When I first got interested in the teaching of thinking, I turned to Edward de Bono. Edward de Bono is of course perhaps almost always associated with the concept of “lateral thinking”. I did what I usually do when I am interested in something, that is, I went out to buy his books. I am one of those who don’t like to borrow books from the library because I prefer to have a copy in my own personal library.

De Bono’s approach was at one time fashionable in schools in Singapore. His CoRT program was used by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Singapore. De Bono’s methods (and there are quite a few) is now hardly heard of in MOE since the ministry shifted its attention to integrating thinking skills into the subjects taught in schools instead of an adjunct to the main teaching program. Still, I find that de Bono’s does provide with interesting tools for the would-be thinker.

His tools from the CoRT program brought into view a new set of alphabet soup. PMI, CAF, C&S, FIP, OPV, APC among others. Later I learn about “po”, some colorful hats and shoes in his Six Thinking Hats and Six Action Shoes. Among his books I found his book, Masterthinker’s Handbook: a Guide to Innovative Thinking most useful.

Although I have moved on as an educator to be aware of Robert Marzano‘s and other thinking skills guru’s approaches to teaching thinking, I still find de Bono’s approaches to be very interesting and useful. They become part of my personal repertoire of thinking tools and strategies. In my view, de Bono’s works on learning how to think are still invaluable resources.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ~ Lao Tzu

“As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults.” ~ Wikipedia

If talk about a school curriculum today, very often the curriculum that we are talking about is more akin to that described by the Wikipedia quote above. There is the idea that all the things that need to be taught in a school are to be done as if all the students and teachers are participating in a good old-fashioned Ben Hur-like, Roman chariot race.

That there is a race to complete the syllabus is not a doubt. The race is governed by a deadline which is usually an artificially imposed time limit. That time limit is signified by the semestral examinations or the even more important schedule of international examinations. Learning becomes a sprint although many will say that the current school system of learning is more of a marathon. Actually it is not one sprint, but many sprints.

In such an environment, little time is given to real learning where there is serious effort made at concept-building, deep understanding and building on what has already been learnt. Everything is compressed because the conveyor belt of learning in modern schools keeps moving faster and faster. As more things are seen to be essential to learning are added on, less time is given for everything to be fixed on that conveyor belt of learning. The conveyor belt is then speeded up to accommodate more parts. Learning in such a school environment is a real race. But unfortunately, real learning cannot be done in this manner.

A more accurate analogy for learning is that given by Lao Tzu above. Learning is very much an organic growth experience. It takes time. It takes nurturing. If it is an organic experience then it accepts that the starting point is different for each one of its participants. When time and care is given, the outcome is a completeness and a wholesomeness of the student. Is it a surprise that the product of a system that is harried and rushed is far from that? They tend to look like a product at the end of a race; tired and exhausted or one indistinct from another. Just mere clones to keep the economy going.