15th May 2019

A classroom consists of variety of students and each individual consists of a different trait of personality. It is not always that the same curriculum would attract all the students and this is where the role of creative thinking skills comes into play. The creative thinking skills cater to the development of an atmosphere in the class which is not only entertaining but also enlightening for the students. A teacher needs to understand and react to make the classes as informative as possible for the students and the creative thinking skills are one of the best tools to do so, even in case of a comprehensive course such as the international teaching diploma course.

A few of the creative thinking skills that comply with the need of the learners and cater to their initiative of student development are discussed in the following lines.

1. Divergent Thinking

This creative thinking skill is indicative of the path on which the thinker or in this case, the learner, can find more than one solution for a particular problem. This type of thinking generally uses techniques like flexibility, fluency and originality to find more than one feasible routes to a particular solution. For example, a brainstorming session brings out more than one solution for a particular issue, which makes a set of viable solutions available for the decision maker or the learner.

2. Lateral Thinking

This strategy comes into action when there is need for new idea generation which is directed towards solving a particular issue. It is justified by sequential steps based on logic and completely new options for deriving the solutions to basic problems. Lateral thinking technique depends on restructuring of clichéd tools like the long thought sequences to solve problems and helps the learners to find solutions that are “out of the box”.

3. Aesthetic Thinking

This type of critical thinking skill is based on the aesthetic sense of a person related to the nature, type and choices made by him/her while engaged in various activities. The aesthetic sense of a person varies from another individual and so is the case regarding his thinking and analytical skills. They definitely help in understanding the pattern of the person’s thinking, the learner in this case and also analyze the person on the basis of the same.

4. Systems Thinking

This is dependent on the holistic approach and the interdependence of certain objects present in the process of thinking. System thinking is a critical thinking skill which depends on the synthesis of the various elements present in a person’s nature. Its traits are somewhat similar to that of aesthetic thinking as both the processes deal with the concealed senses and skills present in a particular person.

5. Inspirational Thinking

Last but not least, the inspirational thinking approach included in the critical thinking skills caters to the intrinsic properties of the learner and it, like aesthetic and lateral thinking, varies from the other properties. An inspirational thinking strategy deal with the sudden burst of clarity and focus witnessed in the learner and tries to keep that flow of energy constant to derive the desired result from the particular process or course.

The aforementioned points of the critical thinking strategy indicate towards the skills present in a learner, which helps to identify him/her as a distinct individual from the rest of the crowd. This is essential to develop and channelize the mentality of a student in a positive way while shunning the negativities that might come as a hindrance during the persuasion of a particular course including the intensive course such as the international teaching diploma course.