I watched Sir Ken Robinson’s video on Education Reform and was again totally impressed by his sparkling and at times humorous analysis of education in the modern world. In a conversation later in the day I was reminded of something Sir Ken said about divergent thinking.

At kindergarten age, the ability to think along divergent lines (exploring many possible solutions or options) was measured at 90%. At 10 years, the kids were measured at 50%. At teenage years (high school) the kids were measured at 10%. The conclusion. Education kills divergent thinking.

In our strategy meeting , my colleague and I were trying to organize a discussion about how our small research mobilization committee can participate and still be effective in a larger group of non profit organizations. As we discussed various options for facilitating our discussion, it dawned on me that there are many divergent approaches we can take to move our group towards a response to a rather complex issue related to membership and strategy.

As I left this meeting, I thought about how much I’m learning from having people like Sir Ken Robinson  in my online social social media networks. For me, social media and divergent thinking are very closely entwined and are the bedrock of my own personal learning environment.

Just maybe, I’m unlearning all that industrial age education clap trap about their is only one right answer and re-discovering my divergent thinking powers..time will tell.

Brent Uncategorized