Creativity Cannot be Discounted!
By
Lindsey Konkel, SOC Intern

I am standing on the barricaded road watching a group of sixth graders, new arrivals at the School of Conservation. They are on the clock – 12 minutes to complete their challenge. Standing on a fallen log, six inches off the ground, they are engaged in a lively debate about how to reverse their order on the log without anyone falling off. Their current strategy is not working - over and over again, they try to squeeze past one another, everyone remaining standing. Inevitably, before they finish, someone falls off the log.

They look to their teacher for advice, but her lips are sealed – this is a challenge for them to figure out as a group, on their own. The group becomes frustrated; they are running out of time. People start shouting to be heard. One quiet boy at the back of the line suggests they try leap-frogging over each other to cross the log; his idea falls on deaf ears. After a few more goes at the old way, the quiet boy speaks up again. “That idea will never work,” a few say. Eventually, the rest of the group persuades the nay-sayers try leap-frogging. Excitement builds as the team begins to make progress, working together toward a goal. Finally, in the last minute they are cooperating.

Most groups of students will have this experience at some point during their stay at the School of Conservation. The Action Socialization Experiences or ASEs as described, are a series of unique group challenges that stress communication and problem solving within the group. Students quickly learn that effective group communication involves speaking and listening, brainstorming and discussing. Cooperation and team building are the obvious goals of these exercises, but I have been asking myself, how else do ASEs enrich a visiting student’s environmental education experience?

I believe the answer lies in the quiet boy or girl with the seemingly eccentric idea that finally speaks up. Creative thinking is a valuable part of this exercise and benefits both the individual and the group. So often, groups will stick with the same old strategy, even though it has proven inefficient time and again. Why? Maybe it is easier, more convenient than trying to think of a new plan – we are creatures of habit after all. ASEs are valuable because they encourage students to think outside the box to solve challenges, to engage their brains! Believe it or not, thinking can actually be fun.

So what does creative problem solving have to do with the environment? There are a lot of environmental issues on the table right now: pollution, global warming, and species extinctions to name a few. When it comes to addressing these issues as a local/national/global community, we seem to procrastinate as long as possible. We keep trying to squeeze past each other on that skinny log, and we keep falling off. It will require a lot of creative thinking and problem solving on all of our parts to figure out a way for us to live sustainably in nature. Creative thinkers, let’s share our ideas, let’s communicate and work together – we are on the clock.