Landstown Mind Vine

Critical and Creative Thinking

If asked to define your thinking style, you might find yourself gravitating toward calling yourself more of a critical thinker or more of a creative thinker.  It is amazing to me how many people will even say, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body!”  The truth is, however, that problem solving in general requires both critical and creative thinking and each of us problem solves multiple times a day. 

The painter must have a vision but also has to decide the most effective way to communicate her ideas.  The attorney has to build a logical series of questions but must also brainstorm all of the possible responses of the witness on the stand.  According to Treffinger, Isaksen and Dorval in Creative Problem Solving, critical and creative thinking are complimentary, equally important and work harmoniously to reach success. Here’s a quick overview of each kind of thinking and the types of questions we ask ourselves and others to spark the brain.

Creative Thinking is divergent and leads to many different possibilities.  Creative thinkers are sometimes thought to come up with “out there” ideas, they like to think about “what if” questions, they may ask lots of questions, they take risks without fear of being wrong and have their own style or way of doing things and thinking.  When we’re thinking creatively, we might ask:

• What would happen if I tried to solve this problem using the reverse steps?
• How could I modify this tool to make it serve other purposes?
• What would happen if I mixed soy sauce and chocolate together?
• How can I develop a new treatment for this illness?
• How could I write a poem that sounded like a song when you read it out loud?

Critical thinking is convergent and leads to choosing one answer or option.  Critical thinkers ask questions to clear up any misunderstandings, look for and compare different opinions on an issue, try to find the truth even if it means their opinion might be wrong, look for evidence from trustworthy sources and try to form their own opinions rather than just following the crowd.  When we’re activating our critical thinking skills we might ask:

• Could this ever really happen?
• Is there anything important I left out of my explanation?
• How can I prove that my idea is correct?
• What is the most logical way to get this job done?
• What is the best way to solve this problem?  How can I make sure it is correct?

In the Creative Problem Solving process, the individual moves back and forth between critical and creative thinking (What one challenge do I want to focus on?  How many different ideas can I come up with to solve the challenge?  What one solution would be most effective?).

Where does your strength in thinking skills lie?  How might you challenge yourself to develop complimentary skills?  How can you nurture both of these thinking skills in your child? 

Creative Problem Solving (CPS) is a structured approach to problem solving that has been implemented, researched and revised for the past 50 years.  It is used in businesses and classrooms around the world and has application to our personal lives as well.  Here is a quick overview provided by Donald Treffinger, Scott Isaksen and K. Brian Dorval in the book Creative Problem Solving: An Introduction. 

 Constructing Opportunities: in this phase, you look for and identify a possible challenge to focus on (Everyone at Landstown Elementary does not consistently recycle properly).

 Exploring Data: Before spending a lot of time on solutions, we need to make sure we’ve identified the root of the problem and that we fully understand it (Do people at Landstown not care about recycling, do they understand how to recycle or do they have what they need to recycle properly?  How can we find out?).

 Framing the Problem: Here, a challenge statement is written that will lead to ideas for solutions (How Might We (HMW) efficiently motivate Landstown staff and students to consistently and properly recycle so that we can decrease our carbon imprint?).

 Generating Ideas: Individuals or small groups freely brainstorm as many varied and unusual ideas as possible without judgment—research suggests that 25 ideas is optimal (present information on Dolphin News, have a contest to see which class recycles the most paper, elect conservation chiefs for each room and put them in charge of overseeing recycling for the class).

 Developing Solutions: Ideas are now analyzed and scrutinized to find those that meet pre-determined criteria (e.g. long-lasting impact, agreeable to everyone, easy to implement, inexpensive, eco-friendly)

 Building Acceptance: Finally, a plan is created to gain acceptance for your solution and implement it (each classroom teacher selects three candidates to apply to be a Conservation Chief, Chiefs receive training with Ms. Saunders’ class, Chiefs train classmates and oversee daily recycling practices).

 It is important to note that, though the above is presented in a linear list, the most recent evolution of the process is flexible and recognizes that one may not need to work through all stages of the process or in a sequential manner.

Can you see how you could use this process for everything from planning a family vacation to creating an alternative form of energy?

How might you engage your family in the Creative Problem Solving process?

Aniya W., Angela G., Thomas A. & Tyler M. recieve top honors.

Kriselle M. & Jane K. rank among the top students in the nation.

We’ve heard from the Word Masters creators and several of our fourth and fifth graders are nationally ranked for the competition this year!  It’s worth noting that all of these students competed in the most difficult division, the gold division.  A much smaller number of schools across the country opt for the more difficult contest, but as you can see, our students rise to the challenge! 

In 4^th grade, out of 7,170 students, Jane K. placed in the top 10% nationwide and Kriselle M. placed in the top 2%!

 In 5^th grade, out of 8,150 students, Nick B., Angela G., Aniya W. and Thomas A. placed in the top 10% and Tyler M. placed in the top 2%!

These are some hard working students who benefited from the efforts their teachers beginning in third grade, Ms. Cuthbertson, Ms. Saunders and Ms. Sykes, to integrate this rigorous word study into their everyday curriculum!  

It is most exciting when the students frequently find connections between the competition words to the novels they are reading as well as concepts in math, science and social studies.  This is the transfer of knowledge in action. 

Great job students and teachers!

Ever wake up in the middle of the night with a solution to the problem you’ve been struggling at work?  Or maybe while reading a book on an unrelated topic, you have had an “Aha!” moment for a creative project you are working on (construction, recipes and event planning among other examples count, too!).  If so, you were experiencing the benefits of incubation.  In “A Kaleidoscopic View: Reflections on the Creative Self,” Susan Daniels explains that incubation is a phase of one explanation of the creative process.  Here’s a quick overview of the four stages.

• Stage I: Preparation 

The individual does both formal and informal preparation through questioning, thinking and researching.

• Stage II: Incubation

This is where obvious activity in the creative process appears to stop, because the subconscious takes over work on the problem.

• Stage III: Illumination

Aha!  Sometimes, from seemingly nowhere, a solution presents itself or a creative product comes to mind.

• Stage IV: Verification

Here, the idea is carried out and brought to fruition.

How could you use an awareness of this process when guiding your child through a creative writing assignment, the creation of a science project or a clay sculpture? 

While this is just one approach to explaining the creative process, it does give us a framework to consider when asking kids to creatively solve problems or create products.  Perhaps guiding them through these stages would lead to better quality results!

Meet 3, Grade 3 (Myers)

3rd Place: Jasmine R

2nd Place: Reese Y

1st Place: Ciara G

Meet 3, Grade 3 (Cuthbertson)

3rd Place: Releina A

2nd Place: Avery G & Brooke M

1st Place: April S

3rd Grade  Results for the Year 

3rd Place: April S

2nd Place: Reese Y

Champ for the Year: Ciara G

Meet 3, Grade 4

3rd Place: Samantha C, Breanna H, Courtney H & Paul S

2nd Place: Jane K & Kriselle M

1st Place: Lamont T

4th Grade  Results for the Year 

3rd Place: Jalen B & Lamont T

2nd Place: Jane K

Champ for the Year: Kriselle M

Meet 3, Grade 5

3rd Place: Angela G & Aniya W

2nd Place: Thomas A

1st Place: Tyler M

5th Grade  Results for the Year 

3rd Place: Angela G, Aniya W & Thomas A

2nd Place: Nick B

Champ for the Year: Tyler M

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Mee-hy Cheek-sent-me-hi) has spent more than 30 years studying how creative people live and work.  He has attempted to understand the often mysterious process of creativity.  In his book Creativity: The Work and Lives of 91 Eminent People, Csikszentmihalyi notes how complex the creative personality can be and points to a theme of contradictions in the creative people.  Here are descriptions of some of these paradoxes:

• Creative people can have a lot of energy but also may need quiet and rest.  When necessary, they can have an intense focus on the project or problem at hand.  This intensity is often followed, however, by a need for rest.
• Creative people may at once be smart and naive.  Though a degree of intelligence is often required to make significant creative contributions, it seems that a beginner’s mind, one that allows a sense of awe and wonderment, are also needed to create.
• Creative people alternate between imagination and fantasy and reality.  While imagination was required to conceive of what was initially perceived as the fantasy of electricity or the telephone or the television, ultimately the technology had to be rooted in reality to have meaning.
• Creative people are both rebellious and conservative.  Never taking chances is unlikely to lead to change.  Always attempting to create change without an understanding of history and tradition is unlikely to create embraceable change. 
• The heightened sensitivity of the creative individual opens them to experiencing deep pain and intense joy.  It also leads them to a level of awareness needed to create.

So, if you know of a creative individual who is hard to nail down, consider that they may simply be displaying some of a complex series of characteristics found in the creative personality.

The third contest for the Virginia Math League has been held, and the following students were the highest ranked for their grade level:

Grade 3:

3^rd place:  Jasmine R & Kelsey M

2^nd place:  Releina A

1^st place: Ciara G

Grade 4:

3^rd Place: Sabrina S & Samantha C

2^nd Place: Courtney H

1^st Place: Paul S (29 out of 30 points—wow!)

Grade 5:

3^rd Place:  Hannah F & Asheton V

2^nd Place:  Rebecca M , Tyler M & Angela G  

1^st Place: Micah N 

The final contest for the year will be held immediately after the SOL tests.  Stay tuned for details!