Assessment and advancement of creative thinking in the context of schools especially in challenging situations

Dr. Jennifer Diedrich, Deputy lead PISA National Center, National project manager PISA, Research Associate TUM

This habilitation project investigates the creative thinking of young people in the context of schools, with a special emphasis on the challenges posed by crises.

The competencies that today's young people will need as successful citizens in the future have already changed. Creative thinking has proven to be an essential competence in dealing with a changing, complex, and ambiguous world. Furthermore, the current crisis has shown that the demands on the social system of school have also changed.

The ability to develop novel and useful ideas must always be regarded in context: students are not only shaped by their parental home, but also by their schoolmates, teachers and the entire school environment. In addition to creative thinking as a cognitive competence, this habilitation should also consider the characteristics of the social system of school that promote this competence.

The school context has once again become the focus of public attention in its crisis management. Therefore, it will additionally be investigated which factors have proven to be conducive to a successful management of the crisis.