Ryan Editorial TeamInnovative thinking refers to the ability to think creatively and come up with radically new solutions to problems. It helps solve problems using the available resources in different ways and also save time and energy in the process. Gone are the days of rote learning where children are made to memorize chunks and chunks of paragraphs and reproduce them in exams. The evolving world values critical thinking, analytical bent of mind, and creative problem solving. Innovative thinking holds the keys for the modern problems of the modern world.
However, innovative thinking cannot and should not be taught as a subject. It is inculcated in young minds in rather unconventional ways. Schools play a key role in imbuing such a mindset in kids since a very young age. Ryan Schools is a frontrunner in devising and using effective pedagogical frameworks to develop an innovative mindset in young children. This blog explores the importance of such a teaching framework and how Ryan Schools ace it.
Innovative thinking: Why is it so important?
Innovative thinking is the need of the hour. All through the human evolution, key historic moments have all been shaped by creative and innovative thinking. Every new invention, discovery, ideology, and technology is a brainchild of an innovative mind. A mind that asked the question why and thought why not.
We all know that the changes the world saw in the last two decades are multifold of the changes that happened in the last two centuries. Thanks to the rapid evolution of technology, the future demands high degree of innovation. To be truly ready for the future, children of today must be trained in innovative and creative thinking. Good news is that innovative thinking can be built by mindset change and continuous training: just like how we build a muscle through physical exercise.
Ryan School’s Innovation Framework
Ryan schools adopt a robust learning-centered pedagogy based on activity-based learning, collaborative learning, and experiential learning. This is to ensure that the child’s learning is not just based on bookish information but also on applying the information gained from books in practical situations and working together with teachers and fellow students. The teachers encourage the children to ask questions. They stoke the curiosity of children by letting them have free-wheeling discussions in the classroom.
Atal Tinkering Labs
With a vision to ‘Cultivate one Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators’, Atal Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India. ATLs aim to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in students and inculcate skills such as design perspective, computational thinking, adaptive learning, and physical computing.
Twenty schools that are part of Ryan Group have been shortlisted to set up ATLs in the school premises. The ATL representatives at Ryan Schools prepare students for different activities ranging from regional and national level competitions, exhibitions, workshops on problem solving, designing and fabrication of products. Various lecture series on critical topics are conducted regularly to feed the curious young minds.
Innovation Lab
Innovation Lab in Ryan Schools provide practical opportunities to students to boost their creativity and intellectual development through quality visual arts and hands-on experience of creating objects of their choice. Students are trained and assisted in selecting the right raw materials, designing the structures, and building protype models of the objects they want to create. Teachers help them understand the mechanics of various objects, techniques to integrate different substances, and encourage out-of-the-box ideas. Students are also provided with kits that contain various substances, materials and even safe chemicals, so that they can understand scientific concepts by doing tasks themselves.
The interesting aspect of this kind of teaching methodology is that Ryan Schools adopt this framework right from the primary level of education. Our pedagogy is designed to imbue creative thinking, problem solving, logical thinking, decision making and concentration that build a strong foundation for future success.
The carefully planned and meticulously delivered activity-based learning methodology is delivering impressive results. Many students of Ryan Schools have won several national and international Olympiads, attended training programs at NASA, created innovative digital content, and won laurels in several interschool competitions. Ryan Schools take pride in not just shaping the academic brilliance of our students but also their innovative and creative mindset, which is going to be an inimitable asset for their future success.
