Education is wonderful. When discussing education, however, most
people only give “credit” for formally-earned credits at a University or
college. There isn’t a way to recognize
the power of ingenuity or innovation as there is a successful completion of
curriculum (unless it’s an honorary degree that most Universities bestow to
those who haven’t completed official courses).
As professional educators begin to
realize the inherent benefits in less structure that will encourage more
collaboration and creativity in problem solving, we may see America rise to the
top of the invention mountain again.
Teachers and professors, myself included, are beginning to recognize and
reward answers that come to a solution outside the “typical” path – sometimes,
we even give bonus points for it!
In an earlier post, I talked about
exercising your mind and strengthening the creative muscles every day – to untrain
your uncreativity. Children historically
have been discouraged and the “create” is trained out of them. Let’s train in back into our everyday lives.
In our personal and professional lives,
we need to start making efforts to recognize the traits we find valuable. Think about the Harry Potter school
environment. There are some teams, and
the leader can reward unique approaches to problems with the waiving of a wand
(or awarding points). How about we start
positive reinforcement rather than focusing all the time on the negative
attributes around us? How much more pleasant the world would be!
Take the first step and with the people
around you, focus on the positive. You
can’t always ignore the negative, but good golly, give it the limited attention
it’s due – when you spend more time on positive things, more positive things
will happen!
