Last week, representatives of the ERI “Ukrainian Engineering and Pedagogical Academy” of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University and activists from the Association of Vocational and Life-Long Education Development (AVLED) held a comprehensive training session on ‘Creative Thinking and Idea Generation’ for internally displaced persons in the Odesa region.
The training took place at the South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky as part of the TURBO project - ‘The Universities` Reaction to Big Obstructions: Building resilient higher education to respond and manage societal crises.’ (ERASMUS-EDU-2023-CBHE 101129315)
The trainers were the executive director of the AVLED, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, professor of the Department of Information Computer Technologies and Mathematics of the Education and Research Institute “Ukrainian Engineering and Pedagogical Academy” Tetiana BONDARENKO and members of the AVLED, Maryna VASYLIEVA, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Deputy Director of the ERI “UEPA”, and Roman NESTERENKO, Deputy Head of the International Relations Department at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.
The training sessions took place in a friendly and inspiring atmosphere. The aim of the event was to unlock the creative potential of the participants, teach them to use creative techniques to find unconventional solutions and develop their own ideas. The training programme included a series of interactive exercises and team games, namely:
- ‘Tower of acquaintance’ – an exercise that helped participants get to know each other and immediately feel the team spirit;
- A game with associative cards called ‘Make up a story’, aimed at developing imagination and storytelling skills;
- ‘Invent things from one material’ – an exercise in finding unusual ways to use everyday materials;
- ‘Crazy business idea’ using LEGO bricks – making creative business concepts in a playful way;
- ‘Hammer’ game – practising quick thinking and flexibility skills;
- ‘Closed Eyes’ – participants competed in their ability to create paper figures based on clues, trusting their intuition and team;
- ‘My Start-up in 3D’ with LEGO – the final exercise, where everyone presented their start-up in the form of a three-dimensional model.
The event proved that creativity is an important resource in life and professional activities, and that unconventional exercises help to find new ideas even in the most difficult conditions. Participants noted that the training gave them not only new tools for developing creative thinking, but also a boost of positivity, support and new acquaintances.
