Open Course in Education Futures

Before I begin the real work of this blog post (to tease out creativity and critical thinking as the dual nature of innovative thought) I want to muse about this course on the EdFutures because recent critical posts don't seem reflective enough for me. I too have felt irritation at the pedagogy that is being employed, since it doesn't meet what I thought the course would be – but that in no way reduces, in fact my feeling like a fish out of water may enhance, the value of the course over the long term. I could not see why we discussed creativity and critical thinking as stand alone topics – but I have found that they stay with me and that subsequently I have both included them in the new layout of my project (also on the future of education) and that I continue to dance with them in my mind, drawing outside resources to me. I give Dave and George credit for planting seeds that are creating growth – and I don't ask any more of a course than that. The rest is up to me.

I write today about creativity, critical thinking, networked participatory action research and how they all go together when we discuss innovating and creating a new set of future(s) for education. “As I start I find many sources of ideas coming together:
1.This class.
2.The books Group Genius (Sawyer, 2007) and Borrowing Brilliance (Murray, 2009)
3.The link between creativity and critical thinking which also seems only tenuously addressed in the literature.
4.My intuitive and rational sense that this link between creativity and critical thinking is addressed in action research and participatory action research and therefore should be included in the book I am currently writing for Sage on that subject.
Putting aside discussions in this course which can easily be looked up, I jump in with the thoughts of Sawyer who tells us that both in his research and in playing jazz it is collaborative learning that creates the greatest moment of invention and creativity. He traces historical references through known authors, musicians etc to debunk the idea of going into the woods alone to create. That is interesting in light of the recent business book on innovation by Murray. He also researched creative genius from DaVinci through Spielberg and comes to the conclusion that for an idea to be creative/innovative it must be new and useful. New however seems to be more brought in from a new context, rather than completely unheard of – in other words great genius borrows well (hence the name of his book).

An irritation I continue to feel about this course is the focus on scenarios, or rather the early focus on other peoples scenarios. Why do I distrust this pedagogy? Because I have found in my work that if and to the extent we problem solve with other people's solutions in our minds we limit our own creativity, tipping the scale towards critical thinking and away from innovation.

So what is the relationship between creativity and critical thinking? Could they be cousins? Or are they perhaps different sides of the same continuum, as they both have in common the fact that they are primarily mental exercises? Are they inherent in all people? Are they chronological? Do we first try to think creatively and then critically about our creative ideas? Is one persons creative moment another persons critical thought? Does it matter? I get myself out of these conundrums by focusing on what seems the more important point that we need to employ both/each to the topic of the future(s) of education. It seems important, and indeed at a meeting last year in Bahrain it seemed to be a topic of great importance, that we support education scenarios where both are encouraged or taught to all the world's children. I believe that creativity and critical thought are key features in helping our children thrive in the world they will inherit, one that we cannot imagine.

So now I move to the obvious tie between this a networked participatory action research. Participatory or collaborative groups following the three steps (as I teach it) of Discovery, Measurable Action, and Reflection, seem to meet all the definitions of both creativity and critical thinking. People work on the topic together thus meeting Sawyers standard of collaboration. During discovery they go to other areas and fields looking for similar problems and perhaps solutions that may apply locally (this seems an element not yet brought into this class). They take action and measure the results which could be the posing of a scenario to the larger group and then measuring the outcomes or ideas from others. Finally, they reflect and hopefully apply their critical thinking skills to the outcomes they have achieved as they enter another cycle of the process.

My vision for the Future(s) of education project is a world creating our own local scenarios and uploading our thoughts to the larger network on the web for other local groups to play off of. In this it is not dissimilar to what it seems George and Dave have in mind – and in fact perhaps some of the local groups that form out of this class would enjoy participating as well in the international network on the future(s) site. We'll see how it goes.

Alana

References

Murray, D. K. (2009). Borrowing brilliance: The six steps to business innovation by building on the ideas of others. New York, N.Y.: Gotham Books.
Sawyer, R. K. (2007). Group genius : the creative power of collaboration. New York: Basic Books.