Refer, Reflect, Reconstruct, Reference List!

Reference List

About Learning, (n.d.), AL, viewed on 17 September 2009 from

http://www.aboutlearning.com/what-is-4mat.html

Buzan, T. (1993) The Mind Map Book, London, BBC Books.

Buzan, T. (1974) Use Your Head, London, BBC Book.

De Bono, E. (1973) Lateral thinking: creativity step by step, New York, Harper Colophon Books.

De Bono Thinking Systems (2008), dBTS, viewed on 22 September 2009 from http://www.debonothinkingsystems.com

Design Museum, (2006) DM, viewed on 20 September 2009 from

http://www.designmuseum.org/design/stefan-sagmeister

Ethica Self Beyond Self, (2009), ESBS, viewed on 17 September 2009 from

http://www.ethica.dk/doc_uflash/The%20Dunn%20and%20Dunn%20Learning%20Style%20Model%20of%20Instruction.htm

Index of Learning Styles, (n.d.), ILS, viewed on 17 September 2009 from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSpage.html

Indiana University, (2009) IU, Viewed on 17 September 2009 from

http://www.indiana.edu/~w505a/learningstyles.html

Made to Stick, (2009) MTS, Viewed on 24 September 2009 from http://www.madetostick.com/

Mycoted, (2008), Mycoted, Viewed on 17 September 2009 from http://www.mycoted.com

Robertson, E. (2009) Creative Thinking Processes Lecture notes 1-6, retrieved from University of NSW website: http://online.cofa.unsw.edu.au/2009s2/cofa0914/modules/lectures/

Robinson, K. (2006) “Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity” Talk for TED Ideas Worth Spreading, from TED, (n.d.), TED, viewed on 17 September 2009 from

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Images

Baker: viewed 18 September 2009 from

http://www.freewebs.com/grandmascakes/baking.png

Bed image:

Rebecca Goosen, 2009

Course Mind Map:

Rebecca Goosen, 2009

De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats: viewed 20 September 2009 from

http://debonothinkingsystems.com/media/Green_hat_WBK.jpg

Explorer: viewed 18 September 2009 from

http://www.captaincookschoolroommuseum.co.uk/CookSextant.jpg

Flying a Kite: viewed 18 September 2009 from

http://www.photosbypersa.com/images/20070725114337_kite3.jpg

Gardener: viewed 18 September 2009 from

http://www.happynews.com/living/livingimages/cover-gardening.jpg

Glenbrook Map: viewed 20 September 2009 from

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=7+MOunt+Street+Glenbrook,+NSW&daddr=Ross+Street+Glenbrook,+NSW+&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&dirflg=w&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=49.624204,114.169922&ie=UTF8&ll=-33.766955,150.62682&spn=0.012825,0.027874&z=16

Man on the Moon: viewed 18 September 2009 from

http://images.astronet.ru/pubd/2003/08/18/0001192454/apollo16_plum.gif

Path: viewed 18 September 2009 from

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/37/79345509_f5baa60b26.jpg

Rollercoaster: viewed 18 September 2009 from

http://takemeiamyours.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/rollercoaster.jpg

Sagmeister’s Wall of Bananas: viewed 19 September 2009 from

http://blog.makezine.com/2253512659_9d72744aaf.jpg

Thomas Edison: viewed 17 September 2009 from

http://hunternuttall.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/thomas-edison.jpg

tcurtsnocerreconstruct - reconstruction reflection!

Looking over my research and application of some creative thinking techniques, I am quite surprised at the results.

Firstly it’s Saturday, the day before the assignment is due and I am calmly writing the final post. It would seem my initial aim to question my habits, be aware of my creativity inhibitors and dive right in has seen me get the ideas flowing. It has been refreshing for me to work in a way that isn’t just spurred on by the deadline! (I usually take all the time allotted to do something and would fear I hadn’t found the right answer if I had left over time.) It had definitely produced a less stressful thinking experience. Maybe my allotted time to apply the relaxation technique could also have influenced this.

My use of the history proven, tried and tested notebook has been a great way to let ideas and thoughts bubble away. The format has allowed me to be freer in what I write about and to explore the concept of creative thinking in a less formal, more personal way. It is a great way to simultaneously refer and reflect on a topic.

I found using a mind map to plot the content of the course really effective in allowing me to see the ideas in a global, holistic way. Now I realise I have such a preference for visual learning I will certainly use this technique again. I can see why Tony Buzan’s books are bestsellers - the mind map idea is a sticky one. Referring to the “Six Principles of Sticky Ideas” I would say mind maps are sticky due to their simplicity. “To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must relentlessly prioritize” (Made to Stick, 2009). Which is exactly the process of mind mapping.

The more formal approach to thinking such as the thinkx technique proved useful in finding a solution, but it’s not a technique that one can readily remember. If I want to use it in the future I guess I will need to refer to this blog (illustrating yet another reason why the notebook is so useful) or the Mycoted site.

Whilst De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats approach is also quite formal and complex to remember, I think the colour coding of the hats helps the information embed in the memory. I am actually going to purchase a green hat to wear on my daily walks to help keep up the creativity!

Being playful and using a metaphor walk to begin the process and elements such as bunches of bananas didn’t generate direct solutions but were useful in getting the right side of the brain activated. Who would have guessed that a bunch of bananas would lead me to get inspiration from a current creative thinker?

The two main outcomes of the creative thinking techniques also surprised me. The ideas that have been generated are solutions to -

• a) A problem I thought only had one solution – a solution that I was not prepared to implement. i.e. controlled crying to enable a restful sleep for all my family.
  
• b) An issue that wasn’t even an issue in my eyes. I had not previously seen any problem with taking my daughter for a walk, but now this ritual will be creatively enhanced. In retrospect I feel embarrassed that I didn’t think of it before! The idea is kind of obvious but as a first time parent it hadn’t occurred to me yet.

Now I am left with the issue that by taking a risk in the format of this assignment, one must now go on my creative thinking processes journey in reverse! Oh no! Luckily Edward De Bono has a name for this lateral thinking technique - "The Reversal Method"- and as I re-read the brief for the assignment I realise it's a perfect example of being unpredictable!

Going for a walk, I’m going to need a hat…

Getting back to my idea to come up with activities that would inspire creativity in my daughter whilst covering the visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles I decided to enlist the help of some of Dr. Edward De Bono’s ‘Six Thinking Hats’ which I have never previously used. I felt that thinking laterally about some of the activities I already do with my daughter may help me to look for opportunity to enhance her experiences.

The Six Thinking Hats (or modes)

The White Hat

The White Hat calls for information known or needed.

The Red Hat

The Red Hat signifies feelings, hunches and intuition.

The Black Hat

The Black Hat is judgement -- the devil's advocate or why something may not work.

The Yellow Hat

The Yellow Hat symbolises brightness and optimism.

The Green Hat

The Green Hat focuses on creativity: the possibilities, alternatives and new ideas.

The Blue Hat

The Blue Hat is used to manage the thinking process.

(De Bono Thinking Systems, 2008)

New to the area of the Blue Mountains I take my daughter for a walk in the pram daily. Generally it is a simple walk down to the café and park for a caffeine hit and a play. Sometimes I take alternative routes to explore the area. Whilst I know she enjoys looking out at everything, I really think about the walks as a way to get her to sleep, and for me to get a bit of exercise in.

I had already had the hunch (that occurred to me whilst swimming my laps) that I could spice up these daily walks.

Putting my black hat on, part of me thought that there was no issue about these walks, that they satisfied my need for exercise and her need for quiet time.

Enhancing these walks was something I could implement straight away, and an easy, pleasurable way to approach learning concepts with my daughter.

With a green hat firmly on my head I started to think…

“What about if each day I take one element to point out to her on our walk…i.e.

• Mondays- point out the different colours everywhere
  
• Tuesdays- count an object e.g. cars
• Wednesdays- point out different shapes
• Thursdays- listen out for different sounds
  
• Fridays- choose a letter of the alphabet and point out everything we pass that starts with that letter

I could take different routes each time to continue to expose her to new things. As she grows maybe she could start to be the one to point out our target elements.

This activity would build on some of the things we are already learning from her books, but would give her a kinesthetic experience, so she could interact with the objects whilst also getting visual and auditory inputs.

By going through the hats in a systematic way, blue hat thinking had been engaged along the whole process.

Throwing in bunches of bananas here...

I was bemused by the creativity technique listed on the Mycoted site titled "Bunches of Bananas"...but it was worth reading about it as it led me to this image...it is a wall of bananas...the work is by Stefan Sagmeister. It is made of 7200 bananas! I have previously come across his work mainly on CD covers. The design museum says about Sagmeister "Many of his contemporaries felt that music graphics had become less interesting once their old canvas, the vinyl LP cover, had shrunk to the dimensions of a CD, but Sagmeister saw the CD as a toy with which he could tantalise consumers." (Design Museum, 2009). So he had really looked for opportunity where others had given up. A true sign of a creative thinker!

Yet another R

Relaxation is another creativity technique from the Mycoted team.
Counter to my usual technique of stressing out over every assignment and asserting that there is no time for exercise, I have made the effort to start the swim season early as a relaxation technique for this assignment. In fact I came up with the idea of the bed for my youngun in the pool by this method.

Like meditation, I think swimming calms my mind and I am surprised what ideas take the opportunity to dive right in! Whilst I was vaguely aware of the notion that relaxation is good for idea generation, I thought I’d get evidence by taking my moleskine along to the pool (this time the real one, not the virtual one) to record some of the ideas I had in the pool.

Here is a list of some of the random but sometimes useful thoughts that bubbled to the surface today….
- Make sure I use the words Refer, Reflect and Reconstruct in this assignment as I had decided on a different format.
- Maybe ideas come with increased oxygen to the brain.
- Don’t forget to collect my references.
- Make better use of the walks I take with my daughter and engage her more with the surroundings.
- Thinking is like swimming laps, sometimes it feels difficult and sometimes your body (or brain) feels strong and could go on swimming (or producing ideas) forever. You just have to tune into how you are feeling on a particular day and go with the flow.
- Sometimes my brain is so active in the pool I forget I am swimming, sometimes swimming is all I think about.
- Working people get a lunch hour so I shouldn’t feel guilty leaving my baby with grandma so I can swim, besides her and grandma have a great time together.
- Draw a picture of the baby bed idea.
- It was interesting that Tony Buzan in the book Use Your Head also touches on the idea that healthy body is a healthy mind, in the case study “An Impossible Dream – the Edward Hughes story”.
- The chapter on speed reading also interested me as I am a slow reader…funny that at school they teach you to read, but not how to read efficiently, they teach you about ideas but not how to have ideas!

Trying the productive thinking model on for size

ISSUE:
One parenting issue I have is that my daughter doesn’t like to get to sleep by herself in a room. Often it requires my husband or I to lie down next to her and coax her to sleep. The problem is that it means she won’t go to sleep in her cot as she is alone in there. We end up lying with her in our bed and then co-sleeping with her during the night. This comes with the hazard of us squashing her and we don’t sleep as deeply throughout the night - or as comfortably, because we are often too scared to change positions in case we roll on her! Whilst I have known this is an issue in my life, I never thought to attempt to solve it as I assumed that the only solution would be the dreaded controlled crying technique.

I randomly picked a creative thinking technique from the Mycoted website to free me from any preferences. What follows is applying the Productive Thinking Model (also known as thinkx)....

Step 1: "What's Going On?
• "What's the Itch?" - Baby only sleeps in parents' bed not in her own cot.
• "What's the Impact?" - Bad night sleep for parents, risk of rolling on baby.
• "What's the Information?" - Baby wakes up if asleep and put down in cot, baby happily sleeps when near parents whether they are awake or asleep. Parents are not prepared to inflict controlled crying methods on baby. Bad ergonomically for parents to be crouching next to the cot for long periods of time trying to get baby to sleep.
• "Who's Involved?" - Mum, Dad and Baby (plus anyone that crosses the path of a sleep deprived parent during the day).
• "What's the Vision?" - Peacefully sleeping baby, fully rested parents.

Step 2: "What's Success?"
• Do - what do you want the solution to do? - Create a way everyone can sleep peacefully.
• Restrictions - what must the solution NOT do? - Cause baby unnecessary distress.
• Investment - what resources can be invested? - Some financial resources if necessary.
• Values - what values must you live by? - Environmentally friendly.
• Essential outcomes - what are the essential outcomes? - Baby sleeps comfortably, parents sleep comfortably.

Step 3: "What's the Question?"
What can we do to get a good night sleep with a co-sleeper baby?
How can we provide a good night's sleep for parents and baby?
How can everyone in the family get enough sleep?

Step 4: "Generate Answers"
Parents naps during the day.
Bigger bed! Hmmm, this may be the solution to pursue...
Train baby to sleep by herself (may involve controlled crying).

Step 5: "Forge the Solution"
• Positives - what's good about the idea? - Parents in control of the situation can be near their child when they choose to be, but allow for more room for everyone to be comfortable.
• Objections - what's bad about it? - Need enough space for bigger bed (but many parents have cot in the room anyways).
• What else? - What does it remind you of? - The general concept of placing baby close to the bed has been done before, but only with a side bed of bassinet size. That isn't suitable for older babies.
• Enhancements - how can what's good about it be made better? Rather than just a bigger bed, what about a bed extension, which is the size of a single bed and the same height as the parents' bed, which can be placed directly beside. That way the parent can sleep next to the child but move off after baby is asleep, or roll over into the main bed during the night, whilst still in close proximity. It is an environmentally friendly option as the same bed for the child can be used from birth to adult.
• Remedies - how can the things that are bad about it be corrected? Side rails that can be lifted when parents are not around would be an additional feature to ensure the baby cannot fall out of the bed.

Step 6: "Align Resources"
The final step translates the selected, developed solution into an action plan that may include, among other things:
• to do list - give away cot (or put it away for now), buy single bed the same height as parents' bed and attach side rails that can be pulled up and down.

Learning how to walk

To look at the idea of parenting a child I decided to try a metaphor walk to generate some ideas. Parenting is like...

Walking on a path that you don’t know where its going...
You need to be prepared for the journey, take the things you know you will need, food, water, comfy shoes and camera!

It's like a rollercoaster ride...filled with highs and lows.

You go on a rollercoaster knowing it's going to be an unpredictable ride, you know you are going to be scared at times, that the high points will be followed by low points and that the ride sadly, will end.

It’s like baking a cake with some unknown ingredients...

Baking a cake with unknown ingredients is difficult. It challenges you as a baker. The end result is a reflection on you, even though you didn’t have total control. All you can do is do the best with the ingredients you do know.

It’s like gardening...

It requires your attention frequently at the beginning, and less often once established, but the end result could be shade in hot sun, something to climb on or swing on, or provide oxygen for future generations.

Like the first step on the moon...

It costs a lot of money, but you have no idea what it's going to be made of when you get there. Will you sink or float?

Like exploring...

Set off with a crew of helpers (well that would be ideal) into the foreign waters.

Like flying a kite...

You’ll do anything you can to keep it flying but you are vulnerable to unpredictable conditions.

The element in common is that all these ideas combine putting existing skills and tools to use and keeping in mind the element of the unknown. This helps me to realise that I have to acknowledge what I have no control over whilst making the most of the skills and tools I do have.