(5213500317) Bryan Michael G. Badana November 29, 2009

Creative thinking is an important parcel in the educational process in each of the different fields of education, as mentioned in the different journals and articles that focuses on creative thinking. But how do we define creative thinking? How do we utilize this type of thinking into the learning process of our students?

Creative thinking is a form of cognitive thinking skill that is centered in the creation of ideas. With that simple definition, creative thinking is also applicable not only to the student’s cognitive development but to the teachers as well, as they need to develop this particular skill in order to be productive in teaching (Patton & Kritsonis, 2007). Both the teacher and the student must be aware of our own thinking skill. Are we able to create ideas or create innovative lessons for our students? Are we able to exercise our own creative thoughts to produce lessons that are to challenge the critical and analytical minds of our students? These are questions often arises to teachers who has that awareness of that need. It is important for both teachers and students learn how to sharpen these cognitive skills. The teachers role is to plan creative lessons that develops the students to think and create creative outputs from and for their learnings, in result developing their creative thinking.

In the development of education, there is a need to cultivate the creative thinking of the students (Liu et al., 2007). There was progressive shift of teacher-centered teaching to student-centered teaching in the different fields of education. Even in the traditional education of sciences like nursing, medicine, and allied sciences, there is a need to a healthy infusion of creative thinking in the traditional knowledge impartation of the professors and clinical instructors. Creative thinking cultivates active thinking in the students, brings with them a deeper understanding of the knowledge and concrete application of that knowledge learned.

A paper about “Teaching design of cultivating nursing students’ creative thinking” clearly states that creative thinking is considered as critical thinking. I agree on their ideas that the teaching design must use the full capabilities of the students. It is equally important choose the content of the lesson, where the students must totally grasp the fundamentals of the knowledge given and the same time, put equal emphasis on the practical aspect of each lesson to real life situations. With a target content in hand, this is when the teaching methods come in place. In planning the methods to be used, both critical thinking and creative thinking are used for the teacher to formulate innovative ways to teach the lesson (through simulations or role playing). The teacher must of course must be able to create activities that encourage the students to develop and practice critical and creative thinking, not only as to fulfill the needs of the lesson but also to become an inherent skill that may come to use in the future.

Even in the field of mathematics, creative thinking is as important as analytical thinking. Creative thinking is a high level cognitive skill that aims to develop the students (Erdogan et al., 2009). In the education of maths, creative thinking is essential to a student’s problem solving ability, when it is measured on how they are able to find newer solutions to old mathematical problems. But the biggest challenge does go back to the teacher, as these high-thinking skills needs to be well guided by critical and creative thinking educators. When mathematical models aims to provide an understanding on the flow on finding a solution to problem, the student must be able to think independently and think creatively on how they can find a solution by hitting the problem in different angles, doing trial and errors, and be decisive action.

It is quite evident that creative thinking and critical thinking does go side by side. One author even whimsically said: “When reasoning fails, Imagination saves you...” (Baker et al., 2001). When a teacher understands the full capacity of critical and creative thinking, and acknowledges its symbiosis, will be the time when the teacher will also see this capacity with his students. The teacher then strives to enhance and make full use of these thinking skills to their students. However, teaching these skills need more preparation time, is difficult to implement, and often times restricts the intended content to be taught. There are still many obstacles that stand against in the development of these thinking skills. It is remains to be a challenge for both teacher and student to overcome these challenges, and will take further examination of the curriculum, training of teachers, and knowing the needs of the students, to be able and fully achieve creative thinking and critical thinking in the classrooms.

References:

Baker, M., Rudd, R. & Pomeroy, C. (2001). Relationship between Critical and Creative Thinking. Journal of Southern Agricultural Education Research, 51(1), 173-188. Retrieved from http://pubs.aged.tamu.edu/conferences/SRAERC2001/pdf/e2.pdf.

Erdogan, T., Akkaya, R. & Celebi Akkaya, S. (2009). The Effect of the Van Hiele Model Based Instruction on the Creative Thinking Levels of 6th Grade Primary Schools Students. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 9(1), 181-194. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ837779)

(5213500317) Bryan Michael G. Badana November 29, 2009

Liu, X., Ni, C., Yang, R., Li, X. & Cheng, C. (2007). Teaching Design of Cultivating Nursing Student’s Creative Thinking. US-China Education Review, 4(7), 38-41. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED502469)

Patton, M. & Kritsonis, W. (2007). Great Minds Think Differently: Sustaining a System of Thinking. Doctoral Forum National Journal for Publishing and Mentoring Doctoral Student Research, 4, 1-15. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED494511)