Creative Teaching for Creative Generations

"<< Background >>We applied for this project to develop ""creative and critical thinking skills"" in our students and teachers by increasing teacher competencies and public awareness in developing creativity in education. As creative thinking and creativity have been an important skill in keeping up with the changing world; with our partners: Spain, Turkey, Germany and Czechia, with the feedback we received from the forms we created regarding our project , we identified our needs in ignoring individual differences in education, the application of traditional teaching methods, low teacher competencies related to creative teaching methods, early school leaving and negative attitudes against education which is one of the reason of absenteeism, lack of awareness in environment issues among students and public, -being uneager to take action for environmental issues such as global warming and climate change to help our students move beyond memorization, develop critical and creative thinking skills, and prepare them for life with the ability to solve social, individual, and professional problems effectively.<< Objectives >>In our project, aimed at equipping our students with the essential skills of collaboration, relationship management, critical thinking, and creativity, we aimed to transfer best practices for promoting creativity in education, raise awareness in society through international and local activities, and foster interaction with different cultures, in collaboration with our partners; and of this purpose we wanted to achieve to increase teacher competencies and raise public awareness in developing creativity in education, promote the use of information technologies and Web 2.0 tools in our organizations to encourage creativity, develop creative and critical thinking abilities in students, raise awareness on environmental issues, and promote contemporary education methods in our schools, aiming for a 10% increase in the first year and 20% in the second year through the use of creative teaching methods. Additionally, we aimed to strengthen the cooperation among public schools, universities, and non-governmental organizations.<< Implementation >>We carried out 4 different activities through our project. 1. Seminar on Creative Thinking Skills: It was held in Eskişehir, Turkey and There were 10 participants.2. WEB 2.0 and ICT Tools to Promote Creativity in Education: It' was be held in Czechia. There were 10 participants.3. Workshop for Teacher Manual on Creative Teaching Materials and Techniques: It was held in Germany . There were 10participants.4. A Creative Look on Environmental Issues: It was held in Spain. There were 15 participants.<< Results >>Thanks to the international and local activities that were carried out , teacher competencies were improved, and public awareness about fostering creativity in education was raised, which allowed students to develop their creative and critical thinking skills.And with this cooperation we produced a teacher handbook for the development of creative teaching methods, an information Technologies and WEB 2.0 Tools User Guide, we organized workshop to support creativity of learning environments, we prepared a short film, posters and logo on environmental issues to develop creative and critical thinking ability in students and we obtained fabric bags and t-shirts designed by our students."