Reflection:
1. Robinson claims that our educational system is structured upon an antiquated approach. Describe this approach and propose some realistic changes to NHS that would accommodate his thinking.
2. What do you think about divergent thinking and yesterday's "paper clip" experiment? What does Robinson suggest happens to young people as they move through the system?
3. Click here to view an explanation of higher order thinking questions. Develop one strong Analysis, Synthesis, or Evaluation question to serve our discussion.
13 comments:
1. Robinson claims that our educational system is structured upon an approach that leads to only one answer. However, there are many answers in life and not one problem has a single answer. NHS could be more open to the opinion of its students and explore every possibility.
2. I think that divergent thinking is very interesting and benefits everyone because an answer simply cannot be wrong when every option is explored. Robinson thinks that students lose the thought of having multiple solutions as they grow older because of the educational system.
3. If Robinson taught at NHS how do you think he would run his classroom? Why?
1)It is true this educational process was originally created during the industrial revolution a time where public education was not only rare, but a completley new and revolutionary idea for the time. We still live by the ideals that this system was based on even though it is over one hundred years since its original development.These ideals being that we seperate children by age. This is rrelevant as everyone is different. We all prefere different things, and we all learn in different ways so to seperate one other simply based on age instead of acedemic preference is completley illogical. Humans and almost every living organism learns by observation so to have people seperated which in turn tampers with our natrual way of learning is not really preparing us for life in the real world. Honestly the educational system is a joke all we are taught is to regurgitate facts instead of actually thinking for ourselves for once. There are obviously some exceptions to this but the in no way outweigh this truth.In order for educational systems to be truly benificial we should not be forcing facts upon students. Instead we should be promoting their interest, and ideals the things that actually get their brains working. Instead of making them sit through in this case a 90 miniute math class or any class they are uninterested in. Odds are they will not pay attention, and as result will not learn anything so whats the point of even having that 90 miniutes in the first place.In conclusion for things to be better we must give the students more of a choice when it comes to their acedmic interest instead of forcing them do to do things that they will not benefit from in the end.
2) The process of divergent thinking is a process that has been severely discredited through out generations. To be able to think about things an illogical way instead of a logical way is a beneficial, and an extremely crucial skill for life in the real world. The paper clip expiriemnt is an interesting, and somewhat ironic study. Normally one would think this ability would become further developed with age, but aparently that is not the case. The results of the expiremnt were as follows. 98% if kinder gardners came up with over 200 uses for a paper clip.This is aparently considered to be the genius boundry for divergent thinking. Now this is where the irony comes into play. The results showed that as people got older their ability to divergently think diminished. Now this makes a lot of since, but when first presented with this fact I find it to be shocking. However we all can consider that as people get older their imiganation or their right brain which is partly responsible for creativity, and illogical thinking is overwhelmed by the logical, and observant left brain. This is mainly due to the educational system. Over the years in school we are fed with knowledge; irrelevant,usless knowledge. By the time we get to college if we even go to college we are basically brain washed zombies who thrive upon usless, redundant facts.
3) What do you think about today's educational system in the United States, and do you truly think it is preparing us for the real world which requires quick, creative, and practical thinking?
1. He says that our system is based off an outdated system. He says he was taught to do good in school to go to college. After college you would have a degree. With a degree you would be guaranteed a job. However in today unpredictable economy nothing can guarantee you a job. He thinks that education should take place in groups and collaboration is the key to growth. NHS should create better facilities such as better and newer science labs to be able to accommodate for large group thought processes in labs or any subject at all.
2. I was absent for the paper clip assignment. Robinson suggests that as modern day children move through our outdated educational system they are educated. However they are educated in a way that teaches kids that there is only one answer to every problem we come across. They are taught against divergent thinking and that collaboration is cheating.
3. How would you create and design a new energy efficient school that contains the most modern technologies for the most advanced learning?
1. he says that inside of school if you look at someones work it is called cheating, but outside of school it is considered a good thing. This statement made alot fo sence to me, but it was never really brought to my attencion before i saw this clip. I think we should be able to share our ideas inside of the school and not be punished for it.
2.It is a proven fact that before we are "run throught the system" we are more creative individuals because we think that there are more than one answer then the one answer we are taught is correct. I like to think that i am a pretty creative person, but it is ashamed if this is true and the more i am educated the less creative i get.
1. Robinson’s idea that the education system is structured upon an antiquated approach may be correct. Since the world is becoming more involved in technology and figuring out how to make things in life more interesting, by not adding it into the school system causes problems. The children who are trying to be educated find problems with the way things in school are being taught because they find it boring. If the new or old inventions such as iPods or cell phones were to connect to school somehow, they could become much more educated. Norton High school could use some of these ideas to help our education more interesting. They could intertwine all the new technologies and get the children more active in doing so. This wouldn’t just help out the education purposes but it could also be a fun or easy way to remember such information.
2. I find divergent thinking to be very interesting. Sadly, I was not here for the paper clip experiment but as I heard about it I thought it was kind of fun and it would definitely catch my attention. I think that is a fun way to make kids interested because I started to wonder about it myself. Robinson suggests that as kids move through the system, they become bored with it. They get sick of learning about the same stuff and doing the same things every year. This could cause their mind to drift off too.
Reflection:
1.) The educational system the Robinson has been stating is that the system is out dated and old. This means that if one doesn’t do well in school then they won’t be successful in the future. In some cases that is true. If one doesn’t get an educational, it’s hard for them to have a better life style. Robinson stated that the same age of students for the grades is unfair because some younger students are smarter than the ones who are older. Some changes to NHS that would accommodate Robinson’s thinking, is they should be more open-minded about people’s answers and see how different on learns from mixing up the ages of the students.
2.) Robinson suggested that when young people move through the system, they tend to start losing interest and doesn’t care as much. The divergent thinking, more people become more creative and try to show how one is more useful. In my group, we came up with 103 different activities that is useful for a paperclip. Robinson said that most people would get 10-15 but “geniuses” would 200. This all depends on how creative on person is.
3.) If you were part of a group, that varies the ages, would you be more motivated to be successful?
1. Robinson discribes an antiquated approach as how the educational system we are following is based upon the lifestyle of different economic, political and social times. We would have to change how there is a structure and points to be met to go into a new realm. There could be more individualized approach as before education was to produce mass intelligence.
1.He claims that people lose their creativity as they learn more and as they get more educated. He explains that people shouldn’t be grouped by age but by whom they are and how well they approach things. He says that if people share answers in school it’s cheating but outside of school it’s called collaborating.
2.The more you get educated the less creative you get and you are limited to so many answers and you are trained to think in one way only. There are so many tings people can come up with but they don’t let you say what you think cause its “wrong”. Everyone is creative but they don’t realize it and can have less confidence.
Robinson is saying that we shouldn't organize people by age. We should organize people the way they think and things they are interested in.
Isabella Varela
1. This approach that our educational system is that children need to be taught to conform to the rest of society, there is one answer, and only one answer, and the only path to that answer is through school.
1) One thing Robinson talked about was how in the public education system students are mostly grouped by age, as a way putting together people wiht equal ability. But, he makes they point that their are plenty of sophmores that exceed junior and seniors, as well as the other way around, proving the idea of grouping by age faulty. At NHS there are of course electives that have all different ages, but the classes that make up a base of our schedual we are put into because of our age. For classes such as English there is freshman, sophmore, junior, and senior English, so even if some one is a freshman but has mastered grammar, has an excalent vocabulary and can fully analize literature they will be in the same class as someone whose main vocab is "like" and "omg so stupid". So based off this thinking acedemic classes should be based purely off of level, not off of grade. At NHS there are level 1 and honors level, but sometimes still that often isnt a great enough diversity of chalenge. Classes ahould be bases purely off of level opposed to grade.
2) Robinson said that in a test of kindergardeners 98%scored "genious" for divergent thinking, but by the time those same students were around 15 their divergent thinking level has greatly decreased. Robinson states that this shows first, that everyone has the initial ability for divergent thinking, and second that as a persons education grows their divergent thinking decreases. I mostly agree with Robinsons thinking on divergent thinking. Education presses into us to be logical, also replying with a different answer to the question than what was intended, or exploring ideas that are abstract or will not be on the test is discouraged by most teachers. Along with the public education, as we grow older there becomes less need for divergent thinking. We no longer need to imagine different situations to play wiht our friends to have fun, like pirates or princesses, because now we can just text our parents that we are gonna go to the mall for fun, something we couldnt do at 5.
Merri West
Robinson says our approach is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. We should be making things more relatable to the environment we live in today. He says we are exposed to so many stimuli outside of school and when we are in school we aren’t being exposed to nearly as much. I think if we had things at school that were more interactive, that people could realize their potential and become much better students, instead of not being as interested in school.
Robinson suggests that as we move through the education system, we are taught that there is usually only one answer. We lose the ability to think divergently as we get older because we think there is only one answer, or think there is only one way something could be. When we are younger, there we don’t know as much about the world and we are able to think outside of the box, and use our imaginations to create something unique.
I agree 100% with Robinson. I think the way we are being taught now is outdated, and with all the technology we are being exposed to, we are easily distracted by the old methods of teaching. I think we could easily think of ways to make school more interactive and encourage many people to realize their full potential.
1)One thing Robinson talked about was how in the public education system students are mostly grouped by age, as a way putting together people with equal ability. But, he makes the point that there are plenty of sophomores that exceed junior and seniors, as well as the other way around, proving the idea of grouping by age faulty. At NHS there are of course electives that have all different ages, but the classes that make up a base of our schedule we are put into because of our age. For classes such as English there is freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior English, so even if someone is a freshman but has mastered grammar, has an excellent vocabulary and can fully analyze literature they will be in the same class as someone whose main vocab is "like" and "omg so stupid". So based off this thinking academic classes should be based purely off of level, not off of grade. At NHS there are level 1 and honors level, but sometimes still that often isnt a great enough diversity of challenge. In theory then a freshman would be able to take senior AP English, which is the highest level NHS has to offer. This would motivate that freshman and the whole school system to utilize tools available to them, such as dual enrolment. NHS is lucky to have the option of dual enrolment at Wheaton and BCC, which would allow that freshman in AP senior English to take more challenging course while still fulfilling their four years of English requirement. Of course there would still be the student that always remains at the lowest level, for either a lack of effort or ability. That student would then start their freshman year at the lower level freshman classes, and like the school system now the student would then be required to move on to the next class once they fulfilled the requirement for their first class.
2) Robinson said that in a test of kindergarteners 98% scored "genius" for divergent thinking, but by the time those same students were around 15 their divergent thinking level has greatly decreased. Robinson states that this shows first, that everyone has the initial ability for divergent thinking, and second that as a person’s education grows their divergent thinking decreases. I mostly agree with Robinsons thinking on divergent thinking. Education presses into us to be logical, also replying with a different answer to the question than what was intended, or exploring ideas that are abstract or will not be on the test is discouraged by most teachers. Along with the public education, as we grow older there becomes less need for divergent thinking. We no longer need to imagine different situations to play with our friends to have fun, like pirates or princesses, because now we can just text our parents that we are gonna go to the mall for fun, something we couldn’t do at 5.
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