Real Learning: Critical And Creative Thinking

Thinking is a skill. Some are better at it than others. More often than not it is due to reasons unrelated to any quantifiable metric of intelligence. It is about how the individual processes information. The ones capable of thinking more comprehensively and wholly are better at it because they have made the act of processing ideas more lucid. 

Education should never merely be about mugging up topics from various subjects. But through the years we have diluted the way we define our education. We have categorized learning into subjects- which is divided into topics and further subdivided into subtopics. But is that all learning is? Creating a large index of concepts that we will have to keep catching up to?

A good education teaches the learner how to learn. A good education also enhances the way the students think, and it pushes them to think innovatively. Concepts are learnt so that their essence can be rendered useful in real life, for real scenarios. 

And for effective learning to happen, creative and critical thinking are two crucial skills required. If and when the learner wants to formulate decisions based on the information they have, they can use the instrument of critical and creative thinking to make better judgements. 

Critical Thinking

Life is all about perspective. Critical thinking forces the individual to become conscious of the way they perceive their individual experiences as well as the world that is separate from those experiences. With a great deal of empathy, one can learn how to go beyond their preconceptions so that they can move onto newer, fresher outlooks. 

The process takes the learner on the ride of looking at things from different angles. British writer and thinker CS Lewis once said: “What you see and what you hear depends greatly on where you are standing. It also depends on the sort of person you are.”

Critical thinking is a meditation on perspective, a learning curve on how to constantly keep making one’s reflections on life broader. A critical thinker can, therefore, arrive at objectives through a certain method and fashion. And the method involves questioning the way they view every single piece of information. 

It is always the critical thinker in the room who has thought about bits of information through all spectrums of perspectives possible. 

Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is about finding out-of-box solutions to questions posed as the afterthought of critical thinking. This is the arena where a smart thinker can go wild with innovation and newness. Great things happen when people start focusing on very particular questions. Through the ages, humanity has found answers in the simplest and the most creative forms possible. 

Creative thinking stimulates ideas, and ideas stimulate growth. But one must remember that critical and creative thinking are complementary skills: the skills work better when acquired through a combined effort. Creative thinking goes beyond the equation of finding solutions. It is also about using innovation in practice: as a tool of everyday growth. 

Real Learning

Real learning is learning that is useful, practical, and lasts the length of a lifetime, can be achieved by championing various aspects of critical and creative thinking. These two are instruments in the arsenal of a curious learner. Real School approaches education and learning similarly. 

Real School prepares students for a future where creativity and innovation is the primary solution. At the pace at which robotics as a practical technology is growing, eventually, not many manufacturing sector jobs will be left for us humans. 

Those who are better equipped at making wiser, more informed decisions will be the community and industry leaders. And that should be the aim for every child or adolescent of 2021: to get prepared for a job market that prioritizes innovation and intuition above everything else.

This approach towards learning keeps every Real School student ahead of the curve. Great things can happen when a student is learning just not for the subject or the chapter’s sake. Rather, they are taught how to use these bits and pieces of knowledge practically.

Otherwise, what good is knowledge if not utilized in the practical world? 

The courses employ various methods and tools like robotics kits, games, quizzes et cetera to make the learning process more enjoyable. The platform engages with the students through these methods so that the idea of learning does not get disassociated with the idea of joy. Education should be a joyful process, yet our repressive traditional classroom format of learning makes it feel more like a compulsion than something students should look forward to. It is time we actively act towards undoing the doing of our age-old system.

Therefore, Real School promises an enjoyable road to the learning curve. So that concept learning is not presented as a problem, but as a challenge to look forward to.

Rohit Jain

Guest Author The author is Co-Founder of uFaber