Creative thinking enables students to perceive everything with a positive bent of mind and divergent thinking enables students to explore all possibilities and solutions - hence there is no question of failure at all!
Team building and cooperative learning are other unique aspects of today's education. Education has undergone a "Creative Revolution" and methodology has changed to generate effective learning. The teacher-pupil relationship is also unique - the present day teacher is a "facilitator" and a "manager", no longer "the sage on the stage", but a guide by the side.
Teachers must be constantly aware of the basic curiosity, interest and inquisitiveness in children and also their superfluous bubbling energy level to explore. Effective learning takes place in an informal and natural way in a conducive environment for creative thinking and expression leading to the joy of learning.
To quote Swami Vivekananda, "What we want is progress, development, realization. No theories ever made man higher. No amount of books can help us to become purer. The only power is in realization, and that lies in ourselves and comes from thinking. Let man think. A clod of earth never thinks; but it remains only a lump of earth. The glory of man is that he is a thinking being. It is the nature of man to think and therein he differs from animals."
To sum up, the parameters of effective learning and true education is as follows and every practising teacher could use it as a checklist, along with her own interest, involvement and creativity to generate effective and purposeful learning in the classroom and ensure that truly educated and successful individuals emerge into society.
a) Relevance of Learning
b) Range of Experiences
c) Motivation / Inspiration
d) Receptivity to Change and Newness
e) Divergent and Lateral Thinking
f) Scope for Originality and Creativity
g) Positive Encouragement
h) Flexibility of Thinking
i) Futuristic Perspective
j) Positive Attitude and Optimism and above all
k) Emphasis on Value Systems
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