This issue has long been the focus of debate in educational circles. In this paper Professor Yumino addresses this issue with particular reference to Japanese education today. He illustrates his argument with a series of lesson plan examples.

Domain-Specificity of Creativity and School Education

Abstract

In this article, the concepts of ‘domain-specific’ and ‘domain-general’ creativity and its supporting data are introduced. During thirty years, Baer conducted a series of studies for examining the nature of creativity. And he found that creativity is ‘domain-specific’ rather than ‘domain-general’, and sometimes it is ‘task-specific’. Based on Baer’s findings, it is recommended that creativity education in school should be attained through all subjects. The author proposes and argues the unique means and implication of creativity education in several school subjects, based on the concept of ‘domain-specific/ task specific’.

Learning consists of two phases, ‘Acquisition: Manabi in Japanese’ and ‘Creation: Tsukuri’. Yumino (2012) differentiates strictly between the two, and concludes that ‘creativity’ belongs to ‘Tsukuri’. The characteristics of Manabi and Tsukuri are summarized in Table 1. In order to realize Tsukuri in a certain subject, it is necessary to make clear the key points for realizing Tsukuri. Here, the key points of Tsukuri in four subjects are proposed, together with lesson plans in Social Studies and Science with Tsukuri Questions and Praising Words.

Key words: domain-specific, task-specific, creativity, Tsukuri (creation), Manabi (acquisition), fostering creativity in math, science, social studies, Japanese language

Talent is the foundation for economic growth, and is at the heart of our vibrant engineering and manufacturing sector. Engineering is often the silent 'E' in STEM education so it is vitally important that that we find innovative ways to join up with the existing curriculum and bring engineering to life in in schools.

Despite the fact that three fifths of the general public see a career in engineering a 'good profession/career', 'challenging' and 'well paid', one fifth of teachers believe that engineering is an 'undesirable' career. Just 12% of 12 – 16 year olds know what an engineer does and most see engineering as less well paid than other professions.

Maarten Ambaum is Senior Lecturer in Theoretical Meteorology at the University of Reading. His research interests span a wide range of topics in the physics and mathematics of the atmosphere and oceans. He has a degree in theoretical physics from the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. His most recent work dealt with the influence of cosmic rays on cloud formation, statistical methods in climate science, thermodynamics of the climate system, and predictability of the jet stream. He is author of a textbook on thermal physics of the atmosphere. Some of his work was also part of an art-science collaboration between the Universities of Brighton, Reading, Exeter and Sussex.

Homepage: www.met.rdg.ac.uk/~sws97mha

There are probably around a hundred proofs of the Pythagoras theorem. Functionally they are the same; they all prove the Pythagoras theorem. But some of these proofs are beautiful, some are surprising, others are dull. If you 'speak maths', then one proof is a like a poem, and another is like an excerpt from a safety manual. One proof is creative, another one is utilitarian.