Moods, Emotions and Creative Thinking: A Framework for Teaching

When planning and teaching, attention is generally given to cognition while the effect of mood and emotion on cognition is ignored. But students are not emotionless thinkers and the effect can make a difference to their thought. This is particularly evident when attempting to foster creative thinking. This article draws on research to describe aspects of creative thought and problem-solving, moods and emotions, and some of their interactions. It uses these to construct a framework to help teachers of students at all levels plan for, think about, manage and mediate creative thinking in classrooms. The framework takes into account the flow of changing moods and emotions as tasks progress and accommodates individual thinking and collaborative group work. Implications for practice and teacher training are considered.

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