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Four Steps to Boost Your Creative Thinking at Winter School
By Rafis Abazov
Updated February 19, 2016 Updated February 19, 2016Global creative thinking is among the skills that are highly valued by international communities, and that can help students gain a competitive advantage at university and beyond, as a type of education that UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova has called “the ultimate investment in the future.” However, knowledge and skills are investments that need to be constantly upgraded at every step of life, and winter schools for students create a unique global experience and opportunity for learning. Here is how attending a winter school can help you improve your global creative thinking skills…
1. Search for top winter schools
Not many universities organize winter schools. However, those that do often invite prominent speakers who are not readily available at other times. Therefore, it is worth investing time and effort in finding top winter schools that focus on global topics close to your area of interest.
A good example is the Winter Journalism School “Internet and Digital Literacy” organized by the Faculty of Journalism at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU) in conjunction with UNESCO, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and the UN Information Office (UNIO) in Almaty, Kazakhstan in February 2016. About 120 students received an opportunity to discuss important global challenges not only with prominent academic thinkers, but also with UN personnel and international media practitioners – people who are at the front line of the news and work on really pressing regional and global issues.
2. Learn about your winter school’s global agenda
Benjamin Franklin once said: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” It is extremely important to treat winter school as an opportunity for professional growth, and to arrive well prepared. Today, reading newspapers and magazines or checking out the latest news on TV and the Internet is not enough. Specialized publications such as UN, UNESCO and World Bank reports on global topics and trends, and those put out recently by the Davos Global Forum are very useful as they provide in-depth analysis of many prominent decisions, actions and trends in the international arena.
3. Find out how to contribute and how to sharpen your skills
The secret to gaining knowledge, experience and expertise at such events is to be deeply involved in all discussions and brainstorming sessions. For this reason, it is important not only to come with in-depth knowledge of the subject matter, but also with your own evidence-based opinions and views. It is also worth learning about various brainstorming techniques, which can help you (and others) to be more productive and effective.
For example, at the winter school organized by Al-Farabi KazNU, experts from the UNESCO Cluster Bureau in Kazakhstan and leading practitioners in the field not only discussed with students the hotly debated issue of relations between new and old media, but also practical issues of the usage of radio and other media channels in emergency situations. In addition, training and brainstorming sessions with leading experts in the media field helped participants to learn about cutting-edge global trends in the development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
4. Make the most of the experience
Learning from others at this kind of event will help enhance your professional strengths, especially soft skills – the ability to think clearly, analyze and develop critical thinking. There are several important aspects here. One is looking around at prominent faculty, experts and guest speakers and noticing what you really like and admire in them – in both the content and the technique of their presentations. Second, identifying the strongest skills in others will also help you develop your own winning presentation style. Third, expanding your ability to see the complexity of big global political, economic and other issues can help you develop critical thinking and analytical skills to apply to your own innovative views and ideas.
This article was originally published in February 2016 .
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Dr Rafis Abazov is a visiting professor at Al Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he also manages a joint program with Earth Institute of Columbia University (New York, USA). He has written 10 books, including The Culture and Customs of the Central Asian Republics (2007) and has regularly contributed op-eds to The New York Times. Mr Abazov enjoys collecting rare books on British exploration of Central Asia and reading travelogues on Central Asia and the Middle East by Eugene Schuyler, Vladimir Bartold and Lord George Curzon. He has also authored photo exhibitions about his trips to Central Asian republics, Turkey and Afghanistan.
Contact info: Office 1400 Rectorat, 71 Al Farabi Ave., Al Farabi KazNU, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
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