On February 15th I attended “Integrative Thinking Essentials for Educators Workshop” held at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto with a couple of other Cohort21 members. The day was a great mix of a keynote, workshops, and panel discussion around the theory of integrative thinking, application in the classroom, and general themes and challenges on the horizon for the education industry.
The theory of integrative thinking was developed by Roger Martin, who is the dean of the Rotman School. I had read portions of his book, The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking, prior to attending the workshop and it describes the theory in detail and how it was developed. Integrative thinking is one method of explaining how innovators develop their ideas, through carefully examining solutions that seem to be either vs. or scenarios, but yet are able to take benefits of each scenario and creatively construct another scenario that is better than the original cases.
If you are interested in a quick overview on the topic, Becoming an Integrative Thinker: The Keys to Success is a great article to start with.
One of the meaningful quotes from the book and the day that stuck with me is the following quote:
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless, yet be determined to make them otherwise.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald.
As a IB PYP teacher, I was immediately struck by the similarity between integrative thinking and the Transdisciplinary Thinking Skills – Dialectical Thought. In Making the PYP Happen, Dialectical Thought is defined as
Another concept that really stuck with me from the keynote presentation was the link to how our brains see and perceive things differently. Our brains are amazing tools, but they have evolved to only take in the amount of sensory information that we need to function, as a result many of the models that we construct are over simplified. The example that was used in the workshop was how when we see a globe it is a complex image, with varying colours and layers, but our mental image is often simplified to be green land and blue water.
As I base my teaching on developing conceptual understanding and linking it to big ideas or enduring understandings, I think that this is an important idea to remember.
The first workshop that I attended we were able to experience the process of approaching a problem based on an integrative thinking model. As it was a room full of educators we examined traditional schools vs. online schools. We developed the criteria for each scenario, while trying to avoid doing pros/cons. Then we identified the benefits for each of the models, and tried to identify which benefits from each model were most important. My particular group identified that we thought the physical/social interactions that build community associated with a physical school building was an important benefit, but the flexibility that was associated with online learning environments. Due to time constraints we did not have time to discuss how we could structure this type of learning environment, but it was an interesting experience none the less. One of the interesting comments that came out of the experience was that the process was slightly chaotic, but when we were able to push through our crowded brains to develop a creative lens to see the different scenarios in terms of their benefits, we were able to approach the problem differently.
The second workshop that I attended examined two different tools to support integrative thinking in the classroom. The first tool was the
ladder of inference. This is a great tool to help understand our thinking process and how we make decisions based on a limited set of data. Through examining the steps n the ladder we can consider how we have come to our decisions and better understand the assumptions and beliefs they are based on. The second tool that we examined was causal modelling – think of massive mind maps with linked ideas. Through building visible models we have time to consider the interactions and let the ideas simmer to digest the problem at a deeper level.
At the end of the day, the panel discussion was interesting to hear where educational leaders see as big themes and challenges that will face the educational industry. Certainly, curriculum design and how we shape students experiences in education is a theme and a challenge that will be addressed as we move forward. Another concept that struck me was the need to be intentional not reactive in terms of how we are moving education forward.
If you have the opportunity to attend one of these workshops I highly recommend it.
* This is a cross-post with my blog http://teachnologyadventures.blogspot.ca/
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Marcie,
Thanks for this report.
You may like to consider the low cost science-based Integrative Thinking Course I offer at my website. As the originator of the field of Integrative Thinking in Applied Mind Science I developed the Course to help people make a habit of integrating insight, reason and imagination.
Integrative Thinking is the process of integrating intuition, reason and imagination in a human mind with a view to developing a holistic continuum of strategy, tactics, action, review and evaluation for addressing a problem in any field. A problem may be defined as the difference between what one has and what one wants. Integrative Thinking as described may be learned by applying the SOARA (Satisfying, Optimum, Achievable Results Ahead) Process of Integrative Thinking to any problem with which the learner is dealing.The SOARA Process of Integrative Thinking employs a comprehensive and easily remembered set of triggers of internal and external knowledge. This facilitates the making of connections between what may have been regarded as unrelated parts of a problem.
Marcie, it looks like this conference was definitely worth it! I took a look at your other posts on blogger, and you’ve done some high-order reflecting here. I would encourage you to continue to think about how to integrate this into your teaching. You write “As I base my teaching on developing conceptual understanding and linking it to big ideas or enduring understandings, I think that this is an important idea to remember.” It isn’t only important to remember, but it’s important to integrate these concepts into your practice.
For example, in the link you posted to Roger Martin’s article, he writes “Nature of their world:
1. They recognize that existing models do not equal reality;
2. They seek out model clash and leverage opposing models;
3. They believe that better models always exist that cannot
be seen;
Their role in it:
4. They believe that they are capable of finding a better model;
5. They are willing and enthusiastic about wading into complexity; and
6. They give themselves the time to create; they aren’t rushed to
find ‘the answer’ to a problem.”
Therefore, and I firmly believe this too, the role of the teacher is about creating an environment, as well as fostering a disposition towards learning in our students. As you continue to design your incredible lessons, and create a classroom that continues to amaze all of us at Cohort 21, keep creating the opportunity for students to practice the attitudes and habits of an integrative thinker.
Thanks for this (and your others!) thoughtful post!
garth.