Describes how allowing students to follow their creative impulses led to a unit in the author's tenth grade English class that rekindled an appreciation for imaginative, even whimsical, thinking. Discusses her experiences with this project. Considers why it is important to imagine. (SG)

Developing creative and appealing new college alumni programs need not be laborious and time consuming. A variety of familiar events and items can be sources of inspiration: a staff retreat, professional conference, a bulletin board, a telephone call, or the phone book. A positive attitude plays an important role in designing interesting programs.…

This article describes three archetypal workers: eagles who innovate by improvements, otters who innovate by extension, and unicorns who innovate by paradigm. Each of these innovators is discussed in terms of domain-relevant skills, manipulative skills, and motivation. Needs of each type in terms of business culture are discussed. (PB)

This article outlines both specific barriers to teaching and learning creative thinking as well as some possible directions for solutions. Sixteen common barriers such as confusion, powerlessness, and negativity are described along with strategies to dissolve them using such conceptual tools as awareness plans and proactive metathinking.…

To thrive in the 1990s, we must teach students how to think, create ideas cooperatively, select among equally attractive alternatives, and use far-minded flexibility in groups. School leaders can help by promoting new teaching and assessment methods, creative assignments, thinking research funding, business involvement, joint training…

Changing one's mind and keeping the mind open will be essential decision-making skills in the future. Positive uncertainty helps clients deal with ambiguity, accept inconsistency, and use the intuitive side of choosing. (TE)

This article, third in a series, discusses the last three phases of the creative problem solving process: idea-finding, solution-finding, and acceptance-finding. These phases focus on brainstorming to generate possibilities and alternatives to the problem, evaluating each idea's strengths and limitations, prioritizing the solutions, and developing…

Sociodrama is presented as a structured, yet flexible, method of encouraging the use of creative thinking to examine a difficult problem. An example illustrates the steps involved in putting sociodrama into action. Production techniques useful in sociodrama include the soliloquy, double, role reversal, magic shop, unity of opposites, and audience…

Describes a program that has been conducted for two years by a group of educators at the University of Hamburg, West Germany, in which participants investigated the pedagogical use of the story. Illustrates the way in which story telling can be used to teach concepts at a high level of synthesis. (KO)

This study assessed development of sex differences in creativity of preschool and early elementary school children. Preschool, first-, and third-grade students (n=188) were assessed for creativity in terms of ideational fluency. Sex differences were not found in preschool, but by third grade boys scored significantly higher than girls on both…

This article examines images of the future as visualized by space artists and design engineers. In excerpts from interviews, the artists describe their activities and their use of computer-aided design. The article concludes that visual thinking plays a large part in translating the dreams of visionaries into reality. (JDD)

Research is reviewed on identifying the characteristics most important to inventive ability, focusing on intelligence, visualization, persistence, joy in manipulating materials, originality, curiosity, and observation. A screening device developed to assess inventive potential demonstrated significant differences between inventors and…

Discusses ways in which the integrated design of all the components of picture books can facilitate both visual and verbal literacy, allowing children to refine literary and aesthetic appreciation and improve their own expressive activity. A bibliography of well-designed picture books is provided. (16 references) (CLB)

Uses a case-study approach to examine the role of belief as a catalytic quality in the artistic making and the thinking processes used by children. Describes the processes encountered by children when presented with artistic tasks. Discusses the relationship between belief and the three other main dimensions of artistic thinking and making: social…

For therapy to have integrity, the therapist needs a theoretical foundation but not to become rigidly defined by that orientation. The insights of chaos theory and postmodernism can be applied to resolve the apparent conflict between theory and practice and to recognize the finite nature of all theories. (LKS)