Creative thinking is the ability to look at things differently, and find new ways of solving problems. The European Council in its Reference Framework for Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (2018) regards creative thinking as an important communicative and cognitive skill, which is embedded throughout all key competences and helps individuals generate new ideas and new theories, which lead to progress and success. Nowadays, creative thinking has been proven to be a valuable asset, especially for parents, who need to stay at home with their kids as a consequence of the Covid-19 virus. From January 2020 to April, more than 3,5 billion people were confined at home, not only in Europe but in the whole world. The vast majority of them are children and their parents, since in many countries schools were closed. In hard times like this, it’s evident that parents need to be creative and look at the whole situation with a different perspective. They need to be flexible and at the same time give courage to their children, by finding different ways of entertaining them. That is why creative thinking of parents should be enhanced in order for them to be able to develop new and novel solutions to contemporary situations. Moreover, creative thinking has been acknowledged as an important skill, which can be trained (Ritter & Mostert, 2016). As a result, numerous initiatives have been implemented to enhance post secondary or higher level education curriculum to develop creative thinking skills, but the vast majority of them concentrate on the world of work. The general objective of the project as defined in its title is to develop the creative thinking skills and competence of parents of children at school age. Specific objectives: -To develop a training programme on creative thinking for parents -To develop an online motivation learning environment that will bring creative thinking education in their houses -To develop a parents’ guide on creative thinking -To organise workshops for parents -To disseminate the project results and to create an online community of practice of parents to promote creative thinking. Target groups: Direct target groups of the project are parents of children at school age as well as trainers at parents’ schools or parents’ support organisations. Indirect target groups are the schools and all actors currently active in the promotion of creative thinking ( training centres, NGOs, universities, educational departments of municipalities, policy makers, education & adult learning stakeholders). Final beneficiaries are the children themselves. The project is structured in 3 outputs: O1. Training programme: Creative Thinking for parents The first output of the project is a training programme for creative thinking, specifically targeted to parents of school age children. The training programme will be divided into workshops, with a short duration each (2h) that will cover different thematics. O2. Learning Motivation Environment CreativeParents The learning environment will be accessible online and contents will follow the microlearning methodology, where notifications/ emails will be sent to parents’, notifying them about short duration (minutes) interventions/ resources they can do/watch on the topic of creative thinking along with practical exercises that they can do along with the children. O3. Parents' Guide on Creative Thinking The Guide will include information on the same topics addressed in the training programme and will be provided as a trainees handbook for the workshops. It will consist of: - basic theory/information on each topic - practical tips, questions - ideas for activities - link to the online supplementing materials and community of practice - information about the learning environment and how to use it The online community of practice will be important for the target group as it will offer them space to discuss questions and uncertainties as well as material where they can find information and answers to their questions. The project previews also the organisation of a short learning event and 7 multiplier events one in each partner’ s country. Applicant is the Students’ Parents Federation, FAPEL (LU) and partners the European Parents’ Association, EPA (BE), the National University of Galway (IE), the non-profit organisation Mapa (PL), the adult learning organisation IDEC (EL), the Knowledge, Innovation and Strategic Management Club (BG) and the technical partner HESO (Cyprus).
Creative Thinking for Parents have set clear targets and has designed and created an innovative programme, while applying modern implementation methods, both in the concept of the educational ideas and in their execution through modern and efficient digital methods and techniques. creative thinking has been acknowledged as an important skill, which can be trained (Ritter & Mostert, 2016). As a result, numerous initiatives have been implemented to enhance post secondary or higher level education curriculums to develop creative thinking skills, but the vast majority of them concentrate on the world of work. The best education which fosters creative thinking skills is the home environment (Tanery, 2012). Families are the first education actors, which should be taken into account, since parents are the most important role models for their children. By enhancing the creative thinking skills of parents, then they will become a way of life for everyone. But teaching parents of children can be proven very challenging, since they often have hectic lives, with little to no free time. On the other hand, usually adult teaching programmes take significant time. This project attempts to offer a valid alternative, by offering short, well developed and scientifically tested creative thinking workshops as well as other innovative digital tools directed to parents, which will enhance their creative thinking skills. Erasmus+ programmes are very effective educational projects that use the latest developments and pedagogical methods in the different fields covered, mainly education. One of the major objectives of the project is to bring parents back into the education triangular. A triangular relationship that consists of collaboration between students, school staff/teachers and parents. This arousal or maintaining of the parents' cognitive capacities has a great impact on the children and nourishes their personal development at the attitude and psychic level as well as at the knowledge and skills level.
0.0 - Inactive Organization Within the partners of Creative Thinking for Parents project, the organizations performed their roles conscientiously and persistently, leaving no doubt about their commitment to the project. Hence my verdict that no organization has been inactive throughout the lifespan of the project. All partners contributed equally and performed accordingly to the work plan. The partners fulfilled their designated obligations, completing all the activities foreseen and mentioned in the proposal. 2.1 - Background: Why did you apply for this project? What were the needs you have addressed? Creative thinking is not limited to creativity in the sense of art, but incorporates many skills, such as problem solving, writing, communication skills, and open-mindedness. It is important mainly because it helps you look at situations and problems from a fresh perspective, while increasing your ability to make do with whatever is at hand. Creative thinking skills can be considered one of the key competencies for the 21st century—they allow us to remain flexible and provide us with the capacity to deal with the opportunities and challenges that are part of our complex and fast-changing world. Unesco International bureau of Education (2014) has also underlined the importance of creative thinking skills, which should be fostered in all disciplines and across all areas. The European Council in its Reference Framework for Key Competences for LifeLong Learning (2018) regards creative thinking as an important communicative and cognitive skill, which is embedded throughout all key competences and helps individuals generate new ideas and new theories, which lead to progress and success. Nowadays, creative thinking has been proven to be a valuable asset, especially for parents, who need to stay at home with their kids as a consequence of the Covid-19 virus. From January 2020 to April, more than 3,5 bil. people were confined at home. The vast majority of them are children and their parents, since in many countries schools were closed. In hard times like this, it is evident that parents need to be creative and look at the whole situation with a different perspective. They need to be flexible and at the same time give courage to their children, by finding different ways of entertaining them. That is why creative thinking of parents should be enhanced in order for them to be able to develop new and novel solutions to contemporary situations. Moreover, creative thinking has been acknowledged as an important skill, which can be trained (Ritter & Mostert, 2016). As a result, numerous initiatives have been implemented to enhance post secondary or higher level education curriculums to develop creative thinking skills, but the vast majority of them concentrate on the world of work. The best education which fosters creative thinking skills is the home environment (Tanery, 2012). Families are the first education actors, which should be taken into account, since parents are the most important role models for their children. By enhancing the creative thinking skills of parents, then they will become a way of life for everyone. But teaching parents of children can be proven very challenging, since they often have hectic lives, with little to no free time. On the other hand, usually adult teaching programmes take significant time. This project attempts to offer a valid alternative, by offering short, well developed and scientifically tested creative thinking workshops as well as other innovative digital tools directed to parents, which will enhance their creative thinking skills. Erasmus+ programmes are very effective educational projects that use the latest developments and pedagogical methods in the different fields covered, mainly education. 1) On the one hand, most of the projects submitted in the field of education are specifically aimed at schools and pupils. For this reason, the CT4P project has taken the initiative to focus on parents and to help them and their children, who are resourceful in absorbing the attitudes and abilities of their surroundings. 2) On the other hand, we had to follow the trend of digital tools with the ease of access that these digital means present. 3) A space for each age group was provided, to attract attention and encourage everyone to find interest and enjoy the positive results of the project. The CT4P project allows all ages/users to benefit from the research and methods offered, though, the project consortium has ensured that the primary target of the project remains parents/adults! 4) Last but not least, the consortium has taken into consideration the busy schedules of parents, combining work, children, leisure time and private life obligations, some parents have a significant lack of time available for improving their knowledge & skills. Therefore, the WebApp’ exercises have been designed to fit this busy schedule by offering short training sessions with the possibility to focus the exercise choices according to age, time and area of interest.