The Education A Nu Way Journal, Volume I, Issue 1, Article 1

By Shalimar Ali El

Date 7.20.2026

What Steve Jobs taught us about Educating Creative Thinkers

Our classrooms are filled with future innovators. The question is whether our educational systems recognize them before the world does.

Steve Jobs is one of history's clearest examples of why this matters. Steve Jobs wasn't extraordinary, he developed extraordinary ideas that changed his life in the world. For educators, parents, and youth leaders, there are valuable lessons we can learn from Steve Jobs Story.

Steve Jobs was a living example of what can happen when students are no longer restricted to confirming, performing, and following a path that others created for them. His example demonstrates how we can help our students shift from convergent thinkers to divergent  thinkers.

The Difference Between Divergent Thinkers and Convergent Thinkers

Divergent thinkers are open to explore. They don't see limitations, they see opportunities. They take risks, they test various options, and they see different ways to arrive at the same answer. They look at "failure" and mistakes as opportunities to learn grow and iterate. They experience life through the lens of an engineer, applying The Engineer design process to every experience, interaction, and opportunity.

Conversion thinkers  are not open to taking risks, They often criticize, analyze, judge, minimize, and narrow things down to one "correct" answer.

The current structure of our education system is designed to support convergent thinkers and often  misunderstands divergent thinkers, which has long-term implications for the children we teach and for the world at large.

I'll leave you with this question, "What would happen if we shifted our educational structure to conform to our students needs versus teaching our students to conform to the needs and constraints of the education system?"