Romanian students do not know how to think, is one of the conclusions of the PISA 2022 results, results that rank Romania at the bottom of Europe in this chapter as well. In the top 5 of shame, we are in last place with countries such as Moldova, Cyprus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania in front of us.
Romanian students, disastrous results in PISA 2022
In the latest PISA tests, 42% of Romanian students did not even reach level 3 of competence, considered basic for creative thinking. This means that they cannot think freely, they cannot generate appropriate ideas in the context of certain tasks, and they cannot generate original ideas or solutions in familiar contexts, writes edupedu.ro.
It is also the reason why the Ministry of Education has issued a series of measures that it recommends to schools and teachers, measures to develop children's creative thinking skills. Among them are: educational programs such as the integration of creativity in all disciplines, interdisciplinary projects, promoting projects that combine several disciplines to develop a holistic approach to problem solving, etc. Ministry officials are proposing new methods of teaching and learning. Among them, inquiry learning – promoting an approach where students discover concepts for themselves, through experimentation and exploration, project-based learning, game-based learning (using educational games to stimulate students' interest and creativity).
Technology, a core competency for training creative thinking
Among the educational resources that would assist teachers in strengthening creative thinking capacity is the use of technology. This involves the integration of digital technology to facilitate creative exploration. Obviously, there is also a need for evaluation and feedback. We are talking about a formative assessment – providing continuous and constructive feedback to encourage the progress and development of students' creativity but also about a portfolio assessment. This form of assessment involves encouraging students to create portfolios of creative work that reflect their development over time.
The Ministry of Education encourages collaboration between teachers to share effective strategies and resources. For example, schools can organize regular teacher meetings to discuss and share experiences and innovative teaching methods.
According to the country note published by the Institute of Education Sciences, the PISA 2022 creative thinking test explored students' competencies along three cognitive processes: generating diverse ideas, generating creative ideas, and evaluating and improving ideas.
