Last week, I stumbled upon an EdTechReview blog post out of India on “How Curriculum for 21st Century Must Look Like?“. One of the things I treasure about my PLN is the alternative viewpoints that come out of Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. Granted that while different, higher education is really not that different…we are all trying to solve similar problems.
In this post, Santosh Bhaskar K has a quote from the former President of India:
“Imagination leads to creativity, Creativity blossoms thinking, Thinking provides knowledge, Knowledge results innovation and Innovation makes the nation great.” – Abdul Kalam.
Santosh goes on to suggest that, for higher education, this means that the following aspects should be folded in to their curriculum:
- Research and Enquiry
- Creativity and Innovation
- Use of technology
- Entrepreneurial leadership
- Moral leadership
I like the quote. Kalam spent much of his presidency advocating for the development of India as a knowledge superpower, But for me, the process he described is more circular than linear – and is more global than simply applying to India alone.
So my 30-Day Challenge question for today is:
Day 18 – How can I teach in a way that sparks learner imagination, fosters their creativity, and leads their thinking from knowledge to innovation?
I definitely do not have the total answer to this…but one partial answer might lie in giving up control…a theme I will return to this week. Paving the way to intrinsic motivation (what students want to do) rather than extrinsic motivation (what I tell students to do) might go a long way to unleashing student imagination…and innovation.
ps – If you want your brain expanded and your imagination to spiral, check out my colleague Enoch Hale’s questions during the first half of this challenge:
Day 1: Intellectual Playfulness
Day 2: Teach Like Zen Monks
Day 3: Arrowheads and Assignments
Day 4: Educational Tattoos
Day 5: Stopping the Ed Machine
Day 8: Thinking Oblique(ly)
Day 9: Manage White Noise
Day 10: Killing the Serial Monologue
Day 11: Equinox Learning
Day 13: The Topography of Learning
Day 14: Why Don’t Bad Beliefs Die?
Day 15: Choosing the Right Digital Tools