That's not what I was thinking

 That’s Not what I was Thinking

Public schools are smothering creative thinking.   We simply do not reward it.  Teachers are teaching to the exams.   Learning has been confined to what the test measures.

A developmental psychologist at Williams College decided to investigate what is happening in classrooms to encourage creative thinking and curiosity.   During the project she was appalled at what she found.   When a child added a diverse thought or observation, the teacher gave very nodding acknowledgement and then went back to the scheduled lesson.   One teacher even said, “I can’t answer questions right now.  Now it’s time for learning.”

It is not all of the teacher’s fault.  They are on a tight time schedule to complete the coursework on time so the children can be “exposed” to the knowledge that will be tested.  The pacing guides are everything.

In our present environment, compliance is prized over discovery.  The late educational psychologist Jerome Bruner talked about “the energizing lure of uncertainty”.  Researchers have discovered that low-income students benefit even more from the opportunity to discover, yet these are the kids who experience the most regimentation in their instruction.

Some research has found that the more intensely interested a teacher is in the child’s thinking the more the child becomes interested in the teacher’s ideas.  Motivation needs to be moved more to intrinsic supports than extrinsic ones, encouraging children to follow their own curiosity.

Much of the problem comes from inflexible schedules, principals that expect order and regimentation and central office folks that worship at the altar of test scores.  Learning is construed as being able to repeat a list of facts.  The current curriculum is a proven cure for curiosity.  Kids learn to figure out what the teacher was thinking and not what they were thinking. Are we raising kids to be creative thinkers or mind readers?