Out of The Box Teaching-Learning in Today’s Educational scenario

“Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought.” - Albert Einstein

The concept of Out The Box Learning was started due to the growing need for an adaptive approach in educating children. In today’s knowledge economy where intellectual property is valued more than physical resources, we need to prepare a different kind of employee. The kind who is a creative problem solver and develops their own novel ideas to drive the next generation of technological innovations. Higher level skills and abstract thinking is important to teach kids to think outside the box.

Many children fall through the gaps in a typical curriculum, due to their differences in behaviour, cognition or various other challenges they are facing. As a society we tend to focus on the negative, of what our children can’t do and are not achieving. What we should be looking at; is what they excel in and reinforcing their unique talents, while helping them grasp the concepts that are difficult for them.

Our aim is to develop each child to be able to function independently and socially with confidence. We want our children to have happy, constructive days at our Centre in an environment that is relaxed, positive and supportive. We endeavour to enhance the strengths and abilities of our children and improve on the challenges they experience on a daily basis. We hope to put some fun back into their days and to help them reach their full potential.

Since our children are unique therefore for “Out The Box” thinking and learning we have foster an environment where out of the box thinking is given time, is valued and rewarded.

 Strategies to help students develop creativity

1. Ask open-ended questions

Asking open-ended questions help students to think outside the box. Many times during the school day, students are responding to closed questions. The thinking involved is quite minimal and there is only one possible correct answer.

2.      Establish discussion routines

Teachers that regularly have student-centred classroom discussions give students ample opportunities to think outside the box. .

3.      Model creativity accounts for out of box thinking

As  educators, we have the responsibility to model our own creativity to children. Taking part in open-ended discussions, creative construction with  roleplaying will be beneficial for creative thinking. 

4. Use visible thinking routines

Students should be exposed to novel ways in which their classmates are thinking but are also challenged to document their own thinking in using easy-to-learn strategies. Visible thinking is scaffolded using various routines designed to encourage a culture of thinking in classrooms and school. 

5. Praise out of the box thinking

Acknowledging students when they display creativity is a crucial part in developing a culture where creativity is valued and fostered.

6. Specify end goals not the process

Rather than over-scaffolding tasks, let students work out how to reach the end goal by thinking

Since our children are unique therefore for “Out The Box” thinking and learning we have foster an environment where out of the box thinking is given time, is valued and rewarded.

Himani

Assistant Professor

JIE ,JEMTEC ,JIMS ,Greater Noida