“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think”

Thinking is the ability to brainstorm about anything, which helps in the generation of ideas and solutions to problems. A child’s mind is a free mind; by telling them what to think, we bind it with shackles. Who knows what would have happened if we had told Einstein to think about dancing instead of allowing him to think on his own?

By teaching them how to think, we give them the right direction to spend their energy and unleash their creative potential. Historically, we have references in mythology where we have seen the importance of how to think. When Arjuna was going through a crisis of conscience, Krishna, the Lord, recited Bhagwad Gita and helped Arjuna arrive at a decision.

In today’s world, however, such an inquisitive approach is lacking. Our education system is based on rote learning and memorizing. This system binds the thought process of children into focusing more on the ‘what’ of the problem than the ‘how’ of the problem.

When a child is born, parents often decide that he/she will be an engineer or a doctor. This limits the thought process of children. Imagine if Sachin Tendulkar was told to become a singer! Therefore, we should teach them how to decide what they like and what they are good at.

More often than not, children are also told to follow one religion over the other. This limits the children to the teachings of one religion only. They should be taught to find out for themselves which religion they connect to most and which religion will help in their spiritual development.

While we often try to control a child’s personal choices in terms of religion and education, it is not limited to that sphere. We also try to influence their social sphere by telling them who should be their friends. Instead, we should teach them how to identify good friends from bad ones.

As they grow up, we also tell them who they should marry. The system of arranged marriage in India is a testament to that. Instead of this, we should teach them how to find the right partner for them and to separate good people from bad.

After marriage, they are told to plan for the future by investing in land, gold, and other instruments. But we should instead teach them how to make sound financial decisions so they can plan for their own and decide what is best for them.

All such activities by us create a dependency of children on us. This disempowers them and their ability to deal with difficult circumstances. For instance, if they are hungry, the knowledge of what to eat would not help, but the knowledge of how to cook will.

If they are ever lost in an unknown place, the knowledge of what the place is will not help as much as the knowledge of how to get directions from people and other things. If you are lost in a desert, the knowledge of how to use the sun and shadows will help you in finding the right direction.

The crisis does not have to be big. Even smaller issues like if you have a broken button on your shirt before an interview, you should know how to fix that instead of what the button should have been.

Issues faced by people in various professions also require the ability of how to think. Police, for instance, require the skills of how to investigate properly a complex crime scene than simply a knowledge of crimes.

Similarly, Judges who adjudicate based on the investigations of police require the skills of how to make sense of evidence, how to ensure a fair trial, and how to deliver justice rather than simply the knowledge of laws or what the law says.

Just like judges, Doctors also need to know how to diagnose a disease, how to find symptoms, how to deliver shots, and not just the knowledge of medicines and diseases. Here also how to think to cure a disease is what saves lives.

Similarly, Architects responsible for designing buildings need the knowledge of how to ensure structural integrity and balance it with the design of beauty. A mere knowledge of what a building is is neither sufficient nor enough.

The Knowledge of how to think is not just limited to various professions but its importance is also seen in our everyday life. The first thing we learn is how to speak; what language we speak is not necessary. Also, learning how to eat properly by chewing food is more important than knowing what to eat.

Exercises like Yoga focus on the ‘how’ part more. Pranayama, for instance teaches us how to breathe. The ‘Asanas’ teaches how our body should move instead of just what should move instead of just what the positions are.

After establishing the importance of how to think in various aspects of life, we should take a look at challenges as well. The scene from the movie ‘3 Idiots’ perfectly sums up our education system which is based on rote learning and mugging.

When asked about the definition of machine, ‘Rancho’ gave a simplistic and yet creative definition of how even a normal zipper can be considered as a machine. But the professor preferred a bookish and complex definition of the word machine. Such narrow focus is the biggest challenge towards unlocking the potential of children.

The Government of India through programs like Atal Innovation Mission, Smart Buckathon is trying to promote an innovation ecosystem amongst children. The New Education policy Zoos tries to inculcate problem-solving attitude in children, which paints a bright future ahead.

Therefore, simply knowing what to think is not enough; the ability of how to think is necessary, and it is beautifully summarized in the quote below:

“Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.
Teach a man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime!”