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Fostering Creative and Critical Thinking

Treffinger, Donald J. Center for Creative Learning, Sarasota, Florida, USA

Abstract. This pre-conference workshop will offer definitions of and basic guidelines for creative and critical thinking. It will also provide experience with a variety of practical tools educators can apply to guide students in thinking creatively and critically and solving open-ended, real-life problems. The methods and tools in the Creative Problem Solving Version 6.1™ (CPS) framework have been used successfully with children, adolescents, and adults and are based on more than five decades of theory, research, and experience in schools and with non-profit and business organizations worldwide.

Biography

Donald J. Treffinger is the president of the Center for Creative Learning in Sarasota, Florida, USA. He earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from Cornell University. Don has previously been a member of the faculty at Purdue University, the University of Kansas, and Buffalo State College. He is now a member of the Gifted Child Quarterly Advisory Board and has served as editor of that journal, and as editor-in-chief of Parenting for High Potential, NAGC’s quarterly magazine for parents. Don is the author of more than 350 articles, chapters, and books. He has written and conducted research on the nature, assessment, and nurture of creativity and Creative Problem Solving, as well as in the areas of problem-solving style, gifted education, and talent development. He has given presentations and workshops worldwide, and served as a consultant to numerous local, state, national, and international organizations. He has received the Distinguished Service Award and the E. Paul Torrance Creativity Award from the National Association for Gifted Children, the Creativity Research Award from the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, and the Risorgimenti Creativity Award from the Destination ImagiNation program.