My own personal Implicit Creativity Theory

In my seemingly never-ending search for a definition for creativity this week I have found myself mired in the muck of Implicit Theories. I am at that point where I have not yet been able to verbalize exactly what it means to me but I am certain that if I saw something I could point at it and say, “that is creativity in action!” In fact, just this week I have found myself admiring several things that I normally would likely take for granted.

1. The Mushroom statue inside The Mellow Mushroom, on Peace St, welcoming people to the restaurant.

2. The varied methods used before each commercial break on Hell’s Kitchen to show off their symbol.

3. The titles of certain “news” stories on The Daily Show and Colbert Report this week.

a. The Daily Show – The Pittsburgh irates (about the G-20 riots)

b. The Daily Show – Moral Kombat (about a conservative group’s “Values Voter Summit”)

c. The Colbert Report – The Atone Phone, Admitter Twitter, and Remorse Morse (in honor of Yom Kippur, allowing all of Stephen Colbert’s Jewish friends to apologize for wronging him throughout the year.)

One thing that I have found myself agreeing with from other theories, particularly Rogers, is that most things that I would identify as creative are not completely “NEW.” By this I simply mean that the pun of most jokes play off of something that I already have to be familiar with. For example, a Swine flu joke (it’s okay I already had it so I can make these jokes now…)

Q. What is the difference between the Swine Flu and the Bird Flu?

A. For Swine flu you need Oinkment, and for Bird Flu you seek Tweetment.

Admittedly this is not the funniest joke in the world, but without the familiarity with both the American pronunciation of these two animal noises and the words Ointment and Treatment, this joke would completely bomb. So, while the joke may be new there are several concepts at work which when combined, provide humor to the situation.

If I were to try to explain my understanding of creativity it would come out something like this:

Creativity is the intentional combination of the familiar into something unfamiliar yet recognizable.

Creativity Theories, as seen in the media

This week for my graduate class I was challenged to spend some time this week researching, identifying, and locating examples in the media of each of the following facets of creativity as defined in our textbook. I began by re-writing my own definition of each and then trying to locate examples of each that I am familiar with in the media/technologically-available world.

Rank’s creative type: Basically says that people who are creative are well-balanced and highly functional people.

1. Jon Stewart - http://www.hulu.com/watch/95653/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-mad-men#s-p3-sa-i1

2. Stephen Colbert - http://www.hulu.com/watch/95648/the-colbert-report-kanye-west-interrupts-taylor-swift-at-the-vmas#s-p1-sa-i1

Jung’ s psychological type of creative person: A creative person whose creativity stems out of life experiences.

1. House (TV show, main character)

2. Jerry Seinfeld - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYDA7__znfY

Jung’s visionary type and primordial archetypes: A creative person who draws their creativity from something deep inside, a basic commonality of mankind, somewhere deep dark and repressed.

1. http://www.livevideo.com/video/D0A6282A7170447F899E6744911CEB5A/the-california-raisins-meet-th.aspx this is a video from The California Raisins, fast-forward to where there are 2 minutes and 20 seconds remaining. This video begins with an image that lacks explanation but seems engraved in the subconscious of most people.

Torrance’s creative type: Scientific-method-like creativity application which describes the entire act of creation in 4 steps: Find a problem, hypothesize, test, and pass on results.

1. House (TV show, main character)

The creative press: Pressures of the social and psychological environments.

1. Teachers – The Wall Part II, by Pink Floyd - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_bvT-DGcWw&feature=player_embedded

2. Peer Pressure - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exsa70H-Hks&feature=player_embedded#t=273

Mental Happenings

o In Art

· Stephen Sondheim- Writer of Sweeny Todd- revealed to NPR that he was inspired in his writing while watching a movie. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1583370

o In Music

· Lil’ Wayne – Does not write down his music, simply writes it, while listening to beats, verbally. http://vodpod.com/watch/2140405-video-lil-wayne-behind-the-music-preview-2

o In Science

· Archimedes – When he exclaimed “Eureka!” upon discovering his theory of density while sitting in a bathtub.

o In Literature

· William Wordsworth- Who described poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”

· The “Instant Art Movement” - http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2003-12-03-crapart_x.htm

It seems that creative inspiration can hit anyone at any time. It comes to each of us in different ways, and for each person there may well be a theory out there.

My response to the article "About Creativity, Giftedness, and Teaching the Creatively Gifted in the Classroom"

One of the issues that I invariably have with education classes, particularly Graduate-level classes, is that in our extensive survey of complex concepts we rarely arrive at a definition, particularly early on. This is again the case in my Creativity class. However, the more that you articles that you read on each of these subjects this issue of mine is easily understood, and swiftly swept away. The reason we cannot arrive at an overarching definition is because the professionals in the field have not been able to do so either.

I really enjoyed reading the article “About Creativity, Giftedness, and Teaching the Creatively Gifted in the Classroom,” in which a teacher was interviewed and observed regarding how she views, values, and nurtures creativity in her students. I found that her 3 concepts of creativity “perceive, act, and impact,” were broad enough to attach to such a complex idea as this, but narrow enough to gain the insight that she would hope to relay regarding her understanding. I found particularly interesting her valuing of creativity that was measurable. I understand that her being a teacher it would be easier for her to value something that she could quantify, but I would hesitate to expect students to constantly be evaluated based on their creativity.

This article also helped me to understand a concept that I had recently found myself struggling with. She explained that there is a difference between Gifted Students and Creatively Gifted Students. I have experienced students who are extremely bright and get straight A’s but cannot handle the looser reigns of a less structured lesson.

I also appreciated her belief that creativity can be nurtured in students. Her activities are apparently designed to display the creativity of certain students and develop it further in others.

All in all I found this article to be very helpful in my quest to better understand creativity, particularly its value inside the classroom.

Upon my reading of the article “The Creative Personality,” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi I was enlightened that there are in fact 10 common traits among creative people. Interestingly, each of these traits may seem counterintuitive, in that often they seem to be in conflict with each other. Csikszentmihalyi argues that it is these conflicting personality traits, which enable the creative person to think in obscure manners, yielding creative thought.

Below is a list of the 10 traits identified by Csikszentmihalyi and with each trait I have identified a creative person in whom I have witnessed such traits.

1. A great deal of energy, but often found at rest.

Jimmy- A good friend of mine, who is now a microchip designer at IBM, is the most energetic person I know. He also happens to be the most well rested person that I know of…

2. Smart yet naïve.

Sarah- My wife is absolutely brilliant, and very creative. She however often allows jokes and other things to slip right past her.

3. Combination of playfulness and discipline.

Jon Stewart- My favorite “newscaster.” His ability to report on serious subjects with the degree of humor and wit that he approaches his work with is amazing.

4. Operate between fantasy and reality.

Stephen Colbert- My 2^nd favorite “newscaster.” He does not allow himself to be bogged down by what the actual news is, and reports on things as he sees them.

5. Extroverted and introverted simultaneously.

Myself- I have a very strong tendency to be extremely chatty in certain circumstances and shy as a mouse in others. I need my “alone time,” but often when I get it I then feel the need to be around others.

6. Humble and proud at the same time.

Tommy – A previous student of mine. He was very proud of his accomplishments, but at the same time appreciated that he still had much to learn.

7. Escape gender role stereotyping.

Prince (or whatever he calls himself now)- A wonderful singer/songwriter. His extremely flamboyant mannerisms and outfits often made him come across as androgynous.

8. Rebellious and conservative.

Mark Twain- I know that is not his real name, but that is how most people refer to him. His ability to challenge his societal norms through backhanded sarcastic and often sardonic satire still impresses me to this day.

9. Passionate yet objective.

Jon Stewart- Often when interviewing people about serious subjects, (stock market issues, health care reform, war…) Jon becomes fired up, and confident in himself. He then is able to back away and give the other side a chance to explain their case.

10. Openness and sensitivity leads to suffering and joy.

All comedians- I have heard many comedians speak about what it is like being a comedian and having a bad night, it is often demoralizing. However, apparently the joy of having a successful night often brings them back to the stage soon.

While I may not be able to attribute all 10 of these characteristics to 1 person I certainly am able to see more than one in many of the creative people that I know/know of. Also, it may simply be the case that not all creative people are willing/able to show all of these inner workings that display many of these traits.

Creativity Blockers

Today’s topic is a bit of a hard pill to swallow, along with the possibility (and responsibility) to build creativity in our students, we as teachers (more often than we would like to admit) find ourselves straddling the danger of killing off the creativity that they are willing to share with us. This is a frightening fact that we must face head on. There are plenty of ways that creativity can be squashed and in order to reflect on this I reviewed a list of 10 possibilities for “Extinguishing the Creative Spirit” created by Roger von Oech in his book A Whack on the Side of the Head. Then I reviewed the list to see what I hear/experience the most often in schools. Finally, I reviewed the list looking to see what on the list I have said/felt in my own life, both in and outside of school.

Those which I have seen/heard:

1. To Err Is Wrong

This is a particularly common one in academia. There are certain subjects that have less restrictive criteria than others, but even in English classes I have witnessed students told that their interpretations of literature were “wrong,” not unsupported, just “wrong.” What a dangerous thing to tell a person, who believes him/herself to have made some great discovery or insight into both his/her own life as well as a connection with the author. Telling people that they are wrong is rarely helpful, whereas guiding someone toward a better supported theory or reviewing how some conclusion was arrived at could potentially lend a hand to the development of creativity.

2. Be Practical

Now this is just a difficult one for any teacher, or authority figure, who has spent any time with adolescents. I recently spent some time talking with a current Student-teacher who was describing to me the difficulties that he is having with encouraging his students to answer questions in a way that will propel his lesson. Instead of explaining that everything that he is working toward violates the work of Paulo Freire, I advised him that he simply needed to let his lessons flow naturally and give students opportunities to answer questions that do not control where he is going. What I took from this was that we as teachers need to be able let our students minds wander. Our thinking is likely no less linear than many of our students and confining them to this strict pattern of “our plans” is a disservice to them.

3. That’s Not Logical

Another very difficult blocker to deal with, when working with adolescents, is, seemingly, illogical thinking. Much like the previous creative block there is a strong tendency to try to force students minds to work the way that we want them to. This often becomes a struggle between student and teacher.

4. Play Is Frivolous

There is often little time for play in the classroom; unfortunately this extends to playing with ideas. I am a big fan of allowing students to have time to finesse their thoughts, but even I have found myself “cracking down” on students who appear to be playing, or in my own interpretation off task. This does not give students the freedom that they need to be truly creative. I suppose there would need to be some sort of agreement between the students and teacher as to what “appropriate” play looks like, in a classroom. This leads to another issue of whether or not creativity should be restrained in any manner. But that is for another day.

5. I’m Not Creative

This is sadly one of the most common blockers of students’ creativity. Typically, when an assignment in which students are required to show their creativity is made many students shy away and complain that they are not creative. This is terribly unfortunate.

Which do you USE the most?

1. Avoid Ambiguity

This one is terribly difficult being an English teacher. We have to teach a strict avoidance of ambiguity in writing, this sometimes leaks into speaking as well. Sometimes, I suppose, we as teachers must allow students the time to work through ambiguity, and not discourage it. Great thoughts rarely come out that way, and we must learn to relish all of our students “diamonds in the rough”s.

2. That’s Not My Area

This is one that affects me. This block happens immediately whenever a math problem presents itself. Rather than trying to solve the problem I will look to someone else. This not only limits my math skill development, but also does not allow me to create ways to solve such problems.

3. Follow The Rules

This one is very difficult for me as a substitute teacher. I often find myself shushing students more than what I probably should during group work. Again, here I think we need to have conversations with our students wherein we develop a set of rules that should be followed that are not limiting.

There are many questions to be answered as to how to promote creativity while moving students appropriately toward our goals for them.