Pedagogic Strategies for Unlocking Thinking Potential

Abstract

The quality of life of Kenyans and other people in the world is dependent upon the ability of individuals in that society to provide solutions to problems affecting the family, the community and the nation at large. The existence of a mass of individuals able to use their minds creatively to develop new ideas in order to come up with new products, new processes, new machines and other devices determine whether a country is poor or wealthy. The rich and developed countries may not have the requisite natural resources but they have individuals who are able to use their intellectual potential to create wealth. People who are not able to use their thinking potential effectively end up becoming sources of cheap raw labor for others and consumers of expensive finished products including ideas and technology. Education is the main key input in unlocking the thinking potential. The many benefits of education may not be achieved unless we teach our students (learners) how to think effectively and how to realize their creativity and thinking potential more effectively than they are doing today. We must develop in our learners the ability to create new products and processes that will solve many of our human, social and economic problems. This paper attempts to explore this aspect of trying to find effective strategies that we can use in our teaching to unlock their thinking potential to become initiators and developers of appropriate technologies to create wealth for our people.