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9 - Creative Thinking and Reasoning: Can You Have One Without the Other?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2010

By
Daniel Fasko
Edited by
James C. Kaufman  and
John Baer
Daniel Fasko
Affiliation:
Division of Educational Foundations & Inquiry, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
California State University, San Bernardino
John Baer
Affiliation:
Rider University, New Jersey
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Summary

There have been numerous demands in U.S. education for enhanced creative thinking and reasoning skills in our students. Unfortunately, there appears to be a dearth of research regarding the relationship between creative thinking and reasoning. Interestingly, Marzano (1998) reported that Goal 3 of The National Educational Goals Report: Building a Nation of Learners (National Education Goals Panel, 1991) addressed the improvement of thinking and reasoning skills. It is suggested, though, that creative thinking and reasoning are essential skills for student achievement and, ultimately, success in school. The purpose of this chapter, then, is to examine the relationship between creative thinking and reasoning. The chapter begins with a discussion of reasoning. This is followed by a discussion of creativity/creative thinking. Next is a discussion of research related to creative thinking and reasoning. Last, the chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications to research and practice.

REASONING

There are many definitions of reasoning. For the purpose of this chapter, reasoning is defined as “ … a deliberating process of working things out to solve problems …” (Calne, 1999, p. 18). As Calne noted, it may be perceived as a tool. However, he felt that reason does not have the ability to motivate because it has no affective component, which is required for one to attain any “mental rewards” (p. 27).

Interestingly, it was Inhelder and Piaget (1958) who first stipulated that there was an invariant sequence of stages of cognitive development that influenced mental/intellectual reasoning.

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Creativity and Reason in Cognitive Development , pp. 159 - 176
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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