|
Article:
Why Teach Thinking in Singapore? by: Dr. Chan KC The word '˜creativity' has so many diverse meanings and interpretations. I remember telling an audience of teachers that creating a mess is also creative as long as new things and views are being conjured up. This led to much laughter and discussion about the meaning of '˜creativity' (This notion of '˜creative mess' was taken from master-thinker, Dr Edward de Bono). Most people feel that creativity has to garner results or products, and it is not wrong to think so. However, by giving such conscious or subconscious constraints, creativity may be unduly hindered. One must remember that many creative ideas and innovations were once considered impractical and '˜crazy' but now, they are part of our life. Take for example, the prevalent usage of computers at home. It was once doubted by Thomas Watson Sr. (the founder of IBM) as an impossibility but is now a reality. This demonstrates the point that the once unthinkable could one day be a fact of life in the near future. Why is creative thinking an important and much talked -about topic these days? Why is the government of Singapore so intent about creating '˜ Thinking Schools, Learning Nation'? Have we just begun to realise that without creativity and innovation, we cannot progress and will lose our competitive edge in the global markets? I just hope we are not too late in realising this obvious fact that creative ideas, products, services, policies are the forces that drive an economy like Singapore which is not endowed with natural resources. It is time we learn to enhance and manage effectively our BRAINWARE (a term taken from the management guru, Tom Peters) and forge our path towards knowledge capital rather than physical capital! I am much relieved that the far-sighted government of Singapore has taken steps to address this fact by initiating numerous think-tank groups to tackle this lack of innovation and competitive edge in these turbulent times. Let me rephrase my sentence for better resonance. It is for SURVIVAL!!! To survive in this global economy when your neighbours are producing at a comparatively lower cost, we have to seriously consider other ways and means to attract foreign investors in terms of knowledge and innovation to compensate for what we lack. How do we go about doing this as we are nearing the end of this millennium? The answer is EDUCATION. It is imperative that we educate all Singaporeans, especially the young, to see the importance of being creative. In early June '1997
|
