[ELTWeekly Volume 8, Issue 13 | July 25, 2016 | ISSN 0975-3036]
In today’s world, the skillsets of cognitive flexibility are more critical and valuable than ever before. These skillsets include:
- Open-minded evaluation of different opinions, perspectives, and points of view
- Willingness to risk mistakes
- Consideration of multiple ways to solve problems
- Engagement in learning, discovery, and problem solving with innovative creativity
My previous posts in this series described strategies to build students’ executive functions of organization, prioritizing, judgment, and critical analysis. In this post, I’ll suggest ways to activate your students’ developing neural networks of skillsets for cognitive flexibility. Students with these skillsets will be prepared to achieve their highest potentials for cognitive flexibility and the creative cognition to embrace the as-yet-unknown opportunities awaiting them in the 21st century.
Building the Skillsets for Cognitive Flexibility
Students need explicit instruction and opportunities to practice the flexible thinking that will make the most of their brains’ fertile adolescent development stage. The unique anatomy and chemistry of this transitional state comprises increased dopamine receptors and accelerated neuroplasticity.