Thinking while walking.

[flow]

I was walking with a group of my friends at this outdoor festival when I realized that as humans we probably do our best thinking while on the move. Wouldn't it be nice if we moved education outdoors and had our young students follow around the teacher instead of being told to sit still all of the time?

By the way this is my 300 post and I'd just like to say this is a great community and I love being a part of it.

 

[Cegorach]

Good idea, but there are a few pitfalls...

The E's would refuse to shut up and would always be talking with the other E's unless they were fastened to a seat. Like in a classroom.

So no E's.


The S's would be too distracted by the incoming sensory information and would learn absolutely nothing.

So no S's


The F's would be observing all the fuzzy critters, think back to the time they watched Bambi, and immediately begin to cry.

So no F's


The J's would... well I just don't like the J's...

So no J's


I think you can see where I'm going with this.

(Congratulations. 300 posts is only slightly impressive, but having done so without excessively spamming the forum is really quite amazing. So GOOD JOB!!!!)

 

[Kuu]

Wouldn't it be nice if we moved education outdoors and had our young students follow around the teacher instead of being told to sit still all of the time?

Damn, that's the first time I've ever seen that idea related to education and... I support it fully. It'd be worth a shot.

EDIT: Cow has good points though... perhaps it would only work for introverted intuitives..

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

I love walking to clear my mind. Most of my life I've had a forested hill near where I live, (in college it took me awhile to find the forested hill), and taking walks up there is wonderful.

I'm kinda interested in what happens to our thinking while walking- it's also relevant for examining humanity's past without transportation.

 

[FacetiousPersona]

I walk around with my laptop while using it.

 

[Toad]

That would reduce the obesity problem in the states...but i think fat unhealthy people would be complaining all the time.

 

[Fedayeen]

Personally I like pacing helps me think

That would reduce the obesity problem in the states...but i think fat unhealthy people would be complaining all the time.

Says the guy with a hotdog for an avatar



And thats 300 for flow, 400 for me

 

[Anling]

I think more active classes would be a great idea. But then, as a biology/natural resources major, that's what we spent half of our class time doing anyway. I always found the field trips very helpful. I'd certainly like being the teacher in that sort of class better.

Small class sizes would help keep the unruly somewhat controled.

 

[Chronomar]

Small class sizes would help keep the unruly somewhat controled.

Yes, it does. At my highschool, we have large class sizes, and they chaotic at best. On the Spanish Class Trip to Cuernavaca, we studied in a language school there. The class sizes were 5 or less, and it was wonderful.

Even the notoriously bad students learned something. I went up a grade level in spanish.

I also like to walk around while thinking, especially in a wooded area or by a lake.

 

[merzbau]

i've heard the action of walking stimulates both hemispheres of the brain, working them in tandem. which is why thoughts are more lucid and flow easier.
for some reason, i also have insights whilst doing mundane things like showering.

 

[Toad]

It would also depend on the class. I don't think math would be a good class to walk around. Also, where would the teacher be able to write stuff without a chalk board? This idea would probably work in the future when we have virtual monitors and stuff.

I loooooooove hot dogs.....I don't even care if that makes me sound gay.

 

[mikal]

I just got back from miserable party in town. And it took me almost an hour walking home. But what an hour! Beautiful and warm night, no one on the streets, my anger at society (of course) and inability to connect with a single person (this is the night when I give up. for real). Thoughts about freedom, cages and the truth I cannot reach.

Indeed, best thoughts can be born by walking.

Also, could work as educational method. But, somebody said it, E people would talk all the time.

 

[zxc]

The F's would be observing all the fuzzy critters, think back to the time they watched Bambi, and immediately begin to cry.

So no F's

:P

i've heard the action of walking stimulates both hemispheres of the brain, working them in tandem. which is why thoughts are more lucid and flow easier.
for some reason, i also have insights whilst doing mundane things like showering.

My greatest flashes of insight come while in the shower! I know of several authors who use baths specifically for problem solving, too.

I pace back and forth when I'm thinking under time pressure.

 

[Fedayeen]

It would also depend on the class. I don't think math would be a good class to walk around. Also, where would the teacher be able to write stuff without a chalk board? This idea would probably work in the future when we have virtual monitors and stuff.

I loooooooove hot dogs.....I don't even care if that makes me sound gay.

It didn;t make you sound gay, til you mentioned it being gay

 

[Toad]

You know I don't really mind gay people? But for some reason I'm always scared of becoming gay...Does that make me gay?

 

[sagewolf]

It would be hard to keep tabs on less...dedicated... pupils using that method, seeing as they'd be able to just wander off if they were all outside and walking. It will also never, ever, ever be implemented in most schools and classes (unless it's necessary for fieldwork and such) owing to the prevalence of the Nanny State and Health and Safety protocols. That said, it's a brilliant idea and would, I think, do wonders for the state of education in most industrialised countries.

I don't know if the Es wouldn't learn at all- if they were allowed to work in pairs or groups of three, and the teacher put some effort into helping them engage with the topic, they'd probably learn just as well by bouncing ideas off each other as the introverts would just by thinking. The Ss, to, wouldn't learn things in the same way as we would, but maybe if they were given little computers (like the EeePCs) that they could use to access notes and extra information that supplemented the lesson the teacher was giving, they could do well, too. Everyone might benefit from that, actually, but the Ss would appreciate having something concrete to focus on most.

I would love to see this implemented, even just on a small scale, if only because it would illustrate that someone in the higher levels of administration in education was considering changes to the current system that went deeper than 'oh, let's just change the curriculum'. If people aren't learning what they're being taught in school, the problem is probably not what they're being taught: it's far more likely to be how they're being taught it.

 

[Ermine]

I think that method can be successful depending on the class size, the people in the class, and the subject. For example, I think a health class is best done on the move, biology would probably be universally successful, basic physics, among others. Oh, and photography.

 

[Atriamax]

field trip?

 

[Ghost1986]

I was walking with a group of my friends at this outdoor festival when I realized that as humans we probably do our best thinking while on the move. Wouldn't it be nice if we moved education outdoors and had our young students follow around the teacher instead of being told to sit still all of the time?

By the way this is my 300 post and I'd just like to say this is a great community and I love being a part of it.

great idea. i tend to think best when i walk around.

 

[Mud~Eye]

I guess I'm the only one here who can't walk and chew gum. Walking around and thinking is great! But, in a class where I might actually participate or have to actively listen and then learn something from an outside source? I'd walk right into a pole, bush, whatever. I tend to forget my surroundings, at least the details, when I'm engaged in several activities at once. I actually have walked into poles while talking. In theory, though, it sounds like a wonderful experience. I think I'd prefer sitting outside, rather than walking, though, while learning in a group.

 

[dwags222]

i think the walking classroom idea is a bad one, unless that class was made up entirely of N's. Walking, or taking a shower, or any mindless activity which we can perform without thinking is good for thinking for N's because it quiets our mind and lets the intuitive part of the mind do its thing without interuption from our conscious mind.

 

[Anling]

I love mindless activity for that reason. I don't have to be mentally present.

 

[Dentan]

Good idea, but there are a few pitfalls...

The E's would refuse to shut up and would always be talking with the other E's unless they were fastened to a seat. Like in a classroom.

So no E's.


The S's would be too distracted by the incoming sensory information and would learn absolutely nothing.

So no S's


The F's would be observing all the fuzzy critters, think back to the time they watched Bambi, and immediately begin to cry.

So no F's


The J's would... well I just don't like the J's...

So no J's


I think you can see where I'm going with this.

(Congratulations. 300 posts is only slightly impressive, but having done so without excessively spamming the forum is really quite amazing. So GOOD JOB!!!!)

I agree with ya,
its just funny how our shadow is ESFJ

 

[Mud~Eye]

i think the walking classroom idea is a bad one, unless that class was made up entirely of N's. Walking, or taking a shower, or any mindless activity which we can perform without thinking is good for thinking for N's because it quiets our mind and lets the intuitive part of the mind do its thing without interuption from our conscious mind.

It seems to me that much of the input that is for the idea is about "thinking", while attending mundane or routine tasks. But, thinking is largely an internal process for me, and from what I recall, the INTP and some other types. So even though I can drive, and walk, and do many routine things while my "N" wanders around playing with my Pness (haha), once I have to pay attention to external input related to my thoughts, not the routine activity, like facts and figures, someone else's voice and their thoughts on the subject, and then respond to those, that's when the "routine" function, like driving and walking, becomes less doable. Now, I'm driving, thinking, wandering mentally, AND trying to express out loud my thoughts AND make them understandable to the other person, "woops there went my turn", or "oh, yeah, I'm suppose to be heading for the milk isle of the grocery store". Alone in the car, no problem, but interaction on a certain level, some things give, like the details. And, time, forget about time. When does the class end? Who knows, is anyone wearing a watch? And, further, if the topic is extremely interesting, who really cares what time it is? No one else thinks that the added element of social interaction and expression will bring out the absent minded professor/ slap-stick tripping-over-your-own-feet geek? If you guys can pull it all off then you are highly functional. Maybe this robot needs an upgrade. I wonder where I can download one?

And to the last post: I've recently been intrigued by this information: ESFJ is our shadow function. Interesting to me, particularly because I am married to an ESFJ for 16 years and have only recently become aware of the ESFJ shadow aspect of the INTP personality.