Flexible Thinking

February 13, 2009

“Of all forms of mental activity, the most difficult to induce even in the minds of the young, who may be presumed not to have lost their flexibility, is the art of handling the same bundle of data as before, but placing them in a new system of relations with one another by giving them a different framework, all of which virtually means putting on a different kind of thinking-cap for the moment. It is easy to teach anybody a new fact. … but it needs light from heaven above to enable a teacher to break the old framework in which the student is accustomed to seeing.”

-- Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind, edited by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick.

In their new book, authors Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick focus on the skills successful students need to produce knowledge rather than simply reproduce it. They present seventeen different habits of mind, which I’m happy to report reads like the philosophy and practice of education we employ at RDS. Today I write about one of these habits that is held in high regard at our school, and by the authors as well: Flexible Thinking.

There are five different forms of flexible thinking that the authors describe and that are addressed in the RDS curriculum and program.

1. Egocentrism: From the work of Piaget, this describes our most typical perceptual perception, seeing only our own point of view. This happens when a student is asked for his or her opinion.
2. Allocentrism: This is the opposite of egocentrism and is seeing something through the eyes of another. This happens on the playground when an adult asks a child to imagine a troublesome incident from the other student’s perspective or when a teacher asks students to describe what they imagine a book character was thinking or feeling. The most recent, obvious examples of this were the Annual Eighth Grade Wax Museum presentations.
3. Macrocentric: This is akin to the bird’s eye-view, looking down as an event unfolds, which is how we learn to discern patterns and themes of interactions. This occurs when a teacher asks students - when debriefing a group project - about the different roles they each played and what worked or didn’t work in their group.
4. Microcentric: The opposite of macrocentric, this involves examining the minute parts that make up the whole. This is detailed analysis. This happens when we teach grammar and diagram a sentence into its various components or when students dissect a frog in science class.
5. Lateral thinking: More complex than the four listed above is the ability to consider multiple points of view with an open mind and to allow new information to change one’s mind. This occurs when students listen to and participate in debates or when they examine an accomplishment in history from the differing perspectives of people involved.

During this upcoming Presidents’ Week break, look for these different types of flexible thinking in action with your children. You can even shift their thinking from time to time with thoughtful questions, leading them from their typical egocentric mode to one of the other forms described above. The beauty of this is that the content is not important; it’s the shifting of perspectives that is both challenging and rewarding.

The flexible thinking described above is one of the many reasons that RDS works so hard to invite in and work with all kinds of diversity: social, ethnic, economic, racial, gender, sexual orientation. Or, in the words of the authors: “Flexibility of mind is essential for working with social diversity, enabling an individual to recognize the wholeness and distinctness of other people's ways of experiencing and making meaning.” That is, the only way to fully embrace diversity is through flexible thinking. And, this ability to think flexibly is one of the best predictors of our children’s future success and happiness.

The most recent edition of the Harvard Business Review took this one step further:

“Diversity is not only essential for the survival of the species, it is also a prerequisite for long-term corporate vitality. Organizations that don’t embrace, encourage, and exploit a diversity of experiences, values, and capabilities will be unable to generate a rich variety of ideas, options and experiments—the essential ingredients of strategic renewal.” (Harvard Business Review, “Moon Shots for Management,” Gary Hamel, February 2009, pg. 93)

Finally, as you take a look at the description of a sampling of the activities the School has done around diversity during the new year—in the Diversity Corner on the following page—look for how each of these invites in a new way of thinking in our students, your children.

Have a wonderful Presidents’ Week.

Mike