Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines

Volume 21, Issue 2, Winter 2002

Thinking about the Outside ot the Box
A Pedagogical Framework For Thinking Critically About Creativity

Post-secondary students in the applied professions (e.g., business, education, psychology) often see the value of creativity to their future work, but have never had the opportunity to critically examine their assumptions about creativity. A more critically examined and substantiated understanding of creativity can go a long way in helping pre-professional students consider how creativity might be best applied and cultivated in their future professional work. The purpose of this article is to discuss how principles of critical thinking can be brought to bear on understanding creativity. First, a discussion of the importance of critically examining the basic assumptions surrounding creativity will be presented. Then, a pedagogical framework for incorporating critical thinking into the examination of creativity will follow. Finally, an example of how the model might: be used with post-secondary students will be presented, followed by a brief conclusion.