Creative Thinking Skills - Case Study Example

Creative thinking Skills, How important are they in BTECH LEVEL1 Diploma of Art and Design? Introduction People whom we acknowledge as greatest geniuses be it Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Edison, Darwin, Picasso, Michelangelo, Galileo, Freud, or Mozart, all have one main characteristic in common and that is a pattern of thought process they followed. What is common to their thought procedure or thinking style that created the great artistic masterpieces or scientific marvels of their times? To become a genius, one does not need to be extraordinarily intelligent, which is what critical thinking directs us to be. A large extent of the thinking taught in formal education focuses on the skills of critical analysis, suggesting creating a logical argument, eliminating the incorrect paths and focusing on the correct one. However, there is another kind of thinking, one that focuses on exploring ideas, generating possibilities, looking for many right answers rather than just one. This kind of thinking takes us to a whole new plane of thoughts and resulting possibilities, which though might seem out of sync with times, might nevertheless be the beacons of light to solving the impending problems. Thus creative thinking has to be seen as a skill crucial to problem solving in any sphere of life. Creative thinking is a skill with what we are all born with but decreases as children are exposed to the environment around them. The social responsibility for bringing about the proper blending of creative thinking and critical thinking which nevertheless has its own merits lies on the shoulders of the education system. The study focuses on the need, importance, motivation, systematic efforts and the gaps therein towards development and application of creative thinking skills in FE colleges in general and the Art and design Diploma course in particular and how does training in Art and design affect creative thinking skills. Review of Literature While assessing the literature on the given topic - Creative thinking Skills, How important are they in BTECH LEVEL1 Diploma of Art and Design? , its important to evaluate what has been written both in terms of the Creative thinking skills as a subject as well as its importance in Further education in general and the Art and Design FE courses in particular. It is important to move from literature pertaining to and supporting ideas from a subjective point of view to the specific area of study. The current thinking and efforts on developing creative skills in FE has its basis in the policy papers and resultant initiatives started in the late nineties. The evolution in the thinking and the efforts as well continues till recent times. This thinking was reflected by Fawbert (2004), who stressed on the heterogeneity of groups to enhance creative skills of the individuals in the group. According to him creative and divergent thinking and approaches to problem solving result from the process of group members accommodating to each others’ efforts and approaches towards completion of their tasks and assignments. He further underlines the need to make the education more liberal in the interest of introducing the cognitive aspects of learning like creative thinking and problem solving. Weyers M. (2006) introduces the learning theories that underlie these strategies, and considers how they can best be applied practically in the classroom and what place they have within a standardized National Curriculum. He goes on to point out the role of Problem based learning programs being followed in promoting higher order thinking by enhancing creative thinking skills. Whereas the teachers are required to facilitate this development of creative skills by asking probing and reflective questions, the students in turn get the right opportunity and incentive to develop the same. The work by scholars and concurrent thinking by the government officials has led to evolution of the thought and efforts as mentioned above. This is reflected in the government policy paper, Dfes (2006) on further education which outlines the need and the reform programs put in place to enhance special skills which improve productivity of the work force by raising their productivity level to world standards. More fundamental thinking in the same direction resulted in the view that attempts to implement development of thinking skills starting right at the primary education level. The Dfes (2006) Government policy paper – ‘Every Child matters’, lays down the basis for development of creative learning to give a global dimension to the outcomes of the ‘Every Child matters’ program which aims to strengthen and safeguard the learning needs of every child. The Government as per its policy initiative, has formed the QCA (Qualifications and regulatory Authority) which has developed a framework for personal learning and thinking skills which includes creative thinking skills and the underlying steps to integrate them into the Secondary education curriculum. Leitch S. (2006) underlines the efforts being made as per policy measures through QCA. As recently as in 2007, the importance of education as a lifelong sector has surfaced and thinking regarding how it impacts the accountability for the professionals involved in imparting the education and skills has gained ground. Tummons, J. (2007) The collective thinking and the ongoing efforts surrounding the development of creative skills bring us to the specific questions such as why it is important to acquire creative thinking skills? Is it possible to teach creative thinking skills? What is really meant by creative thinking and what is the relative importance of creative thinking styles. Creative thinking skills as we know them today were originally conceptualized and developed by Buzan T. (1970). Buzan, used techniques of mind mapping wherein methods were mapped out of a problem with many outcomes as a result of the mapping process giving greater choice for solving those problems. The methods represent the brain and replicate the ideas being processed by the brain. Creativity is seen as a mental and social process involving generation of new ideas and or concepts or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. Ackoff R.L. (1978) gives importance to creative thinking skills over all life skills. There is a clear distinction between the effective programs implementing creative thinking skills which are infused into the regular curriculum and those that are taught separately from it. Freseman (1990) represents the case for reconciliation of the differences between the two approaches by emphasizing that relevant thinking skills need to be taught directly before applying them to the relevant areas. He goes on to summarize that under both the approaches the most crucial aspect is for people to be able to question, analyze, compare, contrast and evaluate what is being told. Cotton K. (1991) has pointed out that there exists a good following for both above approaches and is indicative of the effectiveness of both. Creative thinkers have the ability to think differently from the current line of thinking breaking mental barriers. The established ways are not disincentive enough for creative thinkers to stop them from inventing new ways of thinking. They think in different possible ways until they reach a new line of thought that promises to address the problems at hand in a better way (Michalko M., 2001). When speaking of creativity, Art and literature are two subjects, which come to mind. This is because within these subjects, uniqueness has adequate conditions for creativity, unlike subjects in which both originality and appropriateness are of importance (Amabile, 1998). Art and literature allow students to think “outside the box”, and help enhance understand the concept of, not having a formal answer, but assessing many possible answers, as long as the answer has the correct evidence (Michalko M., 2001). Borsca A. (2007) identifies that self-actualization is one of the biggest key factors to enhance creative skills. This underlines the importance of creativity as it proves that a creative mind means that the individual is at the pinnacle of the hierarchy of needs as well as identifying an essential skill to have to becoming a genius. Thus there seems a need to investigate further the questions addressed by the review of literature from a more individualistic point of view. The most important view in this regard can be of the students who are undergoing training under various FE programs and particularly the Art and Design Diploma courses. Development of theory & Research methodology The Theory and development of Hypotheses: The study aims at establishing the overall importance of key learning skills and creative thinking skills in particular in the Art and Design Diploma level courses. As suggested by the review, the creative skills are vital and can be taught to a great extent. The study seeks to analyze the following basic Research questions: What is the importance of creative thinking skills? Why should the students want to study to be creative, the benefits? How art and design help creative thinking skills? Based on the above Research questions, the study seeks to ascertain the validity of the following Hypotheses as suggested by the review of literature. There exists a significant gap between the level of creative skills training desired and the actual level of these skills in FE Art and design courses. The level of awareness as a result of the lack of proper creative skills training is alarmingly high and needs to be addressed. If the creative thinking skills are developed from an early stage and in result oriented manner, they can help students not just in Art and design but solving their day to day problems creatively. Research Methodology: Study Area: The Btech Art and Design National Diploma class Sampling: Sample size: 34 out of 50 (68% sample) Sampling unit: Diploma students in the said course Data collection & Methodology: Conclusions to be drawn based on the review of literature and the administration of a structured questionnaire. Analysis, Interpretation & conclusion Analysis & Interpretation: The questionnaire asked six basic close ended questions in an objective format inviting three possible responses – a. Yes b. No c. Don’t know The questionnaire was administered among the sample students and the questions asked based on the basic research questions and the response percentages in the above three response categories thereof are as follows: What is the importance of creative thinking skills? Q. Do you think creativity helps you in your every day life? 35% yes 65% no Q. How important is creativity? 30% very 70% dont know Why should you want to study to be creative? Q. Do you think being creative helps you understand other subjects better? 30% yes, 20%no, the rest said dont know. How art and design help creative thinking skills? Q. Do you think creativity is all just about drawing and design? 12%No 88% Yes Q. Do you think creativity was ever taught to you in any way that could help improve your creative skills in areas other than Art and design? 75%No 20%Yes 5%Dont know Q. Do you think, had you been trained effectively in creative skills through Art and design concepts, you could have applied them better in every day life as well? 90% Yes 5% no 5 % don’t know The responses show that more than 50% students were not aware that creative skills help them become better learner and help them in the outside world with every day subjects. About 12% felt creativity helps them understand things better, and the rest felt that creativity is just about drawing. However, a majority of them felt that there was a need for proper training in creative skills and doing it through Art and design concepts could enhance it further. Conclusion: The extensive review of literature and the primary research results combined shows that the thinking and efforts on the part of the government though has made development of creative skills in FE colleges a main thrust area. However at the ground level the reality is different from what is desired. The students are rather confused about the importance of creative thinking and the wideness of its applicability. Though there is a general feeling that if somehow the training in creative skills can be improved and the awareness as to its importance raised then the creative skills can prove to be really helpful not just in the Art and Design courses in question but in everyday life as well. References Ackoff, RL (1978). The Art of Problem Solving. John Wiley & Sons: New York. Amabile T.M.(1998) How to kill creativity:Keep doing what you’re doing. Or if you want to spark innovation, rethink, motivate, reward and assign work to people: Harvard business review. Accessed on April 18, 2009 Borsca A. (2007) The Key skill for creative self development:Vertegram Accessed on April 18, 2009 < http://www.vertegram.com/self-development/the-key-skill-for-creative-self-development/> Buzan, T. (1970), Make the Most of Your Mind, Cambridge: Colt Books. Cotton K.(1991) Teaching Thinking skills: Iris’ Blog: accessed on April 19, 2009 Dfes(2006) Further Education Raising skills, improve life chances, London: HMSO. Freseman R. (1990) Improving higher order thinking of middle school geography students by teaching skills directly. Fort Lauderdale, FL: Nova University Fawbert (2004) Fawbert, F. (2004) Teaching in Post Compulsory Education: Learning, Skills & Standards, London: Continuum. Leitch, S. (2006) Leitch Review of Skills: prosperity for all in the global economy - world class skills, London: TSO. Michalko M. (2001) Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius: Ten Speed Press. Tummons, J. (2007) Becoming a professional Tutor in the lifelong learning Sector, Exeter: Learning Matters. Weyers M. (2006) Teaching the FE Curriculum, London: Continuum. Read More