Phyllis Hillwig

“It’s SUMMERTIME!” and it’s about time that we are now able to get back to pre-COVID activities. Most of us are looking forward to those maskless outdoor events, and gathering with friends and family.

Taking a break from the school year that asked so much of our parents, educators, and children will provide an opportunity to recharge.

To keep it fun and light, while continuing to keep the noggin engaged, here are ten simple, fun, and effective learning activities to try.

1. Plan an event together

If kids are having a party or want to invite friends over, encourage them to help with the planning. Go to the store, set a budget, figure out how many packages of supplies are needed and practice estimating. Simply including your child in this process helps to support math and reasoning skills.

2. Encourage fun competition

Who can get somewhere the fastest? By how much time? How many points did you win by or will you need to win? Playing games – outdoors, or indoors, can all practice key math skills.

3. Start a journal

Decorate and start a journal to write down thoughts or draw. Simply spend time doing nothing but let the mind wander and dream can be a great way for children to practice literacy skills without feeling like they are being forced to write.

4. Try a hobby

Make a list of things you’ve always wanted to try. Scrapbooking? Cooking? A new sport? Go for it. It’s summer! Learning new things and keeping your child’s mind actively engaged in learning over the summer will set them up for success when they are back at school in the fall.

5. Go to a free museum

Make a list of museums that you’ve never heard of before or have never been to. Take a poll with your family and go! There are so many things to see and learn in museums–foster a love of social studies and science and immerse your child in an authentic learning experience in the process!

6. Support a cause or help someone in need.

The world is unfair and full of opportunities to help. What can you do, in simple small ways to help? This is a great option for practicing empathy and teaching responsibility and social justice.

7. Travel

It could simply be down the street to a local place you’ve never been to or somewhere you’ve always wanted to go but haven’t had time. Traveling opens eyes and teaches beyond what is in the books. Summer is a great time to travel while you’re out of school–your child will have a lot to share when they return to school in the fall.

8. Have a conversation

A deliberate one. Sit down and talk about something that interests you or your children. It can be over a meal, dessert, or around a campfire. No phones, no interruptions. Discussion is a key component of learning, and being an active listener shows your child that you are invested in their interests.

9. Try different foods

Broaden your taste buds and show your children that trying new things can be fun and rewarding. Learning about new cultures and food traditions is a fun way to appreciate different cuisines.

10. The last and my favorite….Try something new

It almost doesn’t matter what it is. Brain growth comes from introducing novelty. We all crave new things to do, learn, and try. Help your child engage their mind in new learning experiences, and set them up to be successful students in the process.

Sources

Keys to Brain Development
The Teenage Brain Is Wired to Learn—So Make Sure Your Students Know It
Prepare for Success

As we get ready to close one of the toughest school years ever faced, one could argue that our kids learned very little academically this year.  The Wall Street Journal on May 12th, 2021 published an article about rampant cheating and how easy it was during COVID. Thousands of ‘homework help’ websites allow you to get step-by-step help, auction your assignments, and share exam questions or paper topics. I know kids who have used these sites and cheated with friends. When I confront them, the answer is, “Everyone does it.” What are kids actually learning and whose work is it really?

As we all try to find the right formula to deal with post-COVID learning challenges, there are actually other more valuable skills that are not being addressed at all. One of them is used everyday and can cause the most problems and inspire the most productivity from individuals.

I’m referring to people skills.

I’m not talking about saying hello and having good manners. I’m talking about the ability to read, persuade, lead, empathize, relate, connect, and communicate with just about anyone you come across, from the random person the street, to the most famous person in the world.

I’d like you to pause and think about people you know personally who have such skills. Chances are, you like and want to be around them. They may be your influencers, leaders, and those you trust. Are they the smartest people you know? Not necessarily.

Let me give you three examples of why people skills are equally as if not more, important than just being smart.

Example 1: Relationships Create Opportunities
Do you know people who got a job or found an opportunity based on who they know? The old saying, “It’s not what you know but who you know,” is true now more than ever. Large companies like Deloitte get about 400,000 resumes a year. The hiring process is prioritized for those who were recommended personally Building relationships and networking takes people skills. People like to work with others they like and they can relate to. In some cases, if someone is likable, then others may help, forgive, tolerate, or put up with more than they would otherwise.

From LinkedIn to social media, who you know and who you follow, will define who you are and what’s important to you. Without the ability to connect or relate to people, you limit your network and potential opportunities.

Example 2: People Skills Are In Demand
Manpower Group, a publicly traded company and one of the largest staffing organizations in the world, surveyed 2,000 US employers. Over 61% of these companies rated ‘soft’ abilities such as communication, collaboration, problem-solving, as most desired skills in prospective hires. LinkedIn published a “Grad Guide for Getting Hired” and listed soft skills as some of the most looked for across all industries. People have to work globally, across platforms, ages, cultures, and silos. Your ability to lead and work well with others to produce results is more valuable than what you actually know. Plenty of people know what you know. What you do with that information to help others is valuable.

Example 3: Lack of People Skills Limits Leadership Opportunities

In the United States, Asians hold the highest level of education and are one of the highest income producers more than whites.

But did you know that Asians have one of the lowest representation in senior leadership positions? According to Diversity Inc, Asians make up less than 2% of Fortune 500 CEOs. What is stopping them from becoming top leaders? According to writer Jane Hyun, who wrote the book “Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling, Career Strategies for Asians”, the reasons why Asians can’t break through the ceiling, despite their educational attainment, include a combination of cultural norms, racial inequality, and perceived lack of leadership and communication skills – or people skills. Stanford University has an executive leadership program specifically designed to help Asians break the Bamboo Ceiling, with a single course costing tens of thousands of dollars – focused primarily on skills like negotiation, building trust, and leadership.

At Eurekii, helping kids academically is important, but the work we do goes beyond that. We want them to have strong people skills. We engage them in dialogue and ask them to explain their work. We connect with them through humor, empathy, trust, common interests, and understanding their goals. As kids get more confident, we encourage them to share and convince others of their ideas.

Here are some things you can do right now with your children to build their people skills. Recommend that they:

• be the first to engage and make people feel comfortable in that moment.
• be genuine and fun to be around.
• remember it is not what you say, but what is heard.
• wait for the right moment- timing is everything.
• be self-aware and watch for the unspoken communication.
• frame things in a positive context
• build trust – do favors, be helpful, and serve just because.

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou

As humans, we are social creatures in need of acceptance and connections. A focus and attention to building better relationships and improving people skills is exactly what this world needs right now.

Sources

Does The ‘Bamboo Ceiling’ Shut Asian Americans Out Of Top Jobs?
Fortune 500 CEOs, 2000-2020: Still Male, Still White
The Bamboo Ceiling: Asian Americans and the Myth of the Model Minority
Asian American Executive Program
Why People Skills Are So Important — And How You Can Polish Yours To A Shine
10 Essential People Skills You Need to Succeed
People Do Business With People They Like
The Uses (and Abuses) of Influence
Income Inequality in the U.S. Is Rising Most Rapidly Among Asians
What is the ‘bamboo ceiling’? Here’s what Asian Americans want you to know
The 20 People Skills You Need To Succeed At Work
Cheating at School Is Easier Than Ever—and It’s Rampant
Who You Know Is Even More Important Than You Realize
“It’s Not What You Know. It’s Who You Know”

If there was one industry outside of healthcare that thrived during the pandemic, it is the video game industry. Wall Street reports record growth in sales from the large video game players such as Nintendo, Microsoft, and Twitch with record sales over 60 billion dollars.

It should be no surprise then that 91% of children between the ages of 2-17 play video games and that video game addiction is on the rise with boys more addicted compared to girls (12% vs 6%, respectively). This is not just a US phenomenon, but a world-wide one. In 2019, The World Health Organization voted to add “gaming disorder” to the international classification of disease and South Korea declared gaming disorder a public health crisis, concerned that more than 600,000 children struggle with normal functions as a result of gaming addiction.

What makes video games so addicting and so powerful? Why are some kids who are diagnosed with learning disabilities and can’t focus in an academic situation, so focused and skilled at video game play? What is the secret sauce to video games and keeping kids engaged?

Video game development teams hire psychologists and neuroscience experts with the goal of keeping you playing without knowing that is what is happening. This is not new. Social media apps also use psychology to motivate and keep you coming back for more. Can educators learn from these psychological measures to help keep kids engaged in learning?

Simple Psychology of Video Game Play

• Competition – with yourself or others to reach a goal. Measuring to peers openly to see where you rank.
• Choice and Self Direction – From making your own Avatar, picking your tool, or level, kids are more likely to engage with choice.
• Safe Failure – If you lose, you get to start over. You can keep training and upping your level of play as you get better on your own time.
• Rewards Along the Way – short, encouraging ‘great job’ or small wins add to the bigger wins and continues to motivate..
• Team and Collaboration – Learning should be social. Sharing how to defeat or get past an obstacle, working together to solve problems makes you a stronger player.

I work as a math coach in a Baltimore City school that wants to increase their math performance. One of the teachers I work with said he could not get his first graders to do homework. In our discussion he casually mentioned there was a national competition from one of the math game subscriptions he had. I said, let’s sign them up and see what happens. Most recently, he was excited to report that his kids are 5th out of 393 in the state and all of his kids are competing which he never thought would happen. Here was his dashboard. I asked, “Why do you think they are NOW motivated to do homework?” He replied, “They saw the points of their peers which motivated them to do more. They also took pride in their ranking and wanted to keep it.”- Are video game components working to support learning and education in his case?

Education companies that are focused on game design have argued that games keep kids engaged and learning, especially in tough subjects like math and science. There are thousands of educational game companies that bank on using video game psychology to keep students learning and engaged. BUT – What does research say? Well, according to research, whether video games actually help is debatable. Richard Mayer, a distinguished professor of psychology and well known for his research on multimedia learning, computer-supported learning, and computer games for learning says that “despite the growing popularity of such games, research has yet to determine whether they really help children learn.” There are video game companies that test their games to ensure they are effective with learners. A few friends of mine are founders of Legends of Learning, a company that makes video games to support math and science learning. Prior to the start of the company, they partnered with Vanderbilt University to test whether video games kept kids more engaged in learning than those who did not play. Their results are published in the Journal of Learning Sciences and show that students are indeed more engaged when they practice skills with video games. More research is needed to show the effectiveness of video games in supporting learning in education.

Some argue that education games are never really as enjoyable as a traditional video game. Playing an education-based video game is like eating ‘chocolate-covered broccoli.’ Maybe this will change as Sony and Playstation, arguably two of the largest video game companies build games to support teachers and students.

So, as parents and educators, how DO we compete with video games? The answer is we can’t and if you try, you will lose. Take it for what it is – an outlet for social activity and for simply fun. Don’t overthink it. Obviously if your child is losing sleep, getting poor grades, and not eating because of video game play, then there is a larger problem. But if they are turning to video games, for fun and especially for education, that’s not the worst thing in the world.

What we CAN do is take a few things away from video game producers that help us with the psychology of motivating our children to learn anything.

• Give them choice and a say in what they do.
• Give them a safe space to fail. Try again if needed and that’s all part of learning.
• Encourage socialization – working in groups, teams, or pairs.
• Start with a training ground and continue to build – always reaching and growing to the ‘next level’.
• Promote healthy, fun competition with peers to strive for improvement
• Keep it fun and light, and continue to engage them in interesting new challenges.

We use many of these techniques in our work at Eurekii. We include games with students young and old! (Note: Kids and teachers not in masks were pre-COVID)

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin

At the very least, games, including video games involve the learner. In a world where there is endless distraction, just getting the attention, focus, and involvement are a good step towards learning anything. Remember, kids don’t dread or get stressed out when they are ready to play a video game. They are excited and eager to go for that challenge. Why can’t we try to strive for that in education?

Sources

The Association Between Video Gaming and Psychological Functioning
The giants of the video game industry have thrived in the pandemic. Can the success continue?
The Relationship Between Learning And Video Games Among Children
VIDEO GAME ADDICTION STATISTICS 2020: IS THE WORLD ADDICTED TO VIDEO GAMES?
COVID-19: global video game sales increase as of March 2020
Video games are dividing South Korea
The Association Between Video Gaming and Psychological Functioning
Video Game Companies Hire Psychologist To Make Gamers Addicted
Tim Nichols, PhD Research Psychologist
What Education Can Learn From Video Games
Is the Educational Games Industry Falling Into the Same Trap It Did 20 Years Ago?
Gaming to learn
50 Educational Video Games That Homeschoolers Love

Imagine this scenario: Your child comes home one day and says, “I’m DONE! I can’t:

1. deal with this class anymore. It’s too hard and I’m not treated fairly.
2. play for this team anymore. I’m constantly worried that I’m not good enough.

Which parent are you?

Parent A
Tell me why you think the teacher doesn’t treat you fairly. I’ll talk to the teacher.
Don’t worry, we will get you out of it.

Parent B
It’s a hard situation. Figure it out.
We signed up for the team. You need to go.

Clearly, there are a million other reactions parents could have and there are plenty of details and shades of gray missing. However, these parenting styles are two that represent very different philosophies. As parents, we are our children’s greatest supporters. Which parenting style would make them more independent, resilient, successful, and ultimately happier in the long run?

Before we answer that question, let’s look at another set of data. Chances are, if you have children or know someone who does, it would not surprise you to learn that one out of five children have clinical levels of anxiety and anxiety is the leading mental disorder in children. This is seen across the country in young adults. In 2018, the Journal of Depression and Anxiety reported that an alarming amount of college students suffer from anxiety and that mental health is a major concern on college campuses. Students seek mental help because they can’t handle tough situations – a poor grade, a bad roommate, or a difficult transition. According to an American College Health Association survey, more than 63,000 students at 92 schools found that 61% felt overwhelming anxiety and 40% said they were too depressed to function. College counseling offices are simply not equipped to handle this level of volume. This data point validated a conversation I had a few years ago with a friend of mine who happens to be the president of West Virginia Wesleyan College. He told me that he was heading to a conference for presidents of colleges. I asked, “So, what will you talk about, how to increase endowments?” He said no, all the presidents want to talk about the mental health crisis happening across all universities. I was shocked.

When students cannot handle the stresses of a semi-controlled environment such as college, how are we preparing them for the world of work- when they have to compete globally and with many who choose not to retire because they can’t afford to?

The broader trend tells us that young people who have had limited exposure to adversities, minor and major, are not able to cope as easily because they were never challenged enough to test their abilities to overcome tough situations. Could it be that the adults in their lives with the best intentions would quickly work to remove any pains or discomfort and therefore limit the experience to cope with the natural disappointments that come with life experiences? As a parent and an educator, it is much harder to let our children struggle. But by giving them temporary happiness or relief all the time, we may be setting them up for a lifetime of disappointments.

I grew up with parents in the B group. It was never the teacher’s fault – period. I had to learn to adjust to the teacher’s ways of doing things and manage to be successful with the class parameters. It didn’t matter what those parameters were.

Whatever team I was on, it was on me to get better and try to figure out how to earn the respect of the coach. It didn’t matter if the coach was good or bad. That fact was irrelevant.

Sure, we could argue about fighting back and fairness, but at the end of the day, some of the best things you can do for your children is to let them figure it out and let them struggle because if you are constantly fixing things for them, they will never learn to do things on their own. Obviously there will be a point when you will need to step in, and you can guide, but most of the time, with space, your children will learn – from their choices, that they CAN overcome something great through that struggle.

So, if you don’t want to raise anxious kids, here’s what research says:

DOs

• Praise children for independent behavior and self advocating.
• Help them manage situations that bring anxiety, do not avoid it.
• Help them learn that they cannot control what happens to them, but they can use it to learn something valuable.
• Let them make the choice, struggle, and even fail. They will become more resilient and learn a lot.
• Respect their fears and feelings about something they don’t want to do, but still encourage them to try and give them the coping skills they need.

DON’Ts

• Do things for them that they can do themselves.
• Run away and avoid things that evoke anxiety. Rather, help them learn to manage through it.
• Take away their autonomy to make good and sometimes bad choices.
• Put your anxiety on them. “I know you are worried about your big test.” “You won’t do well with this, let’s try something else.”
• Limit your children because you fear that they will fail.

At Eurekii, we work with kids who have plenty of anxiety, especially when it comes to math. How we translate this in our work may surprise you. We let them struggle. We give them tough puzzles and word problems to solve. We put them in front of a whiteboard and ask them to explain their work in front of random people. At first, it is not always fun or comfortable. But so many kids love the feeling of accomplishment after they are able to tackle those difficult questions – and they learn incredible confidence to then tackle any problem, no matter how hard.

Because I’m Asian, some people ask if I believe in the “Tiger Mom’” philosophies. They are referring to a book written by Amy Chua, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom, where she takes the Parent B scenario to the extreme. Her argument is that nothing is fun until you get good at something. No one is born playing the piano. You have to practice, struggle, and work at anything to be good at it. If you want your children to be ready for the future, teach them to work hard and not give up easily. Fight through the anxieties of performance, of fear of failure, the unfair circumstances that come along the way, and ultimately, take pride that you were able to navigate through them all.

“Smooth Seas Do Not Make Skillful Sailors”
– African Proverb

In the end, I ask you to reflect on your own life experiences. Think about one time when you had the greatest fear and anxiety – making an important decision, a loss of a job, becoming a new parent – and how much you have grown because you have overcome those fears and anxieties. If someone were to take all those challenges away, would you have grown as much as a person?

Sources

Anxiety disorders Sources & Causes
10 Tips for Parenting Anxious Children
Parenting Dos and Don’ts for Child Anxiety
Mental Health–Related Emergency Department Visits Among Children Aged <18 Years During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Anxiety and depression in children: Get the facts
10 Tips For Raising Resilient Kids
Anxiety and Depression in Adolescence
How To Raise Resilient Kids
Younger generations’ lack of resiliency raises concerns for all ages
Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother Summary
19 Short Inspirational Quotes for Overcoming Adversity
Record Numbers of College Students Are Seeking Treatment for Depression and Anxiety — But Schools Can’t Keep Up

Biden recently passed the greatest one-time federal investment – $130 billion dollars for K-12 schools over a three-and-a-half year period. The most significant of the cost, is to help students who have lost many months of in-person learning. A Mckinsey & Company study shows children may lose up to 12 months of learning. When asked on which is the best way to catch students up, researchers recommend two things.

1. Extend the learning time, which could include the school day or school year.
2. Intensive tutoring which could cost up to hundreds of billions nationwide.

In a recent Hopkins article about the cost-benefit case for tutoring, it reviewed over 96 studies over 40 years and found the following:

1. Tutoring overall, offers a high return for a relatively low cost compared to all the other education interventions.
2. Trained professionals – which include teachers and paraprofessionals who are trained yield stronger effects than parents or those who are not trained in the field.
3. The best outcomes of student gains come from small groups and 1-1 tutoring.

The article ends with this quote, “Given the impressive effect sizes of tutoring in comparison to other educational interventions in the tough economic times that lie ahead, turning towards expanding tutoring may also be the most fiscal sense.

Full Article Link

Sources

House Bill to Implement Biden COVID-Relief Plan Includes Much-Needed K-12 Funding
Biden, aiming to reopen schools, set to request infusion of cash
The Cost-Benefit Case for Tutoring
What works in mathematics for elementary school students?

The recent increase of violence against Asian Americans prompted NBA basketball player Jeremy Lin to speak up. “We are tired of being told that we don’t experience racism, we are tired of being told to keep our heads down…We are tired of being invisible, I want better for the next generation of Asian American athletes than to have to work so hard to just be “deceptively athletic.”” My two high school children were both struck by his statement and shared it with me. Both of them are college-bound athletes.

As the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement continues to climb, another development/trend/behavior/mindset is also on the move. According to a 2020 article in Forbes magazine, white supremacy and violence continue to rise, with individuals targeting groups that they perceive as enemies. This can include minority groups and people who are different.

There are people who say, “I just don’t get it. I don’t understand why there is so much fuss around these issues. We have so many other issues to worry about. Nobody cares about what I’m going through.”

So, what does all of this have to do with education? Actually, it has everything to do with education.

Why? Let’s look at it through three lenses.

1. DATA

A 2018 Harvard Business Review article reported diverse teams, both in ethnicity and gender, substantially outperformed those that were more homogeneous. McKinsley reported in 2019 that profits were well over 36% greater in some cases. In their words, “The greater the representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance.”

The reason why this happens is simple. When you are tackling hard problems, finding solutions for a diverse market, and trying to understand the priorities of your customers, you need different experiences, backgrounds, thoughts, and approaches in order to find the most creative, innovative solutions. If everyone in your company has the same experience, the work is much more challenging.

In Fortune 500 companies, 87% of all CEOs are white males. Women only make up 8%. Black, Asian, and Hispanic combined make up around 5%. In February 2021, Marketwatch reported that some of the largest companies in the Silicon Valley, such as Facebook, Twitter, and United Airlines, pledged to increase the number of diverse leaders in their organizations.

Why does this matter in education? If people do not feel included, empowered, heard, and valued for their differences, especially our young people, how can we expect them to speak out, to rise to the level where they bring their ideas and backgrounds to solve problems of the future?

2. COMPETITION

As a sports-focused household, our family talks about this question often. “Do you improve your skills by playing against someone equal to or better than you?” Research regarding competition has been mixed. Some link competition to negative outcomes such as aggression, stress, and anxiety. Others find no difference in performance when you introduce competition. However, if you view competition as a way to benchmark and improve your own personal goals, it could be very helpful. Going against a tough opponent, whether you are playing a sport, a video game, auditioning for that lead role, or getting a job, will help you hone in on your personal skills to get stronger and better. If you know where that high bar is set, you’ll work towards it, or decide it’s not for you.

Let’s take a moment to view the United States as a competitive “team.” Which team would have the greater chance of success? A team with a few strong players and a bunch of marginal ones, or a team filled with strong players?

Here’s a snapshot of the talent pipeline as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The United States is getting more diverse.
It is not hard to understand the rise of the white supremacist movement if individuals feel threatened by those who are non-white. Afterall, the non-white population is growing at a faster rate than whites. While whites are still more than 60% of the total population, that percentage appears to be shrinking.

Hispanic and Black students earn fewer credits in advanced courses across all subjects.
A college degree is still a predictor of economic mobility, and taking advanced placement courses will strengthen a student’s chance of getting into a rigorous program. Why are fewer Black and Hispanic students taking advanced courses? About one quarter of high schools that serve the highest percentage of black and Hispanic students don’t even offer a second year of algebra. According to Pew Research, there is a greater percentage of Black and Hispanic children in poverty compared to the overall population. By the way, 30% of children raised in poverty do not finish high school.

At the end of the day, it boils down to math.

The Hispanic and black population make up more than 25% of the U.S. population. The more people we have ready to compete and solve big problems, the higher the probability we will succeed as a team.

3. EMPATHY

A Harvard study reports that we, as a species, share about 99.9% of our DNA with each other. The 0.1% differences do not affect core biology, but rather environmental and external factors. Race, as we know it, is more a political and social construct than a biological one.

Let’s think beyond race. This is about helping all those who have been marginalized feel more valued, included, and understood, including those who feel threatened. Prior to Eurekii, I was an executive for most of my 20+-year career. Most of that time was great. However, there were definitely moments where I distinctly remember being mistaken for a secretary, excluded from the drinks and golf, and experienced hesitation to move forward because I was a minority woman. During those awkward moments, I kept my head down and stayed invisible. I guess we will never know what impact I would have made in those moments if I had stood up and challenged those who marginalized me.

“We fear what we don’t understand.” Bruce Lee

So how can we understand? Personally, I started with simple things. I listened to my friends who I don’t always agree with to understand their message and concerns. I read articles and books that challenged my views. I try to imagine what my neighbor is going through, and model empathy and inclusion to my kids.

Our children listen to us and observe our actions. It is so critical that we challenge ourselves to take one simple step and try to understand the issues from a different point of view. We’re all better for it.

Sources

As attacks against Asian Americans spike, Jeremy Lin pushes for action
Report: NBA G League to Investigate Jeremy Lin’s Allegations of Racism
8 Amazing Benefits of Cultural Diversity in the Workplace
The World’s Most Tolerant Countries—UPDATED 2021
The power of competition: Effects of social motivation on attention, sustained physical effort, and learning
The Business Case For Women In The C-Suite
Diversity wins: How inclusion matters
Female Fortune 500 CEOs reach an all-time high, but it’s still a small percentage
The number of black CEOs in the Fortune 500 remains very low
Facebook, Twitter, United Airlines and other large companies pledge to boost numbers of diverse leaders
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition
The Biology of Fear
Competition in Sports
The Effects of Competitive Orientation on Performance in Competition
Sport and Competition
College Preparation for African American Students: Gaps in the High School Educational Experience
Schools are still segregated, and black children are paying a price
Categorical inequalities between Black and white students are common in US schools—but they don’t have to be
U.S. Education: Still Separate and Unequal
The Race Gap in High School Honors Classes
Indicator 14: Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Coursetaking
How Science and Genetics are Reshaping the Race Debate of the 21st Century
Prior to COVID-19, child poverty rates had reached record lows in U.S.
The nation is diversifying even faster than predicted, according to new census data

Three Ways to Incorporate Discovery in Learning

According to Merriam-Webster, Discover means to obtain sight or knowledge of for the first time. Without a doubt, there were many new discoveries post COVID that we’ve experienced as a society. For example, did you ever think wearing a mask everyday was important, that you’d value cleaning products, personal space, and online shopping more than you ever did over a year ago? Often times, we discover new things about ourselves when we are pushed out of our comfort zone and into unknown territory – one that is undefined, uncertain, and unclear – in other words, where imagination often lives.

World travelers imagined kingdoms and lands beyond what they knew at the time and discovered new continents and cultures from which we still benefit from today. New discoveries pave the way for innovation and challenge the old assumptions.

But – how important is imagination and discovery in education and do we have time for it? One can argue it is difficult when you are pressed for time, juggling student abilities, and planning required curriculum.

A 2018 Harvard Business Review article titled, “The Future of Human Work is Imagination, Creativity, and Strategy” noted what we mostly learn – knowledge and skills – can be outsourced or automated. What will be valued, will be skills that require imagination, persuasion, and critical creative thinking.

So how do you teach valuable skills and knowledge yet still have the time to push imagination and discovery at home or in a classroom?

Here are three simple examples to increase discovery while practicing the skills most valuable to your children for their future job prospects.

1. Wrestle with questions with no one solution

Google and other large tech corporations are known to ask interview questions with non-trivial solutions to evaluate a candidate’s critical-thinking, problem-solving, and imagination skills. Here are a few such examples:

“How many different ways can you find a needle in a haystack?”

“What would be required to design an alarm clock for hearing- 

impaired people?”

In every discipline taught or just in everyday conversations, challenge children to imagine new approaches to complex problems.

2. Challenge with a new way to communicate and persuade

Yes writing an essay and citing sources to support arguments is important and should not be replaced. But in the digital era why not give students another way to communicate using a non-traditional medium -one that is video-based, visual, and multi-dimensional? According to Digital.gov, video is the preferred tool to communicate information far above text and even simple pictures. Don’t like videos? How about designing a multi-player game? As an educator or parent, allow yourself and your students to discover new ways to communicate their ideas and thoughts using tools and technology common to their generation and interests.

3. Make time for your mind to wander.

We live in a world with too many distractions. We are ON constantly – our phones, our computers, running from point A to point B and there is no time to rest. Many apps, especially games and social media ones are designed to keep us addicted to our phones. We cannot imagine or gain new perspectives if we are constantly distracted. In the journal Thinking and Reasoning, psychologists found that when people have to solve complex problems, they are much more successful when their minds don’t have to be ‘on’ or ‘alert’. Another article published by Nature.com cites that our creativity is fostered by tasks that allow the mind to wander. We must give our students time to stop and reflect, to think openly without constraints of time or distractions.

Are these three things hard to do – yes – Is it worth it? absolutely.

Albert Einstein said, “What you can’t imagine, you can’t discover.”  While we never want to waste time in education, we should remember how the wheel was invented back in 3500BC – someone simply watched a rock roll down a hill and discovered a new way of moving things.

Sources

Mariam Webster Discover Definition
The Importance Of Discovery Learning
The Power of the Earliest Memories
Why Great Ideas Come When You Aren’t Trying
The Future of Jobs: Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
The Future of Work: 2020 Automation, AI and the Skills of Tomorrow
The Future of Human Work is Imagination, Creativity, and Strategy
To What Extent is Imagination Important in Playing the Role of Gaining New Knowledge?
Why Science Needs Imagination and Beauty
How COVID–19 Has Transformed Consumer Spending Habits
20 Vital Skills You’ll Need in the Future Workplace
41 of the Trickiest Questions Google Will Ask You in a Job Interview
The 21 Principles of Persuasion
By the Numbers: Why Video Is Effective
Dopamine, Smartphones & You: A Battle for Your Time
50 Microsoft Interview Questions with Answers
19 Great Inventions That Revolutionized History