The Importance of Problem Solving in Education. by Addison

The Importance of Problem Solving in Education. by Addison - February 2023 Scholarship Essay

“The problem isn’t the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.” This quote by the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow perfectly depicts the realization that we all need to make when considering a challenge in our lives. Instead of viewing a roadblock as a permanent stopping point, we need to step back and look at the obstacle from a different perspective. This idea is where the educational theory of growth mindset comes into play. In schools we have started to be taught that if we fail once, that is not a sign to give up, but rather a reason to try a new technique to find the answer. Problem solving skills are used throughout our daily lives, in and out of school, in order to complete a variety of tasks, from simple to complex.

In school, problem-solving skills are essential to use when attempting a new topic in any class. The whole point of going to school is to learn, and to do that we have to try a problem multiple times in multiple ways in order to achieve our goal of understanding. Unfortunately, that willingness to try and fail has fallen out of favor as many students today will look at a problem they don’t know how to solve and instead of trying it at all they simply sit there and wait for someone to tell them the answer. This is enabled by the fact that teachers are instructed not to grade homework, so there is no motivation for the students to try and problem-solve on their own. Hence, we see a separation between students who are self-motivated and those who aren’t. This is seen in schools when students are assigned work to complete in class, but instead choose to sit on their phones reliant on either their classmates to help or the teachers to step in. This separation is furthered in post-secondary school, as only those who know how to solve problems on their own will be the ones who attend college and are successful in it. 3 million students graduate high school each year, yet according to Bestcolleges.com (a college readiness blog) 55% of high school graduates have no plans to attend college. That means 1.6 million students don’t have the self-motivation to overcome whatever obstacles are in their way to continue their education. With a little bit of grit these students could come up with a way to break past the barriers holding them back, and solve their own problems. Additionally, after college, when applying to the work force, the difference between people who can solve problem and those who just wait for someone else to step in and do it for them determines who holds which position in a company. Higher-skilled positions, such as manager, often require time management, organization, and problem-solving skills to figure out the best course of action for any particular situation.

Overall, the soft skill of problem solving has the biggest impact on a successful education due to the necessity of the skill in our day to day lives to keep ourselves motivated to complete a challenging task. The idea of problem solving can be expressed in a single sentence by one of the smartest people ever, Albert Einstein, “We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” With this we need to realize that instead of thinking of our problems as absolute, we need to find a creative solution that can be implemented with just a little bit of problem solving.