CREATIVE teaching, PSYCHOLOGY of teachers, THOUGHT & thinking, BELIEF & doubt, and DIVERGENT thinking
Abstract
Although discussions of thinking skills often revolve around students and learners, it is equally important to consider habits of mind and thinking skills for successful and creative teachers. Teachers are primary mediators of thinking and learning for their students, and understanding how excellent teachers function and use thinking skills is an important, albeit often underserved, area of research. Amid the expansion of research and discussion around thinking skills in general, one approach that has garnered interest in recent years is the idea of “transdisciplinary” thinking—which entails effective approaches to thinking and working, that cut across disciplinary boundaries. Existing research has shown that the most successful creative thinkers in the sciences tend to use a set of meta-level cognitive “transdisciplinary” skills. While others have suggested this transdisciplinary skill set as a framework for teaching, it has not yet been formally studied with regard to teachers, particularly those deemed as “effective” or “creative”. This article discusses a qualitative study that investigated the use of seven transdisciplinary thinking skills among highly accomplished and nationally award winning teachers. National teacher of the year award winners and finalists were interviewed with regard to their use of transdisciplinary thinking skills in their teaching beliefs and practices. Results exemplify how such skills are used by such effective, creative teachers in a diverse range of ways, with broader implications for future study and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
MINDFULNESS, CREATIVE ability, CREATIVE thinking, LITERATURE reviews, MIND-wandering, and DIVERGENT thinking
Abstract
• This thematic literature review investigates the relationship between mindfulness and creativity • Mindfulness practices improve skills or habits of mind that can support creativity • The mindfulness-creativity relationship is complex, but generally positive • Deliberate/mindful mind-wandering can support creativity • Purposeful inclusion of mindfulness in learning settings can benefit student learning, creativity and wellbeing Mindfulness and creativity have both come to the forefront of educational interest—but a better understanding of their relationship and the implications for education is needed. This article reviews the literature on the intersection of these topics in order to understand where and how these two related but distinctive areas of research connect, and how this pertains to the complexity of education settings. Our goal is to understand findings from the literature and consider the implications for educational practice and research, with an eye to how mindfulness can be supportive to learners' creativity. This thematic review and qualitative analysis of extant literature identifies four themes that speak to the connection between mindfulness and creativity. There is solid evidence to show a generally beneficial and supportive relationship, in that practicing mindfulness can support creativity—but many factors affect this and there are a range of considerations for practice. This article reflects on the key findings of scholarly work on the mindfulness-creativity relationship with interpretative discussion and implications for educational research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]