Thinking education

Teachers can play a pivotal role in enhancing the thinking culture in society by incorporating thinking skills in educating the young.

“Developing thinking ability should underpin the mission of teachers in imparting knowledge and skills to better prepare students for the challenges of life and work.

“By shaping independent thinkers in the classroom, teachers are contributing to the need of the nation for a new generation of innovative problem solvers and decision makers,” said Ravichandran Sellakannu, a lecturer of DISTED College in Penang.

“A higher-order thinking ability is an integral tool for students to take advantage of the increasingly wider range but more competitive job opportunities in the knowledge-and-information-based global economy,” he said.

Ravichandran was speaking at SMK Mak Mandin when conducting a workshop on creativity and innovative thinking for teachers of the school recently.

When discussing strategies and issues relating to how teachers could instil thinking skills in students, Ravichandran stressed: “To promote thinking education, teachers themselves need to think more creatively to better deliver lessons that stimulate critical thinking.”

The school’s principal Teh Siew Hong remarked: “The workshop was part of our in-service training programme to spur the motivation spirit of our staff.”

“It was also a teamwork exercise for our teachers to come together and enrich their teaching approaches.”

School counsellor Amaravathi Veeriah commented: “The workshop encouraged teachers to think creatively, who in turn, would inspire their students to be innovative thinkers.”

“However, in the liberty of creative thinking, students must be guided by wisdom and good values so that they do not go astray and bring harm to themselves and society,” she added.

For further information on DISTED, call 604-2296579 or check out www.disted.edu.my.