Creativity and critical thinking in secondary science pre-service teacher education

One of Monash University graduate attributes is to prepare graduates who are critical and creative scholars. Coupled with the rise in creativity and critical thinking as aspects of l earning and teaching, the secondary science education team at Monash University investigated how having a greater emphasis on the explicit articulation of creativity and critical thinking in their teaching and assessment with pre-service science teachers would influence their own thinking about creativity and critical thinking. Four (authors) secondary science educators participated in this reflective study over two semesters. Data were collected in the form of curriculum and planning documents, meeting notes, meeting recordings, reflective journal entries. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted looking for emergent common themes. Findings signal that while aspects of creativity and critical thinking were identifiable in units and assessment items to the educators, the challenge came in articulating this clearly to pre-service teachers. However, with this clarification and articulation came a further tension where explication led to oversimplification. Further, there was a sense that pre-service teachers may interpret creativity and critical thinking as freedom and limitless possibilities, thus foregoing appropriateness and suitability in order to embrace creativity and critical thinking.