Critical and Creative Thinking for Professional Problem-Solving and Decision-Making (two-day workshop)

The critical thinking block focuses on work with information and addresses three aspects: (a) self-management, where balancing the quality of work performance and personal well-being in relation to information around us is presented; (b) communication, where appropriate choices of means of communication are discussed; and (c) information itself, where validity of arguments and quality of information is analysed in search for information-based decision-making.

The second block addresses four elements of creativity, namely creative potential, creative processes, creative situations and barriers to creativity.

This practice-oriented course is organised around group and individual tasks, problem-solving, discussion and debate activities and will engage its participants in immersive, experiential situations, providing them with an opportunity to try out, reflect and better understand their own critical and creative thinking strengths and weaknesses.

Libor Štěpánek
Libor Štěpánek is Assistant Professor in English and Director of the Masaryk University Language Centre. He is also a researcher, leadership and teacher trainer, and author of materials, online courses and publications. His versatile interdisciplinary style of work is based on his formal academic background, and informal educational and managerial activities. Since 2015, he has served as director of the largest language centre in the Czech Republic, where he has created a complex quality management programme and a continuous professional development programme for its staff members. As Teaching and Learning Expert at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, and consultant for university managements, Libor encourages close cooperation of research, teaching and administrative processes at universities, and supports work autonomy based on personal professional responsibility.