Afraid To Think?

The comment was so ordinary that I’m surprised it stuck with me.
This was years ago.  I had just finished a two-hour workshop on problem-solving with a group of high school upperclassmen in rather difficult surroundings – a high school auditorium.  It had been hard to do some of the things I usually did, yet it had gone well – better than I would have expected under the circumstances.
In fact, once the students had gotten rolling, they had a good time and had exhibited some really neat ideas and approaches to some of the fun problems. I was impressed with some of their thinking and I mentioned this to the teacher as the auditorium cleared and we were cleaning up.
I forget the exact words, but she smiled and jokingly said something like “Yeah, heaven forbid we get them thinking.  They’re usually so afraid to think.”  It was an innocent joking, but somehow the words “afraid to think” stuck with me, especially since these students had just shown they were clearly not afraid to think.
I suspect it’s something we’ve all heard – or said ourselves:  “These students today are afraid to think.”  There’s a paradox here.  I honestly don’t think students are afraid to think. Do you? And yet, it seems, they DON’T often exhibit good thinking skills, especially in classrooms. Why is that?
I thought about that situation, that comment and that paradox for years.  I even developed a talk built around it.  I think there are easily a half-dozen important and related reasons why students don’t show their thinking skills more often.  However, at the risk of rash over-simplification, I’d like to focus on just one.
I’m not sure that students are so much afraid to think.  I think, among other things, that they’re afraid to be wrong.
Think about it.  Being wrong, after all, is what the system has taught them is so highly penalized.  From very early on, they learn that what the system values is not so much their thinking, but whether or not their answer is right.  One of the tragic ironies here is that it’s some of our most talented students – the ones who should be doing the most thinking – are also the ones that can least afford to be wrong.  From tests to grades to ACT/SAT tests, there is nothing more important than right answers and good scores as they prepare for college entrance and beyond.
OK, please note.  Of course I’m not saying that right answers are bad!  I’m just afraid that we’ve subtly and unintentionally created an atmosphere that is counterproductive to what we’re trying hardest to do, namely get our kids to think.  We’ve somehow got to remind our students (and ourselves) that getting wrong answers while learning to think is like falling off a bicycle while learning to ride – it’s part of the process!
Indeed, the story goes that a successful businessman was asked the secret of his success.  He responded, “Two words:  Good decisions.”  When asked how he learned to make good decisions, he responded, “Two words: Bad decisions.”
It’s a strange, marvelous, and sometimes scary process, this learning how to think.  But our students are not afraid to do it.  Naturally, this is MUCH easier said than done, but let’s give our schools and our teachers permission to re-create an atmosphere where thinking skills can flourish.