Hope for the Future

 

Maybe kids aren’t getting all the right answers in the standardized tests of No Child Left Behind vintage, but there are places where they are practicing the art of thinking at higher levels of their intellectual potential and loving it. The Future Problem Solving Program designed by Dr. E. Paul Torrance in 1980 is engaging the higher order thinking minds of students and stimulating excitement for their learning and thinking all over the world. The program leads teams of students from fourth grade to seniors in High School through a series of steps that invite analytical, systemic, imaginative, critical, and visionary thinking. The final result is a recommendation for solutions of an assigned problem relevant to the future. Not only do they have the freedom to think about serious matters but they are enjoying the pleasure and satisfaction of having their creative ideas heard and respected.

The Future Problem Solving Program is conducted essentially by volunteers. A recent visit to the Minnesota 2008 Problem Solving Program Annual Competition directed by Cheryl Whitesitt was a revelation. It was evident that the practice of structured, open-ended thinking in a classroom climate that respects a student’s right to express creative and critical ideas without the threat of immediate rejection helped to cultivate confidence and enthusiasm in students. An auditorium filled with kids, parents, coaches, and volunteers, who were excited about serious problem-solving skills, cheered enthusiastically when the trophies were awarded. The joy of young, bright, enthusiastic minds that are offered the freedom to think and be heard —-such an experience rekindles the confidence that all of society is hoping to feel for the future of the world.

 

Dr. Berenice D. Bleedorn