Back in elementary and high school, I studied in a catholic-chinese school, the training was so rigid and you should always follow whatever the teachers say. Back then, some of my teachers were nuns so we need to be demure in class , quiet and whatever the instructions given, you should do it with no questions. It was a bit hard for me since I am a very out spoken person , so I told myself that when I get to college , I will going to get a course that requires me to talk and talk. I'm not saying that I didn't learn anything from my high school but I guess I can say that I didn't enjoy it , I always hear people saying that high school life is the best part but it doesn't apply to me, I wasn't free then , I cannot talk , I cannot voice out and I always follow instructions detailed and step by step. The teaching was very traditional and I didn't like it. So when I get to college and took up mass communication, I really did enjoy it though there are also instructions that needs to be followed but I feel free, I can voice out, i can show my creativity with my ideas and it is really different because I can suggest new things to my classmates and even to my teacher.
I am not saying that traditional teaching or traditional thinking should be demolished but base from my experience , visual thinking should be given a chance to be explored and be used by the students. Well first is for them to feel free, next is for them to discover new things and third is to explore further and not limit them on one pattern. In this case, students will learn new things that will help them with their interaction especially when they start working and face the real world.
Visual thinking can be somehow be connected to divergent thinking, divergent thinking is the ability to find as many possible answers or ideas to a single problem and it involves breaking a topic down into various components in order to gain knowledge about the other aspects of the topic. Divergent thinking occurs in a very random and disorganized manner. The teacher plays a big role in order for the students to stimulate divergent thinking , he should think of activities that may help them discover a lot of things and not to be limited. Activities like brainstorming, journal writing, mind mapping and free writing can help the students to explore more about the topic. Also the teacher, should help in organizing the topic after the students give their ideas about it, and organizing the ideas together is called convergent thinking where you do it in a structured manner.
Having my masters in Ateneo De Manila gave me a chance to speak up and give ideas that maybe useful for the topic. As a student, it is very fulfilling to contribute to the class discussion and not be limited with instructions and patterns. I can really say that I am enjoying my classes in Ateneo more than anything else because I feel so free in expressing myself and that is all we want right? To be free and to feel free.
and to add to that last line... is the freedom to "think freely" :) Imagination brings us to wherever, and having the freedom to think allows us to learn more. I can relate with you growing up in a "strict" school, I studied in an all-girls school starting grade 3, and up until now I work for the institution run my religious, and its difficult. vertical thinking is often exercise, but there is also a room to think on a lateral aspect. Like you, I appreciate visual thinking too since it challenges me to exert effort imagining things, or having a wider perspective towards something :)
TumugonBurahinI agree with you, visual thinking should be explored more in school. True, we need the theories and the scientific facts, but we also need subjects that require us to think freely. These subjects will help us engage in new ideas or even find solutions to a problem. But in order for us to be imaginative or creative, we should change the way we look at things. More than focusing on the traditional and accepted way, we should find other holes to explore, embrace it and constantly be challenged. It start from within.:)
TumugonBurahinLike what Ben Arment said,"From 30,000 feet, creating looks like art. From ground level, it’s a to-do list."
It's sad that you didn't enjoy high school as much as most people have. I studied in an exclusive, all-girls school naman. We also had nuns but they weren't as strict as your nuns in your high school. Our nuns were just walking, biking around school. Looking back, I realized that, though a bit late in one's life, college, compared to high school, was a better ground in terms of the utilization of the right brain. You have the chance to pick a course you like, appreciate it and be better whereas in highschool, everything was given to you, and as you've said it, "..whatever the instructions given, you should do it with no questions."
TumugonBurahinYess, I told you to try blogging more with photos than words. Since you have a background on photography, I think a photo blog would be great in our class. :)
TumugonBurahinYay to mass communication! It has the right and balanced mix of dealing with words and visuals. Best of both worlds!
I have many friends who are teaching in Catholic school where rules and regulations are very rigid. Sometimes strategies in teaching are also affected by these rules and they are required to teach more on the traditional way but then, they just affixed some activities to make it more enjoyable.
TumugonBurahinvisual thinking , for me is some kind of degraded because most schools tend to rely on the stereotypes (some schools) that arts is just a waste of time, not that important, for social appreciation and all that. But they don't know what spatial intelligence comprise of. and maybe because of what our country (3rd world) need , not kind of a first world wherein even if you drive a train your job is well respected, but people , foremost families and society considers logical and traditional kind of thinking as the basis of intelligence, where we are buried on these kinds of stereotypes.
TumugonBurahin