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Five Small Ways to Cultivate Creativity in the Classroom

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Five Small Ways to Cultivate Creativity in the Classroom

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Five Small Ways to Cultivate Creativity in the Classroom | PBS Education

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Your source for teaching inspiration, blogs, and online professional events.

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How to Get Out of the Box and Generate Ideas

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How to Get Out of the Box and Generate Ideas

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Creative thinking - how to get out of the box and generate ideas: Giovanni Corazza at TEDxRoma

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Tips for Guiding Students to Think Creatively

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Tips for Guiding Students to Think Creatively

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Tips for Guiding Students to Think Creatively

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These simple creativity challenges can encourage students to have the mindset of an artist, a designer, and a change-maker.

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BrainCraft | Can You Boost Your Creativity? | Season 1 | Episode 15 | PBS

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How attention and focus affects creative thinking.

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Nurturing Your Child's Creative Mind | Parenting Tips & Advice

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Ever notice how kids often have more fun playing with an empty box than with what was inside of it? That's their imagination at work, and we should nurture...

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When children are young, art is all about discovering what these cool things called crayons and markers are and what they can do.

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Get Smart With the Arts! | Parenting Tips & Advice

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The arts can improve children's school skills and "smarts". Activities like singing, playing instruments, dancing, and drawing can help children be better at...

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Creativity and Play: Fostering Creativity + Reading List

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Creativity and Play: Fostering Creativity + Reading List

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Creativity is the freest form of self-expression. There is nothing more satisfying and fulfilling for children than to be able to express themselves openly and without judgment. The ability to be creative, to create something from personal feelings and experiences, can reflect and nurture children's emotional health. The experiences children have during their first years of life can significantly enhance the development of their creativity.

Importance of the Creative Process
All children need to be truly creative is the freedom to commit themselves completely to the effort and make whatever activity they are doing their own. What's important in any creative act is the process of self-expression. Creative experiences can help children express and cope with their feelings. A child's creative activity can help teachers to learn more about what the child may be thinking or feeling. Creativity also fosters mental growth in children by providing opportunities for trying out new ideas, and new ways of thinking and problem-solving. Creative activities help acknowledge and celebrate children's uniqueness and diversity as well as offer excellent opportunities to personalize our teaching and focus on each child.

Opportunities for Creativity
Children need plenty of opportunities for creative play and creative thinking. Start by providing activities that are based on the children's interests and ideas. This means learning how to listen intently to what children are saying. It is very helpful to tape record and transcribe children's conversations as well as take notes and review them with your co-teachers.
Be sure to offer children a wide range of creative materials and experiences. Being creative is more than drawing or painting. There's also photography, music, field trips, working with wire, clay, paper, wood, water or shadows. The possibilities are endless. It's important to provide children lots of time to explore materials and pursue their ideas. This includes time to think about how to plan, design, construct, experiment and revise project ideas. Don't forget to build in time to talk these ideas over with other people - both teachers and children.

Varieties of Experience
Look for ways to provide multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and other community experiences for children. Activities such as field trips, celebrating holidays and activities with other ethnic groups, and encouraging children to bring visitors to school enhances the creative process. The more varied experiences children have in their lives, the wider the range of creative expression. The more personal experiences children have with people and situations outside of their own environment, the more material they can draw on to incorporate in their play. Our challenge is to try not to be intimidated by the variety and diversity of artistic expression in our classroom.

Fostering the Creative Process
Encouraging children to make their own choices is important. Children should be permitted frequent opportunities - and lots of time - to experience and explore expressive materials. Put your emphasis on the process of creativity and not on the finished product. What children learn and discover about themselves is vital to their development. Show your support for the creative process by appreciating and offering support for children's efforts. Independence and control are important components in the creative process. This is especially true when working with children with disabilities.

Creative Play
One of the most important types of creative activity for young children is creative play. Creative play is expressed when children use familiar materials in a new or unusual way, and when children engage in role-playing and imaginative play. Nothing reinforces the creative spirit and nourishes a child's soul more than providing large blocks of time to engage in spontaneous, self-directed play throughout the day. Play is the serious business of young children and the opportunity to play freely is vital to their healthy development.
Even as early as infancy, play fosters physical development by promoting the development of sensory exploration and motor skills. Through play and the repetition of basic physical skills, children perfect their abilities and become competent at increasingly difficult physical tasks. Play fosters mental development and new ways of thinking and problem solving. Through block play, children are confronted with many mental challenges having to do with measurement, equality, balance, shape, spatial relationships and physical properties.
One of the strongest benefits of play is the way it enhances social development. Playful social interactions begin from the moment of birth. Dramatic play helps children experiment with and understand social roles. It can also give them countless opportunities for acquiring social skills as they play with others. Through dramatic play, children gradually learn to take each other's needs into account, and appreciate different values and perspectives.
Through play, children are able to express and cope with their feelings. Play also helps relieve stress and pressure for children. They can just be themselves. There's no need to live up to adult standards during play. Play offers children an opportunity to achieve mastery of their environment. They control the experience through their imaginations, and they exercise their powers of choice and decision-making as the play progresses.
Play helps develop each child's unique perspective and individual style of creative expression. Play expresses the child's personal, unique responses to the environment. Play is a self-expressive activity that draws on the child's powers of imagination. Play is open-ended, free-form and children have the freedom to try out new ideas as well as build on and experiment with the old.
Play provides an excellent opportunity for integrating and including children with disabilities in your program. The opportunities play provides for control and independence are important issues for any child but are especially important for these youngsters.
What are some of the ways we can encourage play in our classrooms? As caregivers, we must be careful to avoid dominating the play ourselves. Play should be the result of the children's ideas and not directed by the adult. Through play, we should try to foster children's abilities to express themselves. We should also try to help children base play on their own inspirations - not ours. Our goal is to stimulate play - not control it - and to encourage children's satisfaction in playing with each other.
Pay attention to play, plan for it, encourage it. Learn how to extend children's play through comments and questions. Stimulate creative ideas by encouraging children to come up with new and unusual uses of equipment. Try to remain open to new and original ideas, and encourage children to come up with more than one solution or answer. Be careful about over-restricting equipment and make sure to have play materials quickly available when children want them. Buy and use equipment in ways that encourage the use of imagination. Avoid toys and activities that spell everything out for the child and leave nothing to the imagination. Provide children with a good range and balance of equipment, and keep equipment exciting by changing it frequently or changing its location.

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The Whole Child - For Early Care Providers - Creativity and Play

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Creativity is the freest form of self-expression. There is nothing more satisfying and fulfilling for children than to be able to express themselves openly and without judgment. The ability to be creative, to create something from personal feelings and experiences, can reflect and nurture children's emotional health.

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How We Can Bring Creativity and Imagination Back to the Classroom 

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How We Can Bring Creativity and Imagination Back to the Classroom 

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How We Can Bring Creativity and Imagination Back to the Classroom | PBS Education

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Your source for teaching inspiration, blogs, and online professional events.

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Giving Feedback: Seven Ways to Respond to Your Child's Creative Work

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Giving Feedback: Seven Ways to Respond to Your Child's Creative Work

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Giving Feedback: Seven Ways to Respond to Your Child's Creative Work...

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Parents are an artist's first and often best audience. Discover strategies to foster thoughtful conversation around your child's creations.

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Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activities in the Classroom

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Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activities in the Classroom

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Are you a builder? A writer? Performer? Pick a problem, find your passion! Click through each Long Term Problem type to explore your options! Ready to take a look at this year's problems? Or maybe you'd like to see problems from throughout our 40 year history?

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30 Things You Can Do To Promote Creativity in the Classroom

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30 Things You Can Do To Promote Creativity in the Classroom

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The concept of teaching creativity has been around for quite some time.

Academics such as E. Paul Torrance, dedicated an entire lifetime to the advancement of creativity in education. Torrance faced much opposition in his day about the nature of creativity. Creativity was considered to be an immeasurable, natural ability. Torrance called for explicit teaching of creativity. He advocated that it was skill-specific, requiring intentional instruction. His life's work ultimately led to the development of the Torrance tests and gifted programs throughout the world.

In recent times, there has been a shift towards the increased acceptance of valuing creativity for all learners. A 2003 TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson discussing this subject reached over 5 million viewers. It discusses how our current school systems suppress creativity. He proposes that our current model leaves little room for divergent thinking.

Much of the blame for a lack of creativity, and therefore innovation, can be traced to our traditional educational systems.

It relies on teaching to the correct answer. An innovative thinking model is needed. Robinson recently tweeted an article about a new study that suggested 80% of educators surveyed preferred creativity to be included as part of learning standards.

In the same way, David Hughes, founder of Decision Labs and professor at UNC Chapel Hill, argues that innovation is an essential skill for our global economy. In talking about creativity in schools he says, much of the blame for a lack of creativity, and therefore innovation, can be traced to our traditional educational systems.

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Most of the practice of creative methods is being done outside the traditional educational institutions by consulting firms and by persons in companies who have been trained in creative problem solving methods. In universities not much has changed since 1950, when the distinguished psychologist J. P. Guilford in his inaugural address as president of the American Psychological Association stated that education's neglect of the subject of creativity was appalling.

Adding to this sequence of events is the fact that textbooks are at least three years out of date when they are published and . . . educational systems were the slowest adopters of innovation. Thus, we see that educational institutions need a strong dose of creative problem solving.

What are some ways then, as educators, that we promote creativity in our classrooms?

1. Embrace creativity as part of learning. Create a classroom that recognizes creativity. You may want to design awards or bulletin boards to showcase different ways of solving a problem, or creative solutions to a real world scenario.

2. Use the most effective strategies. Torrance performed an extensive meta-analysis that considered the most effective ways to teach creativity. He found that the most successful approaches used creative arts, media-oriented programs, or relied on the Osborn-Parnes training program. Programs that incorporated cognitive and emotional functioning were the most successful.

3. Think of creativity as a skill. Much like resourcefulness and inventiveness it is less a trait and more a proficiency that can be taught. If we see it this way, our job as educators becomes to find ways to encourage its use and break it down into smaller skill sets. Psychologists tend to think of creativity as Big-C and Little C. Big C drives big societal ideas, like the Civil Rights movement or a new literary style. Little C is more of a working model of creativity that solves everyday problems. Both concepts can be included in our classrooms to promote creativity in general.

4. Participate in or create a program to develop creative skills. Programs like Odyssey of the Mind and Thinkquest bring together students from around the world to promote creativity, design creative solutions, and bring them to competition.

5. Use emotional connections. Research suggests that the best creativity instruction ties in the emotions of the learner. In the "Odyssey angels" program students can devise a solution to help their local community, such as helping homeless youth. This topic is worthy of more discussion by itself. A blog postby fellow blogger Julie DeNeen gives some valuable information about this type of teaching.

Research suggests that the best creativity instruction ties in the emotions of the learner.

6. Use a creativity model. The Osborne-Parnes model is oldest, widely accepted model. It is often used in education and business improvement to promote creativity. Each step involves a divergent thinking pattern to challenge ideas, and then convergent thinking to narrow down exploration. It has six steps:

Mess-finding. Identify a goal or objective.

Fact-finding. Gathering data.

Problem-finding. Clarifying the problem

Idea-finding. Generating ideas

Solution-finding. Strengthening & evaluating ideas

Acceptance-finding. Plan of action for Implementing ideas

7. Consider how classroom assignments use divergent and convergent thinking. Standardized tests do a great job of measuring convergent thinking that includes analytical thinking or logical answers with one correct response. Divergent thinking considers how a learner can use different ways to approach a problem. It requires using association and multiplicity of thought. We should design assignments that consider both types of thinking models.

8. Creativity flourishes in a "congenial environment". Creative thinking needs to be shared and validated by others in a socially supportive atmosphere. Researcher Csikszentmihalyi (1996) coined this term, to explain the importance of reception from others. Others consider how to create social communities that promote creativity to solve problems.

9. Be aware during discussions. You know that student who often asks the question that goes a bit outside the lecture? Well, engage him. Once a week, intentionally address those questions. Write them down on an assigned space in the board to go back to later. Promote creativity by validating students' creative thinking.

10. See creativity in a positive light. In his blog in Psychology Today, Eric Jaffe talks about research that suggests see creativity in a negative light. If we are going to promote creativity, we need to embrace it too. Reward students for thinking of problems in varied ways by recognizing their efforts.

11. Try the Incubation Model. E. Paul Torrance designed this model. It involves 3 stages:

1. Heightening Anticipation: Make connections between the classroom and student's real lives. "Create the desire to know".

2. Deepen Expectations: Engage the curriculum in new ways. Brainstorm and create opportunities to solve a novel problem.

3. Keep it going: Continue the thinking beyond the lesson or classroom. Find ways to extend learning opportunities at home or even the community.

12. Use a cultural artifact. Research from experimental social psychology finds that artifacts can enhance insight problem solving. Consider using an ordinary object, such as a light bulb used in the study or a historical artifact to have students think about living in a particular time period.

13. Establish expressive freedom. The classroom environment must be a place where students feel safe to share novel ideas. Allow for flexibility and create norms that promote creativity.

14. Be familiar with standards. Knowing the standards inside and out helps find creative solutions in approaching a lesson. Teachers can adapt them and work within the current framework. Some topics allow for flexibility and use of creative approaches.

15. Gather outside resources. There are some great resources to read related to creativity. The University of Georgia, provides an array of amazing resources related to how to promote creativity in practical ways. It also gives a list of programs and organizations that can help with the process.

16. Allow room for mistakes. Sir Ken Robinson said it best when he said, "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original."

17. Allow space for creativity. Design some classroom space for exploration, such as a thinking table, a drama stage, a drawing table, or a space for groups to discuss ideas.

18. Give students time to ask questions. Organizations such as CCE (Creativity, Culture, Education) suggest teachers incorporate opportunities for students to ask questions. Intentionally design lessons that allow for wondering and exploration.

19. Creativity builds confidence. Students take ownership of their own learning. Think of ways where students might design a project. For instance, for the history requirement, I suggested students of both fifth grade classes create an exhibition of their final projects. The students were so proud of their final work and learned from others presentations. Parents and community members were happy to see students take ownership of their learning.

20. Encourage curiosity.Consider what is important to students. Student interest is a great place to start on what drives their own thinking tank. Find inspiration from their world. Creativity is intrinsic in nature. Try to promote creativity by stepping into their viewpoint to find what motivates them.

Student interest are a great place to start on what drives their own thinking tank. Find inspiration from their world.

21. Structure is essential. Studies, such as a meta-analysis by Torrance suggest that creativity instruction is best with clear structure. For instance, consider the guidelines of the standard curriculum objectives and add these to the design. For example, reading considers communication, comprehension, listening, writing and reading.

22. Observe a working model of creativity. To get a better idea of how others promote creativity, visit a creative classroom or watch a video about how a creative classroom works. The "Case for Creativity in School" is an excellent video that educators can watch to see how creativity might play out in a classroom. This school adopted a school-wide approach to recognize students.

23. Consider the work of current experts in the field. Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally renowed creativity and innovation expert. His work is used to meet global challenges, renovating education, business, and government organizations to implement his strategies. His books and TED talks are great places to promote creativity in your own teaching.

24. Explore different cultures. Culture is an excellent vehicle for inspiring creative thinking. In Thinking Hats & Coloured Turbans Dr. Kirpal Singh discusses how cultural contexts are central to creative endeavors. You can discuss how collaboration between cultures, such as in the space program, produces unique, novel ideas.

25. Find ways to incorporate and integrate art, music and culture. A recent report prepared for the European commission considered that creativity is a central force that shapes our culture. With the changing times we live in, the report suggested that society is enriched by cultural-based creativity.

26. Use a collaborative creative thinking model to solve classroom problems. For instance, read a paragraph and then have groups discuss a list of questions. Collaborative problem solving is catching on quickly. In fact, many business schools have implemented creative thinking models into their curriculum.

27. Design multidisciplinary lessons when possible. When teaching geometry, I designed a lesson called, "Geometry through Art". It included works of Art to show fifth graders their application to everyday geometric concepts. The result was astounding. I never thought that the subject matter would be so successful. I designed an entire unit that focused on how different concepts rely on geometry. I even asked the Art teacher to help reinforce those concepts in class.

28. Tapping into multiple intelligences is key. Creativity requires us to use different parts of our brain. We often bridge connections between seemingly unrelated areas to make new concepts emerge. Allow students to use their strengths to find new ways of approaching a topic or solving a problem. You might be surprised with what they come up with.

29. Understand that creativity is important to students' future in the job market. Paul Collard for Creative Partnerships, discusses how 60% of English students will work in jobs that are not yet created. In today's market, students must largely be innovative and create their own jobs. Collard suggests teachers focus on teaching particular skills or set of behaviors, rather than preparing students for specific careers.

30. Teach creative skills explicitly. According to Collard, "Creative skills aren't just about good ideas, they are about having the skills to make good ideas happen." He suggests creative skills should include 5 major areas:

Imagination

Being disciplined or self-motivated.

Resiliency

Collaboration

Giving responsibility to students. Have them develop their own projects.

In a recent article, What Would Dr. E. Paul Torrance Do?: A Legacy for Creative Education, the author considers what lies in the future of creativity in our schools?

Retired professor Berenice Bleedorn says we should continue his legacy of sharing information and practice "the art of creative thinking". We must continue to advocate for its use and move against the current or as Torrance himself called them, "the powers that be". After all, teachers are the real driving force behind the creative thinking in our schools.

If our schools are lagging behind, we must be the creative minds that urge our students to be curious and seek new answers.

Miriam Clifford holds a Masters in Teaching from City University and a Bachelor in Science from Cornell. She loves research and is passionate about education. She is a foodie and on her time off enjoys cooking and gardening. You can find her @miriamoclifford or Google+.

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30 Things You Can Do To Promote Creativity - InformED

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The concept of teaching creativity has been around for quite some time. Academics such as E. Paul Torrance, dedicated an entire lifetime to the advancement of creativity in education. Torrance faced much opposition in his day about the nature of creativity. Creativity was considered to be an immeasurable, natural ability.

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How Do You Create A School That Inspires Creativity?

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How Do You Create A School That Inspires Creativity?

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How do you create a school that inspires creativity? | Martin Moran | TEDxParkerSchool

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40 Ways to Make Time for Classroom Creativity in Your Lesson Plans

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40 Ways to Make Time for Classroom Creativity in Your Lesson Plans

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One of the biggest complaints we hear from teachers in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook is that between standardized tests and scripted curriculum, there's no longer time for creativity in the classroom. We hear you. That's why we've gathered ideas for incorporating more classroom creativity into your day-and we've covered every grade level. Read on and then tell us how YOU make time for classroom creativity.
This post contain affiliate links. This means if you purchase through our links, WeAreTeachers may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. All items featured are hand-selected by our editorial team because we use and love them ourselves.
Ways to Sneak in More Classroom Creativity in Grades K-2

1. During storytime, give students small notepads where they can sketch their responses to what you are reading.

2. Investigate the power of Readers Theater -performing stories can make them come alive!

3. Every day, sing a song during your morning meeting. Then, as a class, make up new words for one of your favorites.

4. Give students different textures to explore, liquids to mix, and objects to sort and weigh. Sit back and watch as the science connections emerge.

5. Gather a collection of bright, colorful puppets that students can use to tell about their weekend, answer a math problem, or share a response to a story.

6. As a class, invent an imaginary friend or pet that can only be "seen" in your classroom. Draw pictures, write stories, and make up skits about them.

7. Play classical music during quiet work or group time.

8. Bring your favorite childhood games into the classroom. Build a fort, go on a scavenger hunt, or look for "buried treasure" on the playground.

9. Don't be afraid to be silly. Wear different colored socks, a crazy wig, or giant glasses. Talk in funny voices. Sprinkle students with "fairy dust" (a little bit of glitter mixed in water.)

10. Using recyclable materials, challenge students to build a giant structure you can use in your reading corner.

Ways to Sneak in More Classroom Creativity in Grades 3-5

11. Turn vocabulary words into art through tools like Word Clouds .

12. Take a walk around your school or neighborhood, letting students take pictures with a digital camera. Use the photographs as inspiration in writing workshop.

13. Use arrays to create an art project that demonstrates students understanding of multiplication.

14. Give students an engineering challenge, such as building a bridge out of Popsicle sticks.

15. Turn photographs into black and white images that kids can fill in to learn about color.

16. Try your hands at making beautiful quilted fraction art.

17. Challenge students to create dioramas in mason jars.

18. Make detailed travel brochures to learn about history or geography.

19. Introduce students to the work of artist Alberto Giacometti and invite them to make figurative sculptures that teach about shadow, too.

20. Teach students how to weave, knit, or sew and allow them to work on their projects during read aloud or quiet time.

Ways to Sneak in More Classroom Creativity in Grades 6-8

21. Gather a variety of yummy treats and challenge students to make edible models of the cell.

22. Try making digital scrapbook book reports instead of traditional written ones.

23. Memorize math formulas by setting them to music.

24. Use picture books to help students understand the elements of writing.

25. Have students pretend to be historical figures and act out famous speeches or conversations.

26. Keep a bucket of LEGOs on hand-whether you teach English, science, or math-that fidgety students can use to unleash their energy.

27. Challenge students to bring in foods they have never tried before. Have a first-taste party and then write about the experience.

28. Reserve one bulletin board or wall as a "graffiti" space for students to share their thoughts and feelings. Cover the space with butcher paper and let kids go to town!

29. Practice public speaking by having students memorize a joke to share with their classmates.

30. Collaborate on a class mural- on the ceiling!

Ways to Sneak in More Classroom Creativity in Grades 9-12

31. Invite English students to write a fictional response to a piece of literature instead of a straight analytical one.

32. Have math students create a board game that teaches or practices a concept you are learning in class.

33. In science, challenge kids to film a demonstration that can be posted on YouTube or Vimeo.

34. Watch funny commercials in a foreign language, then invite students to create their own advertisements in Spanish, French, or Mandarin.

35. Write Fakebook profiles for literary characters or figures from history.

36. Partner with an elementary school class and have your high schoolers plan a lesson for the little ones.

37. Read aloud! Even the big kids like it -grown-ups too.

38. Seize onto what's happening in your students' lives-perhaps your sophomores are learning to drive. Have them write about their fears about the driving test, study forces and centrifugal motion, or calculate how much gas money they will need over the course of their lives.

39. Consider setting aside a time each week for students to teach the lesson. Encourage them to use music, videos, and hands-on play.

40. Bust out the colored pencils and markers to make note-taking more fun -and easier for visual learners.
We'd love to hear. How do you make time for classroom creativity? Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook. Plus, what teachers need if the U.S. ever wants to see another globally competitive generation.

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40 Ways to Make Time for More Creativity in Your Lesson Plans

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One of the biggest complaints we hear from teachers in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook is that between standardized tests and scripted curriculum, there's no longer time for creativity in the classroom. We hear you. That's why we've gathered ideas for incorporating more classroom creativity into your day-and we've covered every grade level.

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Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

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Creative Problem Solving Tools and Skills for Students and Teachers

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Creative Problem Solving Tools and Skills for Students and Teachers

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Creative Problem Solving, or CPS, refers to the use of imagination and innovation to find solutions to problems when formulaic or conventional processes have failed.

Despite its rather dry definition - creative problem-solving in its application can be a lot of fun for learners and teachers alike.

Why Are Creative Problem-Solving Skills Important?

By definition, creative problem-solving challenges students to think beyond the conventional and to avoid well-trodden, sterile paths of thinking.

Not only does this motivate student learning, encourage engagement, and inspire deeper learning, but the practical applications of this higher-level thinking skill are virtually inexhaustible.

For example, given the rapidly changing world of work, it is hard to conceive of a skill that will be more valuable than the ability to generate innovative solutions to the unique problems that will arise and that are impossible to predict ahead of time.

Outside the world of work, in our busy daily lives, the endless problems arising from day-to-day living can also be overcome by a creative problem-solving approach.

When students have developed their creative problem-solving abilities effectively, they will have added a powerful tool to attack problems that they will encounter, whether in school, work, or in their personal lives.

Due to its at times nebulous nature, teaching creative problem-solving in the classroom poses its own challenges. However, developing a culture of approaching problem-solving in a creative manner is possible.

In this article, we will take a look at a variety of strategies, tools, and activities that can help students improve their creative problem-solving skills.

The Underlying Principles of CPS

Before we take a look at a process for implementing creative problem solving, it is helpful to examine a few of the underlying principles of CPS. These core principles should be encouraged in the classroom. They are:

● Assume Nothing

Assumptions are the enemy of creativity and original thinking. If students assume they already have the answer, they will not be creative in their approach to solving a problem.

● Problems Are Opportunities

Rather than seeing problems as difficulties to endure, a shift in perspective can instead view problems as challenges that offer new opportunities. Encourage your students to shift their perspectives to see opportunities where they once saw problems.

● Suspend Judgment

Making immediate judgments closes down the creative response and the formation of new ideas. There is a time to make judgments, but making a judgment too early in the process can be very detrimental to finding a creative solution.
Cognitive Approaches: Convergent vs Divergent Thinking

"It is easier to tame a wild idea than it is to push a closer-in idea further out."

- Alex Osborn

The terms divergent and convergent thinking, coined by psychologist J.P. Guilford in 1956, refer to two contrasting cognitive approaches to problem-solving.

Convergent Thinking can be thought of as linear and systematic in its approach. It attempts to find a solution to a problem by narrowing down multiple ideas into a single solution. If convergent thinking can be thought of as asking a single question, that question would be '?'

Divergent Thinking focuses more on the generation of multiple ideas and on the connections between those ideas. It sees problems as design opportunities and encourages the use of resources and materials in original ways. Divergent thinking encourages the taking of creative risks and is flexible rather than analytical in its approach. If it was a single question, it'd be '?'

While it may appear that these two modes of thinking about a problem have an essentially competitive relationship, in CPS they can work together in a complementary manner.

When students have a problem to solve and they're looking for innovative solutions, they can employ divergent thinking initially to generate multiple ideas, then convergent thinking to analyze and narrow down those ideas.

Students can repeat this process to continue to filter and refine their ideas and perspectives until they arrive at an innovative and satisfactory solution to the initial problem.

Let's now take a closer look at the creative problem-solving process.

The Creative Problem-Solving Process

CPS helps students arrive at innovative and novel solutions to the problems that arise in life. Having a process to follow helps to keep students focused and to reach a point where action can be taken to implement creative ideas.

Originally developed by Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes, the CPS process has gone through a number of revisions over the last 50 or so years and, as a result, there are a number of variations of this model in existence.

The version described below is one of the more recent models and is well-suited to the classroom environment.

However, things can sometimes get a little complex for some of the younger students. So, in this case, it may be beneficial to teach the individual parts of the process in isolation first.
1. Clarify:
Before beginning to seek creative solutions to a problem, it is important to clarify the exact nature of that problem. To do this, students should do the following three things:
i. Identify the Problem
The first step in bringing creativity to problem-solving is to identify the problem, challenge, opportunity, or goal and clearly define it.
ii. Gather Data
Gather data and research information and background to ensure a clear understanding.
iii. Formulate Questions
Enhance awareness of the nature of the problem by creating questions that invite solutions.
2. Ideate
Explore new ideas to answer the questions raised. It's time to get creative here. The more ideas generated, the greater the chance of producing a novel and useful idea. At this stage in particular, students should be engaged in divergent thinking as described above.
3. Develop
The focus here shifts from ideas to solutions. Once multiple ideas have been generated, convergent thinking can be used to narrow these down to the most suitable solution. The best idea should be closely analyzed in all its aspects and further ideas generated to make subsequent improvements. This is the stage to refine the initial idea and make it into a really workable solution.
4. Implement
Create a plan to implement the chosen solution. Students need to identify the required resources for the successful implementation of the solution. They need to plan for the actions that need to be taken, when they need to be taken, and who needs to take them.

Summary of Creative Problem Solving Process

In each stage of the CPS Process, students should be encouraged to employ divergent and convergent thinking in turn. Divergent thinking should be used to generate multiple ideas with convergent thinking then used to narrow these ideas down to the most feasible options. We will discuss how students go about this, but let's first take a quick look at the role of a group facilitator.
The Importance of Group Facilitator
CPS is best undertaken in groups and, for larger and more complex projects, it's even more effective when a facilitator can be appointed for the group.

The facilitator performs a number of useful purposes and helps the group to:

Stay focused on the task at hand

Move through the various stages efficiently

Select appropriate tools and strategies

A good facilitator does not generate ideas themselves but instead keeps the group focused on each step of the process.

Facilitators should be objective and possess a good understanding of the process outlined above, as well as the other tools and strategies that we will look at below.

The Creative Problem-Solving Process: Tools and Strategies

There are several activities available to help students move through each stage. These will help students to stay on track, remove barriers and blocks, be creative, and reach a consensus as they progress through the CPS process.
Divergent Thinking Tools:
The following tools and strategies can help provide groups with some structure and can be applied at various stages of the problem-solving process. For convenience, they have been categorized according to whether they make demands on divergent or convergent thinking as discussed earlier.

● Brainstorming

Defined by Alex Osborn as "a group's attempt to find a solution for a specific problem by amassing ideas ", this is perhaps the best-known tool in the arsenal of the creative problem solver.

To promote a creative collaboration in a group setting, simply share the challenge with everyone and challenge them to come up with as many ideas as possible. Ideas should be concise and specific. For this reason, it may be worth setting a word limit for recording each idea e.g. express in headline form in no more than 5 words. Post-it notes are perfect for this.

You may also set a quota on the number of ideas to generate or introduce a time limit to further encourage focus. When completed, members of the group can share and compare all the ideas in search of the most suitable.

● 5 W's and an H

The 5 W's and an H are Who, What, Where, Why, and How. This strategy is useful to effectively gather data. Students brainstorm questions to ask that begin with each of the question words above in turn. They then seek to gather the necessary information to answer these questions through research and discussion.

● Reverse Assumptions

This activity is a great way to explore new ideas. Have the students begin by generating a list of up to 10 basic assumptions about the idea or concept. For each of these, students then explore the reverse of the assumption listing new insights and perspectives in the process.

The students can then use these insights and perspectives to generate fresh ideas. For example, an assumption about the concept of a restaurant might be that the food is cooked for you. The reverse of that assumption could be a restaurant where you cook the food yourself. So, how about a restaurant where patrons select their own recipes and cook their own food aided by a trained chef?

Convergent Thinking Tools

● How-How Diagram

This is the perfect activity to use when figuring out the steps required to implement a solution.

Students write the solution on the left-hand side of a page turned landscape. Working together, they identify the individual steps required to achieve this solution and write these to the right of the solution.

When they have written these steps, they go through each step one-by-one identifying in detail each stage of achieving that step. These are written branching to the right of each step.

Students repeat this process until they have exhausted the process and ended up with a comprehensive branch diagram detailing each step necessary for the implementation of the solution.

● The Evaluation Matrix

Making an evaluation matrix creates a systematic way of analyzing and comparing multiple solutions. It allows for a group to evaluate options against various criteria to help build consensus.

An evaluation matrix begins with the listing of criteria to evaluate potential solutions against. These can then be turned into the form of a positive question that allows for a Yes or No answer. For example, if the budget is the criteria, the evaluation question could be ' Is it within budget? '

Make a matrix grid with a separate column for each of the key criteria. Write the positive question form of these criteria as headings for these columns. The different options can then be detailed and listed down the left-most column.

Students then work through each of the criteria for each option and record whether it fulfills, or doesn't fulfill, each criteria. For more complex solutions, students could record their responses to each of the criteria on a scale from 0 to 5.

For example:

Using the example matrix above, it becomes very clear that Option 1 is the superior solution given that it completely fulfills all the criteria, whereas Option 2 and Option 3 fulfill only 2 out of the 3 criteria each.

● Pair & Share

This activity is suitable to help develop promising ideas. After making a list of possible solutions or questions to pursue, each individual student writes down their top 3 ideas.

Once each student has their list of their 3 best ideas, organize students into pairs. In their pairs, students discuss their combined 6 ideas to decide on the top 3 out of the 6. Once they have agreed on these, they write the new top 3 ideas on a piece of paper.

Now, direct the pairs of students to join up with another pair to make groups of 4. In these groups of 4, students discuss their collective 6 ideas to come up with a new list of the top 3 ideas.
Establish a Culture of Creative Problem Solving in the Classroom
Repeat this process until the whole class comes together as one big group to agree on the top 3 ideas overall.

Approaching problems creatively is about establishing a classroom culture that welcomes innovation and the trial and error that innovation demands. Too often our students are so focused on finding the 'right' answer that they miss opportunities to explore new ideas.

It is up to us as teachers to help create a classroom culture that encourages experimentation and creative playfulness.

To do this we need to ensure our students understand the benefits of a creative approach to problem-solving.

We must ensure too that they are aware of the personal, social, and organizational benefits of CPS.

CPS should become an integral part of their approach to solving problems whether at school, work, or in their personal lives.

Using the example matrix above, it becomes very clear that Option 1 is the superior solution given that it completely fulfills all the criteria, whereas Option 2 and Option 3 fulfill only 2 out of the 3 criteria each.

● Pair & Share

This activity is suitable to help develop promising ideas. After making a list of possible solutions or questions to pursue, each individual student writes down their top 3 ideas.

Once each student has their list of their 3 best ideas, organize students into pairs. In their pairs, students discuss their combined 6 ideas to decide on the top 3 out of the 6. Once they have agreed on these, they write the new top 3 ideas on a piece of paper.

Now, direct the pairs of students to join up with another pair to make groups of 4. In these groups of 4, students discuss their collective 6 ideas to come up with a new list of the top 3 ideas.
Establish a Culture of Creative Problem Solving in the Classroom
Repeat this process until the whole class comes together as one big group to agree on the top 3 ideas overall.

Approaching problems creatively is about establishing a classroom culture that welcomes innovation and the trial and error that innovation demands. Too often our students are so focused on finding the 'right' answer that they miss opportunities to explore new ideas.

As teachers, it is up to us to help create a classroom culture that encourages experimentation and creative playfulness.

To do this, we must ensure our students understand the benefits of a creative approach to problem-solving.

We must ensure too that they are aware of the personal, social, and organizational benefits of CPS.

CPS should become an integral part of their approach to solving problems, whether at school, work or in their personal lives.

Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders: The Crucial Role of Computational and Systems Thinking in Education

the importance of systems thinking and computational thinking strategies for students cannot be overstated, as these skills are integral to navigating the complexities of our rapidly evolving digital landscape. Computational thinking, characterized by algorithmic problem-solving and logical reasoning, equips students with the ability to approach challenges systematically. In an era dominated by technology, these skills are not limited to coding but extend to critical thinking, enabling students to dissect problems, identify patterns, and devise efficient solutions. As our world becomes increasingly interconnected and data-driven, computational thinking provides a foundational framework for students to make sense of information, fostering a generation adept at leveraging technology for innovation.

Simultaneously, systems thinking is indispensable in comprehending the intricate web of relationships within various contexts. It encourages students to view issues holistically, understanding the interdependence of components and the ripple effects of decisions. In an era marked by global challenges, such as climate change and socio-economic disparities, systems thinking instills a proactive mindset. Students equipped with these skills are better prepared to analyze multifaceted problems, appreciate diverse perspectives, and collaborate on sustainable solutions.

Together, computational and systems thinking empower students to navigate an ever-changing world with confidence, adaptability, and a profound understanding of the interconnected systems that shape our future. These skills are not just academic; they are the building blocks of a resilient, innovative, and forward-thinking society.

be sure to check out our great video guides to teaching systems thinking and computational thinking below.

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Creative problem solving tools and skills for students and teachers - Innovative Teaching Ideas

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Creative Problem Solving, or CPS, refers to the use of imagination and innovation to find solutions to problems when formulaic or conventional processes