Abstract
The nature of creative thinking is complex and multifaceted, often involving cognitive processes and dispositions modulated by implicit cultural belief systems and ways of thinking. In this article, we build on existing research on the relations of creative thinking and culture, and explore how specific cultural resources can be harnessed to foster creative problem-solving in education. We first review the recent changes in our understanding of creative thinking, from an exclusive focus on cognitive processes to a more inclusive view of creative problem-solving as socially negotiated and culturally modulated, carrying important cultural functions. We then introduce a pedagogical model, QEOSA, to illustrate how cultural resources, particularly culture-specific ways of thinking about the world, can be harnessed to foster creative thinking in education, and what developmental and pedagogical considerations are involved to make it effective. We finally conclude this article by indicating the value of this line of work that integrates psychological, cultural, developmental, and educational principles in fostering the development of a creative mind-set with relevant knowledge, skills, dispositions, and values.
Highlights
We build on existing research on the relations of creative thinking and culture, and explore how specific cultural resources can be harnessed to foster creative problem-solving in education
We first review the recent changes in our understanding of creative thinking, from an exclusive focus on cognitive processes to a more inclusive view of creative problem-solving as socially negotiated and culturally modulated, carrying important cultural functions
If the norms and conventions involved in a culture of problem-solving embedded in QEOSA provide a structure in support of the development of a creative mind-set, the co-constructing and scaffolding of problem representation and optimal solution finding provides a socialcultural meditational process that helps shape such a creative mind-set over time, the way children learn to relate to and think about the world and themselves in a way conducive to creative contributions
Summary
QEOSA, standing for Question, Explore, Optimize, Show, and Act, is a pedagogical model developed in the context of preschool education, aiming to nurture creativity in formative years with children of age 3–6 years (Cheng, 2012). While inspired by the Chinese cultural tradition embodied in Confucianism and Taoism in terms of seeking win-win solutions to social and practical problems and conflicts, and overcoming the conceptual entrapment of either-or dichotomous thinking, QEOSA integrates cognitive, developmental, and pedagogical considerations in informing a viable creativity pedagogy for young children. This way, cultural resources capitalized in QEOSA include but are not limited to culturally inspired ethical rule or epistemic stance; they include other norms (e.g., agency, collaboration, and responsibility) and conventions (e.g., children-initiated questioning, peer critiquing of new ideas) for promoting creative thinking. We delineate each of the five phases of QEOSA in detail, illustrated by a case “Grandpa’s Misgivings” used in instruction
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