Basic Life Skills Course Facilitator’s Manual
LESSON 14:
SESSION 14:
CRITICAL AND CREATIVE CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING
THINKING 90 Minutes
Ages 10-24
Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to:
• Distinguish between fact and opinion
• Respect dierent perspectives/opinions without viewing them as “fact”
• Brainstorm creative solutions to common dilemmas
• Practice exible thinking
Materials to run this session:
• Students will need to bring their work book to class, with homework com-
pleted and ready to discuss
• Poster with the group rules clearly written
• The script for delivering this session is in italics below
Aim Format Timing
Introduction Welcome students to the group and today’s 5
topic “Critical and Creative Thinking” minutes
Briey refer to the group’s ground rules
(point to poster with rules clearly written):
• Use respectful communication and be-
havior
• The group belongs to everyone and ev-
eryone is equal in importance
• Listen to each other
• Take turns – give others an equal chance
to speak if they want to
• Be supportive of one another
• Any personal information revealed during
the lessons remains strictly condential
• No verbal abuse or violence
Note to facilitator: Questions are welcome
during the session but if someone is domi-
nating conversation or asking unrelated, time
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consuming questions, re-direct the group The dierence We are going to start this lesson by discuss- 25
back to the lesson. between fact and ing the difference between fact and opinion. minutes
opinion Who can give me a denition o either o
Homework review • Check in and review last week’s 3 home 10 these”
exercise tasks minutes
• This time is for “safe” learning where • Write key words from students’ accurate
children can make mistakes without any responses on the chalkboard. Validate ac-
judgment. Remind them that these skills curate responses, and praise students for
are skills for life – and they need practice volunteering to oer denitions.
Critical Thinking Can anyone offer up something that they 10
have heard from friends, read in the news, or Facts are true, real things that we can prove
minutes
seen on TV that did not appear to be true? – we can see them with our own eyes, such
• Have students discuss with the person as – my hair is brown, the sky is blue. Facts
seated next to them are also often based on numbers, such as
• Take students responses the temperature is 20 degrees Celsius, she is
• After examples are given, say: 12 years old, the dog weighs 20 kilograms.”
It sounds to me like you knew it was not true (Add more as you like, using examples from
because you used something called “critical the class.)
thinking.”
Opinions are what someone likes, thinks and
Have you ever heard this term before? believes -- every person has their own opin-
ion. They might seem factually true to that
What does the term, “critical thinking” mean? person, but they are hard to prove as facts
• Take student responses and put accurate – because often they are not facts. Examples
key words on board/ip chart of opinions are ‘school is boring’ and ‘kebab
is delicious’ “he is handsome.’ We would
Recap: Critical thinking is the ability to ana- have a dicult time proving with data that
lyze our own surroundings and experiences school is boring, kebab is delicious, and that
objectively, and question why things are the a particular man is handsome -- even if these
way they are. might be popular opinions – they are still just
opinions. You will always nd someone who
In other words, it means that we should not does not hold that opinion.”
accept the current situation, or information
that is handed down to us, as the only an- • Have students distinguish whether these
swer. When we think critically, we evaluate statements are fact or opinion. Have them
motives, biases, views and values – and we in give a thumbs up if the statement is a fact,
the end make a determination if information and a thumbs down if they are an opinion.
is correct or incorrect, reliable or rumor, use- • All people must breathe to live. (fact)
ful or not useful, intelligent or unwise. • All people love basketball. (opinion)
• Math is terrible. (opinion)
In essence, critical thinking helps us separate • He is lazy (opinion)
act rom ction. It is also the ability to see • Azerbaijan is on the Caspian Sea. (fact)
a problem from several different angles and • There are 4 seasons. (fact)
perspectives. • I don’t like tomatoes. (opinion)
• Reinforce that critical thinking will make • Dogs are cute. (opinion)
us informed consumers of media, news, • Dogs have 4 legs and a tail (fact)
other people’s opinions -- and literally ev- • Pizza tastes great. (opinion)
erything we take in and perceive • Most, but not all, people have two arms
and legs. (fact – except people who
have had amputations)
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Critical Thinking • Ask that students volunteer to oer up 10 nature and that there are examples of
a statement and the class can debate minutes both facts and opinions represented.
whether it is fact or opinion State the following before beginning:
Remember, facts can be proven/seen in black
• Ask students, to talk to the person next and white. Opinions are the beliefs of people.
to them and make a list of sources/books It does not mean that we should disrespect
or other media where facts can be found. their opinion – we should respect that their
• Accurate responses are: Encyclopedia, opinion is their perspective, though it may be
dictionary, almanac, atlas, Guinness Book different than our perspective/opinion.
of World Records, etc. Note that some-
times, textbooks in school are not com- • As you read, students will write down
pletely accurate. This is true of history, whether statements are facts or opinion.
while usually math books are facts.
• Review the responses with students, re-
• Ask students, to talk to the person next to member that facts are things that can be
them and make a list of sources/books or scientically proven.
other media where opinions can be found.
• Accurate responses are: Autobiographies, • Opinions represent the perspective of
self-help books, novels, journals, opinion someone (which should be respected, but
pieces in the newspaper, blogs on the in- it does not mean that it is actually true!).
ternet, history books at school, etc. We can agree to disagree – we can also
disagree quietly (we do not need to try to
Ask, What about the news? Is everything in change their opinion).
the newspaper or on television news fact?”
We all have our own unique perspectives and
• Use this to spark a discussion that in fact, opinions, and that is perfectly normal and
everything in the newspaper is not true – ne. But we must remember that not many
and that we need to be cautious consum- things we read in the media these days can
ers of media. be factually proven in black and white.
Ask, “What about the internet? Should we Creative Thinking: Now, let’s shift gears. 10
believe what we read on the internet?” Brainstorming minutes
On the other side of the spectrum from this
Note to facilitator: Ensure that you convey fact vs. opinion activity, is something called
to students that we should NOT believe “creative thinking.”
what read on the internet – we have to use
‘critical thought’ and investigate further to Have you heard of “creative thinking” before?
nd out what is true and what is false.
What does it mean?
Emphasize, In order to know whether things • Write accurate, key words from their re-
that we read or see on television and the sponses on the board/ipchart
news are true, we need to look for further • Dene creative thinking as:
evidence and facts. We can also be critical In sum, creative thinking is a way of looking
thinkers as we are reading or listening to me- at problems or situations from a fresh per-
dia and people. spective that suggests unorthodox solutions
• Direct students to their workbooks, Les- that may ne new and sometimes, unusual.
son 14, Activity A: Fact or Opinion? Creative thinking can be stimulated by an un-
• Facilitator will now read a paragraph or 2 structured called brainstorming.
from a local newspaper and/or magazine.
Make sure that this is non-political in We used this in many of the lessons we’ve
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Critical Thinking had so far – including our most recent lesson 10 the brainstorming process.
on problem solving where we had to come minutes
up with as many options as possible – no Flexible Creative thinking and brainstorming are cru- 20
matter how unusual or unconventional some Responses to cial life skills. If we go through life thinking minutes
of those possibilities seemed. Common Dilemmas that there is just 1 solution or option to solve
problems, we will be miserable.
• Direct learners to their workbooks: Les-
son 14, Activity B: Brainstorming, and ask Our goal is to move through life with FLEXI-
that students volunteer to read aloud the BILITY.
following paragraphs:
What does fexibility mean?
American advertising executive, Alex Osborn, • Take students responses
created a system for creative-problem solv- • Ask students to stand up. Guide them
ing in 1939. At the time, Mr. Osborn was frus- through a 15-30 second activity where
trated by his employees’ inability to develop they pretend that they are a tree. A storm
creative ideas individually for ad campaigns. rolls through creating a lot of wind. Have
He began hosting group-thinking sessions them bend with the wind.
and discovered a signicant improvement in • Illustrate how a tree bends in the wind.
the quality and quantity of ideas produced When it is storm out the tree bends – so
by employees. We now know this as “brain- that after the storm it is still standing.
storming.”
The reason we need to be fexible is that many
His 4 qualities of effective brainstorming times in life, things do not go as planned.
were: When this occurs, it helps if you’re ready to
1. Go or quantity: This rule is a means that be fexible.
the more ideas the better. It is also be-
lieved that the more ideas you come up Now we will practice what we have discussed
with the higher the chance that a few of about brainstorming and fexible thinking to
those ideas will be of high quality – and come up with creative solutions to the com-
that one of those high quality options will mon dilemmas.
be the most effective solution to a prob- • Direct students to their workbooks, and
lem. turn to Lesson 14, Activity C: Flexible
2. Withhold criticism: In brainstorming, crit- Thinking
icism of ideas should be put ‘on hold’. • Have students work in pairs or small
Instead. Participants should focus on ex- groups to come up with solutions to the
tending or adding to ideas, and wait to dilemmas presented on the worksheet
criticize later, when selecting an option • If time permits, review this as a whole
to take. By suspending judgment, partic- class, making sure that each student pair
ipants will feel free to generate unusual oers at least 1 idea
ideas. Ending • Indicate the 2 home exercise tasks to do 5
3. Welcome “wild” ideas: To get a good before the next lesson minutes
long list of suggestions, wild ideas are en- • If time permits, as that 3-4 students to
couraged. They can be generated by look- volunteer to name 1 thing they learned
ing from new perspectives and suspend- from this lesson
ing rigid ways of looking at the world. • Thank students for their participation
4. Combine and improve ideas: Part of in-
creasing quantity of ideas, and coming up
with “unconventional” (wild) solutions is
to be open to combining and improving
some of the ideas already mentioned in
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