My brainstorming process is one that I consider to be very sporadic. I like to compare it to a Jackson Pollock painting (Fontanella, 2020). I throw a lot of things on paper and see what sticks. This may sound incredibly disorganized, and at times it is, but it works for me. I start with an idea or a question. Once I have the idea or problem in my head, I just start listing off potential solutions. I do this on paper and in conversations. I routinely take the opportunity to spitball ideas with my assistant principal and dean of students about issues that we have going on in our school. Some of the solutions will not be helpful, but we usually come to an agreement on something that benefits everyone. For me personally, I think that the more ideas or potential solutions I come up with, the more likely I am to find one that will actually solve the issue. If the issue is somebody else's problem, I will still do the same things. I am not trying to tell them what they should do, but I am trying to give them a wide variety of ideas to help them build to their solution. To get a better idea of how I come up with my ideas and organize them, check out this video below.
While writing the section above and considering the chapter from Berger on the loss of ability to question things. It made me really start to worry about my own students. I fear that there are many instances where Berger is correct, we do not question enough. The ability to have answers at our fingertips has created a world where only answers matter rather than how we came to those answers and the questions we formed to get there. I am working on changing some of my curriculum in order to help encourage more questioning in my classroom.
References:
Berger, W. (2014).A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. Bloomsbury.
Eichstaedt, M. (2024, July 21). Question Breakdown. [Video]. YouTube.
Fontanella, M. (2020, September 24). Jackson Pollock “Mural.” The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/mural-1943
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