PAGBABAGO

The release of the 2022 results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA-OECD) on creative thinking in  64 participating  countries had again created a stir as it showed Filipino students placing second to the last.  The concern is understandable as creative thinking has a positive influence on students’ academic interest. Among the best performers are Singapore who ranked first, followed by Korea, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Estonia and Finland. 

According to PISA, all people are capable of engaging in creative thinking and practicing “everyday creativity” in a non-conventional way. It can be applied not only to contexts related to the expression of imagination such as creative writing or the arts, but also to other areas where the generation of ideas is functional to the investigation of issues, problems, or society-wide concerns. In its four domains – written expression, visual expression, social problem-solving, and scientific problem-solving, students engage with open tasks that have no simple correct response. They are either asked to provide a multiple distinct response to generate a response that is not conventional. Among its findings are that educational systems that scored highly also had high scores in mathematics, science and reading. However, academic excellence is not a prerequisite for excellence in creative thinking. Girls have shown better creative thinking skills and their better reading skills played a part. They are more imaginative and open to perspective taking. 

School systems where teachers value student creativity and practice activities that encourage new ways to solve problems also scored higher in the tests. 

Another approach to creative thinking and problem-solving is what has been described as lateral or horizontal thinking. It is the search for the most effective solution through brainstorming or imagining what was previously unimaginable. 

An example was used by Edward Bono in his 1987 book, “Lateral Thinking” where he introduced problem-solving from a different perspective. Here, he cited as example the judgment of King Solomon as an example of lateral thinking in that the latter resolved the dispute over the parentage of a child by calling for the child to be cut in half and made his judgment according to the reaction that this order received. 

Article XIV, Section 3 (2) in our 1987 Constitution, emphasizes the importance of creative thinking in its mandate “to encourage creative and critical thinking” in the educational system. Its importance cannot be overemphasized. It allows the child and the adult to discover a variety of choices, enable us to overcome prejudices, enrich everyday existence, and enable us to have a fuller life.  ([email protected])