Lateral Thinking: A Brief Review

 

Lateral Thinking's Illustration, Sources: Google Image 

Do you think like Sherlock Holmes, who drives data and facts to obtain a single answer?

OR

Do you think like Albert Einstein, who creates information and answers exploratively?  

OR... You Can Think Like Both of Them Simultaneously? 😱😱😱

Let's Discuss The Lateral Thinking: Convergent + Divergent 

 

       If you think like Holmes, you might prefer the Convergent Thinking. While, Divergent thinking will be yours if you think like Einstein. Lateral thinking is the condition where someone could maximize convergent and divergent thinking at the same time. Wait....😑😑😑😑

WHAT IS CONVERGENT, DIVERGENT, and LATERAL THINKING THEN?!

Around the 1950s, Joy Paul Guilford, an American Psychologist, introduced the terms "convergent thinking" and "divergent thinking" related to the concept of critical thinking and creative thinking (Wenzel & Gerrig, 2015). Convergent thinking denotes critical thinking, while divergent thinking indicates creative thinking. Convergent thinking is a straightforward process that focuses on figuring out the most effective solution to problems. Additionally, convergent thinking is also well-known as a "close-ended solution." Divergent thinking refers to opening the mind in various directions and trying out multiple solutions for a problem. Moreover, divergent thinking is famous as an "open-ended solution" (Palmiero et al., 2020).  

 

The concepts of convergent thinking and divergent thinking are, in fact, two important concepts that are frequently argued and contrasted (Schut, Klapwijk, Gielen, & de Vries, 2019; Shen, Hommel, Yuan, Chang, & Zhang, 2018; Wenzel & Gerrig, 2015). They are opposed to one another, yet they are highly crucial in our daily lives. People cannot condense facts and data into a single solution without considering other possibilities. Even people simply cannot come up with as many answers as they would like without first selecting and deciding which ones would be employed. As a result, while it is not necessary to constantly be used in conjunction with another, they perform better when used together.

Edward de Bono

   These dilemmatic ways of thinking took around a decade to meet their resolution. In the 1960s, a new way of thinking terminology called "lateral thinking" was proposed by Edward de Bono (De Bono, 1970). Lateral thinking is well-known as thinking out of the box, conceiving, and observing things that ordinary people would not foresee and envision (Aydemir, 2021). Lateral thinking, according to Bono, is the process of using the information to spark creativity and transform perceptions through restructuring. Lateral thinking generates the notion that simultaneously divergent and convergent thinking should be carried out (Phillips, 2014). It involves the development of numerous ideas and then selecting the best of them. As a result, it not only trains students to be creative but at the same time also encourages them to be critical thinkers.

Flowchart Lateral Thinking Implementation in Classroom  

In accord with the formulated pattern, educators can start offering students stimuli in the form of problems/issues. Students observing the challenges given will be shown on the work focus they created through their formulated questions. Temporal ideas and solutions must then be created as many as possible divergently. Students do not need to limit themselves, even make examinations from the beginning because it will restrict their mind to produce ideas. In short, they are free to express their wild capacity to think without any barriers. The examinations are conducted after obtaining ideas and solutions. Educators must guide students to pick the best resolution, emphasizing various considerations critically. In which it shows the capacity to think in a convergent manner. The final results will portray students acquiring the most appropriate solution toward the encountered problem. Taking into account, through employing creative and critical thinking simultaneously, HOTS is being promoted during the whole process of lateral thinking is practiced. 

lateral thinking has an enormous potential to promote HOTS. It allows students to think out of the box, relate to problem-solving, find a new way, and produce inventions and innovations. Due to its flexibility and adaptability, practicing lateral thinking strategy can be employed in almost all study subjects. Specifically, in ELT situations, practicing lateral thinking strategies offered in this writing can minimize the educators' superiority in the classroom; make students role their engagements better. 

Further Readings: 

https://ojs.fkip.ummetro.ac.id/index.php/english/article/view/4430

https://dx.doi.org/10.24127/pj.v11i1.4430