CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING
Would you like to participate in this course next school year 2022-2023? Please make a pre-registration so we can keep you informed about this course.
You want to confirm your participation for this course in the schoolyear 2022-2023?
Dates can be subject to change and are only final after official confirmation by the course provider.
The course “Critical and Creative Thinking” combines a theoretical and experiential approach. This means that school visits, study visits and practical exercises are part of the course.
You will also have the opportunities to discuss and try out exercises that will help you to create learning activities for your students.
The aim is to improve the critical and creative thinking of the students resulting in becoming more confident and autonomous problem-solvers and thinkers. This on its turn, will enhance their motivation and empower the students to better tackle the challenges of our modern society.
Critical and creative thinking involves students thinking broadly and deeply using skills, behaviours and dispositions such as reason, logic, resourcefulness, imagination and innovation in all learning areas at school and in their lives beyond school.
Thinking that is productive, purposeful and intentional is at the centre of effective learning. By applying a sequence of thinking skills, students develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the processes they can use whenever they encounter problems, unfamiliar information and new ideas. In addition, the progressive development of knowledge about thinking and the practice of using thinking strategies can increase students’ motivation for, and management of, their own learning. They become more confident and autonomous problem-solvers and thinkers.
Responding to the challenges of the twenty-first century – with its complex environmental, social and economic pressures – young people need to be creative, innovative, enterprising and adaptable, with the motivation, confidence and skills to use critical and creative thinking purposefully.
This capability combines two types of thinking: critical thinking and creative thinking. Though the two are not interchangeable, they are strongly linked, bringing complementary dimensions to thinking and learning.
Critical thinking is at the core of most intellectual activity that involves students learning to recognise or develop an argument, use evidence in support of that argument, draw reasoned conclusions, and use information to solve problems. Examples of critical thinking skills are interpreting, analysing, evaluating, explaining, sequencing, reasoning, comparing, questioning, inferring, hypothesising, appraising, testing and generalising.
Creative thinking involves students learning to generate and apply new ideas in specific contexts, seeing existing situations in a new way, identifying alternative explanations, and seeing or making new links that generate a positive outcome. This includes combining parts to form something original, sifting and refining ideas to discover possibilities, constructing theories and objects, and acting on intuition. The products of creative endeavour can involve complex representations and images, investigations and performances, digital and computer-generated output, or occur as virtual reality.
This course will focus on how to approach and implement critical and creative thinking in your own context. From a theoretical framework, we move on to concrete practical examples accompanied by school visits.
EXAMPLE OF PROGRAMME
The final programme can differ somewhat from this example, depending on the availability of schools for visits and unforeseen events that may occur.
The course starts on Monday morning end ends on Friday afternoon and contains 10 sessions.
A course day starts at 09.00 h and ends at 16.30 h, with a break for lunch of 1,5 h. On Friday we end at 15.30 h, allowing participants to catch the last airplane.
During the course week, there are periods for personal reflection and transfer exercises and a voluntary cultural activity.
1st SESSION: Introduction, presentation programme and icebreaking
Presentation of trainers/learners and of the course programme, expectations of the learners.
2nd SESSION: Theoretical framework: Critical and creative thinking in the context of Inclusive Education
What dynamics and/or pedagogical practices can contribute to critical and creative thinking development?
Main Goal: Understand the importance of critical and creative thinking in promoting an inclusive education
3rd SESSION: Pedagogical practices: reality in a school (visit)
Pedagogical dynamics in the classroom: a look – multiple discussions and reflections
How can observation contribute to the interpretation and analysis of pedagogical practices?
Main Goal: Understand, through discussion and reflection, that pedagogical practices are inducing of critical and creative thinking
4th SESSION: Observation, interpretation, and analysis as an expression of critical and creative thinking
How can the skills of observation, interpretation and analysis be developed in the classroom?
Main Goal: To know the competencies of observation, interpretation, and analysis, as well as resources and strategies to develop them in the classroom
5th SESSION: Argumentation and creation as an expression of critical and creative thinking
How can the skills of argumentation and creation be developed in the classroom?
Main Goal: To know the skills of argumentation and creation, as well as resources and strategies to develop them in the classroom
6th SESSION: Critical and creative thinking in art (visit to Berardo’s Museum – CCB)
Main Goal: Understanding Art as a form of expression of critical and creative thinking
7th SESSION: Pedagogical and organizational practices: reality in a school (visit)
Pedagogical dynamics in the classroom: a look – multiple discussions and reflections
How can organizational practices facilitate the development of critical and creative thinking?
Main Goal: Understand, through discussion and reflection, that organizational practices can create conditions for the development of critical and creative thinking in the classroom
8th SESSION: Holistic approach to critical and creative thinking
How can we integrate the competencies of critical and creative thinking by means of project methodology?
Main Goal: Recognize the project methodology as a means to work the skills of critical and creative thinking in an articulated way
9th SESSION: Critical and creative thinking: Reality or utopia?
How to (re)signify the learning and experiences developed during the course?
Main Goal: Integrate the knowledge acquired from the various experiences lived in the course
10th SESSION: Presentation ‘Master Piece’ and Works closure
Main Goal: Taking stock of the learning carried out considering the initial expectations
- Understand the importance of critical and creative thinking in promoting an inclusive education;
- Understand, through discussion and reflection, that pedagogical practices are inducingcritical and creative thinking;
- To know the competencies of observation, interpretation, and analysis, as well as resources and strategies to develop them in the classroom;
- To know the skills of argumentation and creation, as well as resources and strategies to develop them in the classroom;
- Understanding Art as a form of expression of critical and creative thinking;
- Understand, through discussion and reflection, that organizational practices can create conditions for the development of critical and creative thinking in the classroom;
- Recognize the project methodology as a means to work the skills of critical and creative thinking in an articulated way;
- Integrate the knowledge acquired from the various experiences lived in the course;
- Taking stock of the learning carried out considering the initial expectations.
PORTUGAL – LISBON SOUTH BANK
The course is organized in the training facilities of Almadaforma, located at the South Bank of the river Tejo in Lisbon (15 km from Lisbon airport).
The participants are free to stay in a hotel of their own choice, however it’s advised to stay somewhere at the South Bank (=Almada) to save transport time during rush hour.
Hotel Mercure Lisboa – Almada (Rua Abel Salazar 9, 2805-313 Almada) is situated immediately near the tramline that leads to Almadaforma.
- School and study visits are part of the programme, as well as the informal moments, lunches and breaks. During those moments a lot of interaction, exchange and learning happens.
- We offer a cost structure that includes all formal and informal learning activities and opportunities.
- For a detailed explanation, have a look at our ‘Cost Structure‘.
- You can request an Erasmus Plus grant from your national agency which will cover almost all costs of this course.
- We can guide you through the process of funding and application. To do so, you need the make a pre-registration.
- After pre-registration, we’ll contact you by mail and provide the application help.
There is a taxi service at the airport that can drive you to the hotel.
It’s particularly difficult to leave Lisbon between 16:30 and 19:00 h and to enter Lisbon between 08:30 and 10:30 h.
METRO / AEROBUS , FERRY AND TAXI
You can take the metro located at exit of the arrival hall of the airport and leave the metro at the terminus station Cais do Sodré.
The Aerobus is another good way to travel from and to the airport. The Aerobus provides a connection between the airport and Cais do Sodré.
At the boat station of Cais do Sodré, you can take the ferry boat to Cacilhas (south bank of River Tejo). During working hours, there is a crossing every 15 minutes. The ferry takes 12 minutes to arrive on the other side of the river.
At Cacilhas you can take a taxi or tram (Line 3, direction Universidade, stop Ramalha) for the remaining 5 km.
Sharing a rental car with 3 other people for all transport during the course, can be interesting.The airport is connected directly to the hotel by the Ring of Lisbon and the North-South Connection (Eixo Norte – Sul).
Crossing the bridge, you have a marvellous view on Lisbon, the estuary and both banks of the River Tejo.
Bring or rent a GPS and check the prices of rental cars on the Internet.
TRANSPORT FROM HOTEL TO ALMADAFORMA
Walk 400 m from the hotel to the tram stop ‘Ramalha’, where you take the tram of Line 3 to ‘Universidade’ .
Leave the tram at stop ‘Monte de Caparica’.
Walk 600 m through the village to Almadaforma.