Yes, a provocative title, but in this piece, Greg Graham is really just talking about how he teaches students to write essays. Still, for those of us who are frequently using team/cooperative/group settings, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on this technique. [EF]
A recent New Yorker article entitled “Groupthink” takes a fascinating look at the concept of brainstorming. According to author Jonah Lehrer, brainstorming was introduced in the late 1940s as a creativity-inducing practice by advertising guru Alex Osborn in his book Your Creative Power. The book was a surprise bestseller, and Osborn’s ideas about brainstorming, according to Lehrer, became “the most widely used creativity technique in the world.” Whether in business, politics, entertainment, or education, group-thinking was and still is regarded as the ultimate path to ingenuity and productivity.
One small problem: Numerous studies over the years have demonstrated that brainstorming doesn’t work, at least not as Osborn defined it
FULL ARTICLE: Why I No Longer Use Groups in the Classroom
POST SOURCE: EdWeek Teacher
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