Critical thinking is necessary to be able to discern and find possible solutions to the problems that concern us today. If you do not have critical thinking, you begin to think that there is only one solution and, in the worst case, that there is none. Such critical thinking allows us to act and decide autonomously without having to depend on anyone or wait for other people, considered “more capable”, to end up finding solutions.
This means that the absence of critical thinking is dangerous, since it allows manipulation to become more present, affecting the life of an entire society. the solution? Creativity, which is the raw material of critical thinking , that competence that every person must have to promote autonomous thinking and thus be able to find more, better and effective solutions within society to solve problems.
Creativity as a source of critical thinking
In order to develop critical thinking in children, creativity plays an absolutely important role. From the point of view of Angélica Sátiro , an expert pedagogue on this subject, people are all equally creative and there is no difference in the creative capacity of a child or an adult. What happens is that children trust more in their creative capacity , that is why they dare more than adults to do things and face them. And it is also very likely that the very learning processes that we have adopted in schools and that we learn as we grow throughout our school journey, are largely responsible for the fact that over time people trust less in their creative capacity.
It can be complex to characterize a person as creative, so it is a capacity that should not be taught, but cultivated. It is possible that at the very moment in which we seek to teach a person to be creative, we are destroying their own creativity. Therefore, the best recommendation that there can be in this regard is that, instead of teaching and “killing” creativity, we help the little ones from birth to develop their internal resources to discover their true creative dye . That is, as teachers, parents and part of society, our job is to create the necessary conditions so that such creativity can be stimulated for the good and interest of children.
How can we stimulate creative environments?
As we saw, creativity cannot be taught to children, but the environments must be prepared so that it can take place and be absorbed by the little ones. To achieve this, in the first place, it is necessary that teachers and / or parents see themselves as creative people and that they regain the confidence that they may have lost in their abilities along the way of life. An adult who rewards their curiosity and cultivates their potentials, has more possibilities of achieving that with their education children can develop their critical thinking , that they can make their own decisions successfully, or that they can practice and have clear values such as empathy, justice or equality.
Second, the ideal is to stop thinking that the way of teaching has something to do with indoctrination. Teachers and teachers should see themselves as guides of children and adolescents in their main stage of creative discovery, as it will be the only way to achieve in them a true autonomy of thought, which is what after all we seek or should seek as an end main part of the educational process. The classroom, in turn, should be seen as a research community in which students are constantly asking questions, investigating and trying new ideas to solve the usual problems or those that may arise.
In conclusion, only by stimulating the creativity of children and adults can we be able to develop critical thinking, necessary to prevent manipulation from being possible in society, restricting the freedom and personality of everyone who suffers it.
