Writing for Problem Solving

Foreword

            No one can deny the fact that problems constitute a great part of our life, and they often make it worth living. We survive through struggling against them. They are the main source for hope and dreaming of a better “tomorrow”. It is true that those problems exhaust us badly, but in the end we can defeat and solve the greatest part of them and carry on with life. It is always a great pleasure when we eventually solve our problems, and build up experience to go on with life. However, many people find it hard to keep thinking all the time how to solve a problem that has suddenly invaded their life without their consent, and that’s what happens most of the time. No one chooses to create problems for themselves, but this often happens involuntarily. They only see problems as mere troubles turning their life into hell.

            These people never want to admit that everyone is subject to different kinds of problems, and they keep complaining “Why me?!” You can smell objection but also defeatism in the phrase. It seems hard for them to deal with thorny problems which surpass their capacities. This is so because they don’t know how to treat them critically; as a result, they get irritated and worried. Those more experienced people can find their way to solve their problems effortlessly, whereas those with little or no experience, easily give up the struggle pretending that their problems are problematic, i.e. they are mixed up with other associated problems, so they get cornered and they surrender at once.

            Learners have their own problems as well, and they have to deal with them to survive. Their problems are as young as they are, so they are mostly simple and can often be solved when the learners could detect and follow the causes; which they don’t generally do because they still need the way and the tools. That’s why voices of practitioners in the field of education rise for the necessity to integrate teaching critical thinking for problem solving and decision making in the school curricula. The learners need to learn how to face their problems, no matter how they are, calmly and start thinking how to find a way out with those problems. Here comes writing to be a good tool to use in exploring and dissecting the possible causes of the problem so as to fix them and find suitable solutions; then pick out the most suitable solution among them. This can be done through thinking by writing.

            No doubt writing is a High cognitive complexity task due to the great number of elements included in its making. However, when it comes to using it for thinking, it is less formal and more a free writing. It has to respect the general rules for legibility only, but apart from that, it is no more than a way to stay tuned on your focal task. If the learners can just train on this process regularly they would gradually develop both writing and problem solving skills.

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Developing Better thinking skills In High school

Introduction

            Is it really so hard for school to perceive the tremendous change that is occurring around it nowadays? It seems that it is afraid of admitting that it is too much for it to cope with the change. All indicators point to the fact that the “new” teaching methods they adopt have already been outdated. As long as we still keep teaching the kids lessons they no longer feel like learning, we will never be able to ignite curiosity in them so as to make them develop suitable critical thinking skills which fit their digital era and their creativity inclination. They need to feel the change at school; that change which is ravaging all old thinking processes and concepts about learning. The generation Y have chosen to wear lenses that are capable of piercing the invisible and discover more appealing learning approaches. I bet students no longer wait for school to introduce them to information and communication technology as they have gone a long deal already.

            Shamelessly some schools still use old teaching tools and methods in the era of tablets, Smartphones, phablets, tele-conferencing, flipped classrooms and distance-education. They are not aware that apprenticeship has enormously changed in material, content, theory, method, medium and approaches. Schools look hesitating in tackling subjects that they were not used to tackling because they are slow in acknowledging the shift in all domains of knowledge including defining literacy. There are no such digitally illiterate students today, but some schools are unfortunately.

            Most of us would agree with Arthur Schopenhauer’s words, “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident”. Well, I wonder why school is hesitating and doesn’t seize the opportunity to start stimulating learners to be creative through thinking differently but ingeniously. It should invade the new world and develop it through developing the learners thinking skills. Some steps have been taken already but they are still filled with incertitude and reluctance.

            Incorporating critical thinking concepts into high school curricula is not a choice, it is the only choice to promote the students and help them develop thinking skills and abilities to be ready for the unknown challenges of the future.

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Grade Inflation & Low learning Achievement ?!

Introduction

            Some people attribute the students’ low performance at school to several different causes like, social media, working parents, poverty, bullying, unskilled teachers, conventional teaching and learning approaches, family problems, no assistance at home, absenteeism and so on, but all these are only the tip of the iceberg. The real reason however is somewhere within this medley of causes. Our concern here is simple, how come the students perform poorly at school, yet they get high grades?!

          Logically, it is unconceivable that a poor learner gets excellent grades and then be applauded and rewarded. This is an ironic situation, isn’t it? But unfortunately this is what happens in reality. The students are killing themselves to get good marks regardless of what they have achieved as learners. The standard of mastery in any school subject doesn’t permit high grades unless there is talent, concentration and perfection. Brilliant students cannot be distinguished now that even low efficient students can get high marks which can generally be ill-gotten.

            The students nowadays are so fervent to get the best grades that would meet the requirements of institutes of eminence.  They don’t care about what they are capable of but only about having the necessary grades allowing them to access those high standard schools. The result is that some students do their utmost to get excellent marks regardless of the means. The inflation of grades has harmed learning and proficiency so much.

            School needs to evaluate the students in terms of their abilities to assimilate, use, reuse and reprocess the information they get at school using their critical thinking problem solving and creativity skills. Not just repeating the lessons they have imbibed during the term. Thus, only intelligent, assiduous and committed students can manifest their skills, competencies and merit. In this case, the students, for the most part, will change their perception of learning and can draw a line between their schooling and their education.

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The Battle of Reading

     Besides writing, reading has also become another horrible experience for this generation of learners who grew up within the social media realm. We don’t know where this would lead them. Most learners today try hard to avoid reading so as not to expose themselves to boredom, embarrassment, frustration or disappointment. Most students have suddenly become illiterate in the sense that they can give the text nothing that would help them understand it. They own no schemata, no background knowledge and no vocabulary repertoire which might allow them to read, comprehend and infer. Reading has become the worst battle they have to fight and certainly lose. They are now hooked on the virtual volatile vibrant world of internet where they feel free, amused and more anonymously sheltered. They shun the battle of reading mostly for this very particular reason.

     For these “digital” non-active learners, Reading is a real ordeal. It is the worst battle they have to fight; all the same, they never feel like reading at all. They hate fighting the battle of reading because they know they will lose it, and even if they are sure to win, they believe that they won’t get anything of value from that false pride of winning the nonsensical battle of reading. They don’t generally read unless they are obliged to, like when they have to sit for a test or an exam for instance. In leisure time, they never dare to fight the battle of reading because they need to be strong enough to keep up with the rhythm of the battle. They feel it is a mere waste of time and effort because they won’t gain anything even after winning it.

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