Edward De Bono believes most of the problems in the world have been caused by an inadequacy in our current methods of thinking. Perhaps this concept alone should become the focus of all educational curriculum for the future.
“Most major conflicts in the world today exist as a direct result of that inadequacy, as do all the smaller-scale misunderstandings we encounter day to day. All could be solved by an improvement in the quality of human thought. All could be eased by developing our ability to look at things through the other person’s eyesâ€.
“Over centuries we’ve been encouraged to believe logic is all that matters, yet in assessing any given situation, it’s perception that’s really important. Imagine someone is coming towards you with a scowl on their face. Logically, you might interpret that as signalling negative intentions and react accordingly, thus putting yourself in a heightened, potentially dangerous situation. But try using perception instead: that person may have chronic toothache, or have just been told upsetting news. Allow for possibilities other than hostility towards you, and both your reaction to the encounter and its outcome will be different. It’s a simple technique that facilitates a better approach to life and one we should be teaching in every school.â€
Perception appears the greatest attribute of a developing thinker. The ability to think things through becomes ever more critical. We learn of the major shake up in the educational world to give teachers a greater say in the teaching process. A radical thought compared to the current curriculum and SAT’s where the enjoyment of learning has been sadly confused and contained over past decades. Exam pass rates went up annually to be matched by criticism about falling exam standards. The reality being teachers had become cannier in achieving targets by focussing the thrust of education towards passing teats and exams. The “teach to test†syndrome improved pass rates and achieved targets, but this target shooting was at the expense of a wider learning process that should inspire children to continue to learn and enjoy learning.
Teachers skill and enthusiasm has been widely curtailed and the thrust of education left to bureaucracy. As targets became the focal measure of achievement the fun and enjoyment in education became exchanged for stress. Teacher’s enthusiasm to expand and enthral curtailed. But now we see hope with emerging changes. Yet deep down these are also a concern; has the thought process been correctly applied.
“Most major conflicts in the world today exist as a direct result of thinking inadequacy, as do all the smaller-scale misunderstandings we encounter day to day. All could be solved by an improvement in the quality of human thought. All could be eased by developing our ability to look at things through the other person’s eyesâ€. Has Ed Balls hit the mark, time will tell but I sincerely hope so.
