‘Tiers (© Plisteort Fishes Oe. 2008, (Criguiad Miustratons © Melson Thomes Lid 1995, 2005 ‘The nghtol Robert Fisher to be identities an author of thin work has Deen aaaerted bby him in accordance wth the Gopynght, Greagns and Patents Act 1568. eee ee ee eee ‘writing hem the publisher er urder kesace hom the Copyright Licinaing Agency [Limted, of 80 Tottenham Court Fioad, London WIT 4LP. ‘Asry parker who comments any unauthoied an in rplation to Has pubbeaion ray Da habis 10 CATING pererUBO and civ cla for damaged. Fev! pubtanediin 190 by: (Baced Baackwell SGOT Mo ;meeTesaa28 A catakogque record tor this book is available from the Grits Libeary imo Pap? bua 7 Page maihoup boy Northen Protctppedaming Oa. Let, Babar Peineed ard bound in Spain by Graphene2 Creative thinking The principal gual of elecarion i re cenate wen whe are capable of cing mew things, was imply wepeating under otter geweretions Aare deme = mew ibe are omadive, frentive areal alisvorerert. ‘The second goat of calvcartion iv to forme minal wndich can be onidroanl, caw anni. amd wat cine everything shry sere afiirnd, Jean Piaget A father was out with his son, aged 3. Suddenly the son saw his. first horse, "Lanck, Daddy” he said, “There is a big dag!” Hix father Lsugbed azul replied, "No, Tomeny, thar ita horwe.” Laver, thinking it ener, the fatter wivhed be had deals with his son's obser: vation quite differed. Perhaps by saying, ‘le has fous legs luke a dog. What elue ix bike adog? o¢ "This i a bane. You've nae seen ane before. Mow is it different from a dog?” Whar the Grber had filed ro do was. co expend the chikl's powers of speoalation. ‘Tetling 2 child prodvcet. 2 Dea-eay conection bepeten concept in qurition end concept penn in enter ee arse = how dllerent? other HE ni sheep four legs hore cae Figare 2.1 Encouraging 2 shuld tn mpeculote ops up the pots fir mary mae enmneetiont A damaging change in the lexming process often happens around the age of there or four, which cam last a liferione. The child beams co stop guessing and inventing answers when his efforts arg enjected. deer many rejections che child stops speculating. Instead he ashes questions like ‘Draddy, whar is thar?’ He learns thar anowers lie nox in what che child thinks bur what the parent/teacher chinks. Instead of continually practising, making connections, parsing and inventi the focus of iearning abifts subely amray fram leamer eo teacher, Inieead of sreadily increasing her slaill in retrieving. connecte ing, comparing and transforming information the child reacts passively and comes to ly on che aathority of others. If she dos not kone the predic anwwer, ar does nt fully onderitaeed an observarion, she wales for otbers 00 explaln, Te was once suffiesene eo regard learning at an inherstance from the pase. "Whar sufficed was reproductive leaming, the acquisition of a fixed body of cultural knowledge,Mo Tosca Cmax to Teo acerpted skills, fied ourloks, methods and nals oecesary for dealing with known and recanting siuations. Reproductive learning was geared co a fund patton of sociery: It wan a type of leaming designed to maintain an exiting system and vo repto- doce un evtablnhesd way of life, Ie enbanced problem-solving abiliay for a fixed and geen range of protilems. Reproductive bearing answered the warvival needs of ineli- and societies in the pant. (it continers ro be mecesary codap bur iris no longer cng ‘What ai needed for future wareival is innovative bearning. [four children are bo annicipate and cope with the cusbulence of change bork a an wndivichial and social level they need no learn nor simply how to accommadate ta thefuruee bus how bo shape if, Moe of the challengers of education &t to prepare children fora fast-changing world, thes teaching childees 1 ehsek creatively bevoenes a clear need, ‘The call for creative thinking: comes in the Face not only of the demandsof the futane, bur alo of che needs of ube present. Those who investigate achievement in schools popert the failure of some schools co scinwalare and exremd creative chindcing in chil- deen, particularly more able childzen. Good schools are characterised by intelleccus ally challenging teaching.’ Good heenes are ale places of invelleceal stinvulation, Sthook and homes often sacceed in providing ther children with whe techeical aids for leateing. Hur the ue of TV video, computers, caleulaton and other handieare does not cake the place of thinking. Ie is only through thinking thar these ads have any necaning. They dis sot replace the mind, though some, like TV, can remove the need Gor dhinking. They ane be pends, para aad rubbers, amply took of the mind, pools for learning. What is creative thinking? Creativity has been regarded as a special and rather myscerious attribute. Researchers have related this quality go-ong er more of fesar aspects of ereativity: the idea or product created @ the process of creasing. @ tho Bergen of the eneanar © tho croatien emvirenment, Creativity is something cccative persons use ta male creative products, A creative idea oy product is usually defined a4 original and appeupriage. Creative prockacts inchade works of art andl scientific: theories and alsa less tangible prosbucts such as invensive comenarions or imaginatiee ideas. A reproduced o¢ stercocyped product dors not count as creative, no matter how fine at i in terms of oralesmanship. ‘Creativity ialieacolleotion of attitudes ard abslities that lradia peramn te produce ete- ative choughts, ideas or images. Part of this creative process lies in che use of intuition, the chance connections that boar fnain, Intuition or insigh is the ability corcacty soumd eondbareas from ailntaal avebence, Albert Einstein herw the wiluc of making “xcaaal leaps’ in the forenulanion of hypacheacs. He weate: AU deliray die deunition arn inspieariow ...... A times I foal orrtafe that Iam rip anbile wet esaring she ercsen .... beonginntion iv meer fegpertaner thaw dave. Fer desurdeaice is fimital, srberear fangimntion cmabraves thy catine werkt,AO) Trae Chinas 1a Tece vedi creative ae posse on chi aking srcosrages ply delet pedigree or age enced quatnere seein dependence poet ne feedback authoritarian crete peer erpunare prorete depeienot ows interrupts ual domreery Cappromng deere sangeet Ua epee ments bend Pray Prada han of ori ce precerermesn reper impouea decmora remote oew seut tac nese Fegure 2.1 The encooraping ond inhubiting ott, ‘The blocks te creariviry may be incernal and established at habits, feclings, experience, the inhibitions of a sopuanting pervonlicg ot they may be external and determined by the cenironment of caher poople such as. peers!parenct!teachers. br is not eaey co Bec the baluswe of the ceearive climace righe for any individual. Indeed, establishing the conditions foe creative thanking canbe more diffecule than che creating itself. And once you have che right soil and a creative limage pou eced the seed of sumulas before the fivative process can begin The creative process Gmative shinking ma way of generacing ideas thar can im some way be applied co che seorld, This often involves problem solving utilising particular aspects of ineclligenor, for eample linguistic, mathematical and intespenonal intelligence. The peocous often more important in cacouraging creativity than the solution or end peoduct. Products may be short-lived dings bur training in the process can be of lifelong value. Since creativity is a way of thinking afd seays of dhinkieg mxuld arrinades, creariviry ai aho « process of developing ameudes. Ie is the arcinade, alongside che wick of the process, chan can spimullace countless creative ideas throagh a child's lifetime, Varios steps have been identified im the working of the creative process. These can be suen- marnod au five stages:Caama tn 3b P imisasiin iif a5 may overlap and the child can enver of keave the process at any stage. The child may get nofurther ¢han an oniginal stinvalus, enay say in an explceasion sage (asin a lor of creative play)or may get bogged deen in planeang and eever execute a cecative scheme (many would-be artives krsow thot itape well), Sere childern enay peaduce ber sever get found ro reviewing and evaluating eheis creative work (often done by others). These five naan stages ape as follows, a I Stimulus Creative chinking dacs not ocour im a vacuum: it seeds same atimulist, some coment to work om. As the ancient Greeks used to say, nothing comes from nohing. There needs to be a fertile ground for growth to take place, Sometimes this growth cam be sudden and unexpected, the incubation of a log «dormant idea, the sbowghe that drifts inte the mind trom the wabconscious. Bhat; he wecemciear, (Bewgd ome commer force it. will wer predieve mrwr datcar amdoar if bors dire Aetmatabily saa fl of fcr, sprees, demerit) eed an eeiny arin of camuvers ate carempteal sales The paradox of ceratinty ia that inorder do chink cecatively we peed to be stimulated hy the thinking of ochors. There isan impulse to create within cach cheld ready oo be wakenol, I: derives from the d&poairion. co be curious, co wonder and ro question, As Rudyard Kipling weoce: A beep six demo serrteg once Tobey nasegle wee a? Mies) Their nawes ane What armed Why and Wier Ava Hove aed Where and Whe, The following are che sorts-of question that may arise in a child's minal to act ax a stim- ulus for ienevtiigarion. ‘What ina blackbirds nest made off How can. we ona round comer? ‘What do fires need to burt How canvem malo an alarm clock? What happend when a clock is wound up? [How are materish different? Figure 1432 Tecan: Cannery fo Then ‘The iniclal stimulus may be prompoed by an awareness thar thete isa peoblem 1 be solved, or a vague feeling thar there is an idea thar is nos quite grasped oc fully realised OMten this state will be triggered by a challenge to the chikl’s thinking offered by parent or teacher. The tak of teaching isco spark off the creative impulse within the child and to suppore the process of explorazion, 2 Exploration (Creariviry has been said vo conaist largely of rearranging what we know inorder te fine out what we dio mot know, Many children Falll short of their creative porential because ahey grab ar che Gre adea of solugion that presenta ngelf, Fine ideas can be tnte and commonplace. Children can be helped co move beyoad abele first bless and ta consider altematives before making a decision. To chink creatively they need co be able eo investigare further and to look afeesh ar what they eormallly take for grantee. Cerrain principles or cechniqaes can be applied co impeove the range asd quality of ideas gathered. As Bruner says, “We mowe, peroeive and think ina fashion thar depends on techeiques rather than wired-in arrangements in our nervous system.” Such tech ssiques include: © Divergent thinking = the kind of thinking chat generates many different answers, noe being reviriceed to comvergens thinking, which seeks one absolute or connect arawer so Deferring judgement — the principle of “thinks mow, judge Iter’, remewving the arcdety of having to be right and preventing imagination being hampered by (pagemens, Usetal when children are werking alone, thinking up ideas, or (brainstorming with a proup, © Extending effant = providing the opportunity of quancity breeding quality, As Nebel pricewinner Linus Pauling put it, “The best way to bee a good idea into have lots of ideas.” To extend effort children meed the support, inmerest_ ‘questioning and stimalus of adults. @ Allowing Lime — ther in an Irish saying, “When God mada tire hit made plenty af ih’. Allowing time for the incubation of eas, the ‘de nothing’ stage is vital in the “creative process. AAs with creative artis whowork on several projects af a tiene, children may need minutes, hours or days no inoubare a solution to a problem, ‘They can learn that petal pechnique for any problem-solving activity, herve it for awhile and reparm co it refreshed. & Encouraging play — te see haw far an idea extends, encourage playing with it, pull it about, apply it in novel situations, build on ie, drave lt, represent ik with objects, ‘get it eur, cect ir in netien. According co Huizinga,” it ix man's abiliry 09 plry char thas provided thy creative imnpulte tor civilization, 3 Planning Whee analysing the differences between novices sen eapetts, in any cfewtive field, ae key clmene stands out. Experts tend to spend more sime i planning, This sage ‘atually iewolees three parts, which often ewerlap.