The arts and the cultivation of informed awareness should play a more central role in classroom life than they do, and student teachers should be empowered to make this, to some degree, possible. Student teachers have to be able to spend time thinking through what a rational explanation actually means, even as they have to understand what…

Background information to help K-12 teachers use objects found in the Smithsonian Institution or in other museums to stimulate students' creative thinking is provided. To encourage creative thinking, teachers must provide students with divergent problems, i.e., problems that are expansive, allow for a variety of responses, and have no fixed…

A program for teaching children and adults the thinking skills most important in everyday life is described. This program, which has been tried out and evaluated in the United States, France, Germany, England, Australia, Japan, and Israel, is needed in every school and community as a "gymnasium for the mind," to help people fully use their natural…

Levels of learning can probably be measured by questions containing various conceptual dimensions which relate to the amount of thinking or creativity required to complete the questions. A method for measuring concept levels in child development course material was evaluated. Student proctors (N=41) and instructors (N=6) rated 73 short-answer…

Teachers can use these learning activities to teach about the future in elementary and secondary social studies, science, math, language arts, and arts courses. The purpose of the activities is to help students practice creative-thinking skills, investigate problems relevant to their personal futures, experience the concept of change, and evaluate…

The major components of playfulness in kindergarten children are physical, social, and cognitive spontaneity, manifest joy, and sense of humor. Children who are highly playful also show high scores in divergent and creative thinking. Piaget postulated that after the age of 7 or 8 this quality is replaced by assimilating the objective facts of the…

The collection of poems was written for use in the Yakima Indian Reservation pre-school programs and was intended to introduce Yakima children to creative thought process at their own level with content that is part of their own world. The author spent several months observing in the Tribal Headstart Centers at three locations on the Yakima…

The document provides the revised curriculum guide for Project SOCRATES, a program designed for academically gifted students in grades 4 and 5. The guide is organized according to the project's four goal areas: development of creative thinking, for casting, reasoning, and planning and decision making. Under each goal are listed objectives and…

A SERIES OF PAPERS DEALING WITH THE TEACHING OF THINKING TO ADOLESCENTS IS CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT FROM THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION OF ILLINOIS. TOPICS INCLUDE--(1) A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON THINKING AND TEACHING, (2) THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDEPENDENT THINKING, (3) FACTORS RELATED TO THINKING READINESS, (4) TEACHING PUPILS HOW TO THINK,…

This handbook is intended for content area teachers in grades seven through twelve who want to help students improve their comprehension of both oral and written language. The first three chapters discuss the nature of comprehension and establish the general philosophical framework for the strategies and activities that make up the major portion…

The process of becoming a world citizen requires, as a first step, personal alienation from the cultural values and social arrangements of nation-states that stand in the way of such an effort. Three interrelated propositions underlie this thesis. First, prevailing cultural values and social arrangements severely limit opportunities for people to…

The extension of languages across cultural boundaries engenders a cosmopolitan literature which is often characterized by the effects of biculturalism. The evidence seems to indicate that bilingualism and biculturalism can exert a subtle influence upon a writer's choice of words, and can penetrate the author's style and grammar. Most of the…

THIS BOOK PROVIDES TEACHERS WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR STIMULATING YOUNG WRITERS TO CREATE IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING VERSATILE VOCABULARY WORDS AND GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS. THE SUGGESTIONS ARE GROUPED INTO FIVE CHAPTERS--(1) "SPINNING IMAGINATIVE THOUGHTS" IS DESIGNED TO ASSIST TEACHERS IN FOSTERING PUPILS' FLEXIBLE THINKING PROCESSES TOWARD THE…

The impact of the Minnesota Studies of Creative Behavior on education and their contributions to educational practices are assessed; national and international extensions of the Minnesota Studies are summarized. Research is cited and interpreted. Lists are provided of 200 publications in open sources related to the Minnesota Studies and 253…

This practicum was designed to improve creative problem-solving skills in children through the use of career concepts. Although the full program was developed for youngsters in grade three through six, this project exposed fifth and sixth graders at the Northside School, Levittown, New York to the Career Awareness Program for a period of weeks.…