Thinking out of the box

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Image courtesy: http://www.colourbox.com

 

The other day my husband was reading a book. Suddenly he popped a question to me…..

H : An example of a bird is __________ ?.

Me:  A crow or a sparrow.

H: Fine. Now answer this one.

A bird is an example of ______________

Me: After a moment’s thought……. Aves???

H: Yes, but why can’t it be anything else?

Me: What do you mean?

H: Why can’t it be like, a symbol of freedom, or something covered with feathers or something which uses its wings to soar in the open expanse or anything like that?

Me: Hmmm…….I didn’t think on those lines…….

 

He went on to explain that in the first sentence, one did not have much choice, but to look for examples of birds. Though there were many possible answers they all had to be drawn from the same subset.  But in the second sentence one could have done so many things. One was free to defy logical sense and take a risk. The mind was free to take risks, be creative, imagine and invent.  This is thinking out of the box.

These days a lot of importance is given to thinking out of the box. Workplaces have workshops, seminars and training sessions to encourage their employees to learn to think out of the box.

Unfortunately Indian education system does not believe in such creative thinking out of the box. Whenever a student came up with an alternate to the teacher’s answer, it was not appreciated. He was encouraged only to learn what the teacher taught and nothing beyond.

After ensuring the 15 years of schooling and college had clipped off their creative thinking abilities, now the workplace suddenly wants them to think out of the box and be creative???

Would love to know your views!!

 

 

 

64 thoughts on “Thinking out of the box”

  1. Hi Radhika , Creative and flights of fantasy have been skilfully wiped out for the majority of the youth. Right from childhood a strict regime and focus on a lucrative career is ingrained . All other pursuits are discouraged and looked down upon how does one expect them to acquire them when they have hardened to routine and a set pattern. Give them wings when they are children for them to make choices and lead lives which are fulfilling and complete.

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    1. Absolutely Veena, I fully agree with you. Giving them the choice and freedom to pursue their dreams is something we should encourage in them. At times they may fall and falter. Gently lift them up. There is then no stopping to their flight of imagination, creativity and learning which they will enjoy!!

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  2. very true post radhi.. everywhere we are taught to just go with the crowd.. and a very few only come out of that thinking..and on reaching a corporate world every time we hear only this ” think out of the box” the poor chaps, what they can do now.. and yes, the real smart guys can only escape from this box

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  3. How true ! And a sad one too…. A toddler who colours an apple blue is immediately corrected by his parents, saying apples are always red…. Maybe they are, but why curb the child’s imagination? I remember when my child coloured half the apple brown and half red, her teacher asked her why she had done so when all other kids had painted it red…
    “That side of the apple is rotten” came her reply…
    Her teacher was more than happy to agree with her..

    I sincerely hope there are more such teachers, not just at kg level, but at all levels, including college…

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    1. Oh yes ! I agree my friend, a good teacher can to a large extent help and encourage the growth of the child’s creative instincts. Unfortunately many parents and teachers do not allow the children to tread on a path different from the one charted for them. Wishful thinking that good times in education too will follow😊

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  4. Try as much as we can to encourage our kids to let their imagination take flight, it can never work in entirety unless it is realised and implemented in our education system too.
    The other day A Jr had to make a birthday card for his Computer practicals and I was aghast that his teacher had given stringent guidelines for it! Only balloons or gifts…only these shapes…only write this much…!! Why not see what kids can come up with?
    Learning something for the sheer joy and pleasure of it has become almost non-existent now. Planning a career is important, but any vocation or passion cannot be forced onto them.

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    1. That is my main grouse Varsha. Why should such narrow parameters define a child’s answer. I remember when my son was in grade 8, he didn’t get good grades in physics. His sir called me and said, ” Maam, your son’s answers are all correct. He has understood the concept well. But I cannot give him marks as he has not used the technical terms in his answer”!!!! I was shocked. Is it more important for the child to understand the concept or learn by rote with an iota of comprehension???

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      1. Ah! Just like Aamir Khan says in 3 Idiots…what use is memorising if we don’t know the why, how or what behind it. Unfortunately our system still functions on the same rule. What kind of dreamers or inventors can we expect to nurture when their minds are trained to only ‘follow’ from such an early age. 😦

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      2. A few movies have been made to highlight this lacuna……but seems futile. The only positive out of it is that now the parents, albeit a fraction of them , have become more aware and support their children to look beyond the Engineering and Medicine.

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      3. I would like to believe that I’m one of those parents. I want my kids to do something unconventional and creative, most importantly something they choose on their own accord.

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  5. I completely agree with you. Our education system on one hand is aimed at bringing out the best in a child,But then we ourselves set the definition of this “best”. When creativity is sucked out of education it becomes mere information. And information is not all that we need to succeed. True education comes when our mind is free to think. Free to think different. As even a straw can go with the flow.

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      1. And we have already debated this in our school😂 Current education system was the topic and I was against the motion. That’s why I have quite a clear point of view over the issue. I totally agree with you as degrees which are just a piece of paper must not be used to define one’s abilities.

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      3. It was an interhouse debate competition. Ours is rose house. There were two teams from each house. Each team had two debaters. One in against and the other in favour. Three individual prizes and one house trophy were there. Our house won the trophy.Though The 1st and 2nd prizes went to those against the motion including me and 3rd went to a boy in favour of the motion. So yeah we can say against the motion team won 😂😂😂😂

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  8. That’s the irony of our education system….We want to fill the young minds by the age old way of learning then expect them to expand their vision. Many of our text books still contan chapters we used to study in school. The language and content no more relevant now…Time to think out of box for education department. India needs a major revolution in this field.
    And I must say Radhika I enjoyed the conversation between you and your husband 🙂

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  9. Unfortunately, the sad state of affairs, I recently got a wa msg abt Finland’s education system where the children are allowed to pursue their passion and nothing is forced down their throats.
    Reading this, my mind went back to Robert Frost.”the road not taken” and maybe you can watch it here..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUaQgRiJukA
    Also, even certain ads show teachers clipping the wings of creative thoughts like the one in MRF wanderer tyres, where a kid writes stories that are truly out of the box and the teacher complains to his parent..”dekho kaise kaise kahaniyan banata hai..”!

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    1. I wish and pray that we too learn the positives in the schooling system from other countries. Will definitely watch the link. Thanks sunita.
      Yes, I recall that ad, but I am glad the boy’s father appreciates and encourages his son.

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  10. A very pertinent topic and expressed very well. So are the comments; extremely intelligent and apt. A number of them pertain to the methods of teaching being straight jacketed. I agree with them in Toto.

    That would point a finger at the teacher. Pardon me to dare “think out of the box”
    in my own way. How many would choose a full time career of teachers in “humble” school with matching emoluments for the love/ challenge of teaching differently at the cost of their bread and butter?

    A silver lining in the cloud is times are changing and so are things.

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    1. Definitely a very pertinent aspect to the whole discussion. Good pay will attract more passionate teachers to the profession and they can be a great catalyst to bring out the best in students.
      Hoping the silver lining emerges stronger and faster 😊

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  14. You are right, Radhika. That is the big plus in the people who have studied in the ‘non-Indian’ curriculum, they really don’t pause or hesitate to ask what their mind questions and their thinking process are on many different levels. I am also happy to add that thankfully my son (who is in an Indian school) is being coached in ICSE but the methodology adopted is better where the child is made to think for themselves and ‘out of the box’ which for me is the best package.

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    1. I am so glad to hear that Pranitha. It makes a great difference in the all round development of the child. When a child knows that he can question uninhibited, he tends to think beyond the books. True learning happens with assimilation of knowledge !

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  16. Was reminded of 3 idiots !! Ranchod was asked – What is a machine? Any thing which simplifies your life, fan, zip, calculator etc is a machine, was his answer. But he was asked to leave the class, chatur on the other hand vomits out the technical definition of a machine and is praised for the same by the teacher …
    thinking out of the box ??? maybe its slowly catching up.:)

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  17. Wow ! I completely agree to what you wrote . Students are taught what to think and not how to think . The concept of “Think once , think twice , think brilliant ” doesn’t really exist in the Indian education system and a person’s intelligence is judged by his report card . I hope things will get better in future !!

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    1. Yes, unfortunately in our system good marks are the passport to making it big.Intelligence is present in children in so many forms.We only need to harness is the right way. Thanks for your views Shreya. I do hope that things will change for the better in future.

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      6. Yeah actually, but the irony is society only appriciate MARKS in exams. But the thing we should understand that everyone has there own view and creativity 🙂

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