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ABSTRACT: Education is a great necessity of human life. It is a controlling grace to the young, consolation to the old, wealth to the poor and ornament to rich. Moreover, it leads to the flowering of the potential of each individual. Education, in its broadest sense, may be defined as a process designed to inculcate the knowledge, skills and attitudes which is necessary to enable individuals to cope effectively with their environment. It is also a process of changing behaviour pattern of human beings in terms of independent thinking. Independent thinking is the desire of a person to convince oneself that the information being presented is true or reasonable. It enables us to become more discerning about the things we hear, see and believe and helps us questions, values and assumptions. In other words, Independent thinking also hones one's personal skills on many other levels including the building of confidence in his ability to stand up for his belief. 

Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi: pexels

INTRODUCTION:

Education can be called a lighthouse that saves human souls from the doom of shattering against the rocks of ignorance and darkness. What a sculptor does to block of marble, education does that kind of shaping to the mankind. It is a great necessity of human life. It is a controlling grace to the young, consolation to the old, wealth to the poor and ornament to rich. Moreover, it leads to the flowering of the potential of each individual.

Education is an axis which revolves around the fullness of the human being. It has always been associated with providing a better quality of life for human being. It forms an effective mean to achieve goal in life, improve the status and character of living patterns of the people. It helps in their intellectual, social and emotional development and enables them to meet their basic needs. Education begins at birth and continues throughout life. Education, in its broadest sense, may be defined as a process designed to inculcate the knowledge, skills and attitudes which is necessary to enable individuals to cope effectively with their environment.

The world is becoming more and more competitive. Quality of performance has become the key factor for personal progress. Parents desire that their children climb the ladder of performance to as high a level as possible. This desire for a high level of achievement puts a lot of pressure on students, teachers, and schools and in general the education system itself. In fact, it appears as if the whole system of education revolves round the academic achievement of students, though various other outcomes are also expected from the system. Thus a lot of time and efforts of the schools are used for helping students to achieve better in their scholastic endeavors. But the efforts favouring the development of personal skills and independent thinking can't be ignored. The importance of independent thinking has raised important questions for educational researchers. What is the role of education in enabling independent thinking? How can we develop independent thinking in students?

Independent thinking means all those behavioral changes which take place in individual, as a result of his education. Thus the variable "Independent Thinking" is the predictor of the learner's knowledge that he has learnt from throughout of his life.

Education is a process of changing behaviour pattern of human beings in terms of thinking. The aim of education is the comprehensive and all-round development of the child. It may be physical, intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual or moral. It is a continuous process consists of all experiences which affect the individual throughout the life. It is the process through which an individual is developed into individuality and person into personality.

Each person is different from other and every individual has some unique potential in some field or the other. In classroom, the performance of two individuals is not same. They differ from one another in their academic performance as well as independent thinking level. Many innate abilities like interest, aptitude, intelligence or creativity contribute to make their independent thinking.

MEANING OF INDEPENDENT THINKING:

Independent Thinking has always been the main centre of educational research, as a good academic record is an index of effective educational system and nation's progress as well. It is something that causes a person to make an effort to become successful and be goal oriented. It is a desire to perform well and attain success in competition with some standard of excellence. Educational and psychological research has identified multiple factors that play a role in predicting student’s level of independent thinking such as his intelligence, creativity, and aptitude.

Independent thinking is the desire of a person to convince oneself that the information being presented is true or reasonable. It enables us to become more discerning about the things we hear, see and believe and helps us questions, values and assumptions. In other words, Independent thinking also hones our personal skills on many other levels including the building of confidence in our ability to stand up for our belief.

According to David Lioyd George, "Independent Thinking is not encouraged in a professional army, it is a form of mutiny."

According to Whitney Tilson, "Independent Thinking is not just helpful in becoming a successful investor. It is required."

IMPORTANCE OF INDEPENDENT THINKING:

  • Intellectually active minds open doors to opportunity. Whether our thinking is on a logical or creative wavelength being an independent thinker will enable us to increase performance, productivity, efficiency and to reach a greater level of self awareness.
  • Independent Thinking is a tool that can be used to enhance personal expressions and creative ability. It is a valuable additional skill to acquire.

THE BENEFITS OF THINKING INDEPENDENTLY:

Independent thinkers feel the need to make sense of world based on personal obscurations and experiences rather than just going along with the thoughts of others.

  • Being able to think independently opens up a wealth of potential knowledge.
  • It enables us to become more discerning about the things we hear, see and believe.
  • It also hones our personal skills on many other levels including the building of confidence in our ability to stand up for our beliefs.

HOW TO DEVELOP INDEPENDENT THINKING:

One of the primary goals of an educator should be to help the students develop the desire and ability on their own. To develop independent thinking, we have to look up following ideas:

  • Independent thinking can only be developed as a result of exploring the structure that has been put into place to expand freedom of thought.
  • To become an innovative thinker an individual will have to exercise creativity through thinking and doing.
  • Exploring ventures and opportunities will also lead to the need to develop independent thinking and this will encourage one's self-esteem to grow.
  • Independent thinking is always important even in team exercise. Independent thinkers strengthen in a team because they understand that different backgrounds and perspectives bring different ideas and solutions. This encourages the students to think on their own about concept.

CONCLUSION:

Thus, Independent thinking skills are at the forefront of learning how to be not only a great thinker but a great leader. Such skills teach our learners how to make sense of the world based on personal experience and observation, and to make critical well-informed decisions in the same way. As such, learners gain confidence and the ability to learn from mistakes as they build successful and productive lives. Being independent thinker, learner will become more innovative and create the best opportunities to demonstrate independent thinking in a positive manner.

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REFERENCES:

  • http://www.nde_ed.org.independent thinking
  • http://wabisabilrearning.com
  • shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in
  • www.google.com
  • www.azquotes.com

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