What is creativity?
Part 1 of 2 OK.
By now, you should have spent some time thinking about a definition for creativity and various
aspects of it.
Creativity is one of those words that is easier to point to products of it than to actually
put into words.
This lecture presents some characteristics of creativity that are shared by Sir Ken Robinson
in his book, “Out of Our Minds.”
In reality, the various aspects here are in no particular order, but I do think that recognizing
creativity as a process is one of the more essential parts of its definition.
Different experts will use different labels, but generally, the process looks something
like this: preparation, leads to incubation, leads to illumination, and then there is verification.
The reason we have some weeks where no new information is given is because I know you
need preparation and incubation time before successfully completing your projects.
Preparation can be anywhere from minutes to decades long.
It can be actual study or just our reactions to various events.
Incubation is the growing or developing of the idea.
You can’t put it into words yet; you don’t have a definitive picture of what you want
to create yet, but you can feel it simmering on the back burner of your mind.
Then, after all that, you have the illumination.
The “Ah Hah!”
moment.
Because the preparation and incubation stages are mostly subconscious, many people just
label the illumination stage as creative.
But that creative breakthrough, required a lot of hard work and subconscious travels.
Many would say that should end the creative process, but in reality, the last stage is
Verification.
Like it or not, we judge something as being creative or not creative.
Someone can have a very imaginative idea for how to build a motor, but if it never works,
then it will not be evaluated as creative.
Another aspect of creativity is that it is a cultural process.
I don’t mean “culture” as in an ethnic group.
I mean “culture” as in environment or atmosphere.
It requires a culture of innovation – true appreciation of creative intelligence rather
than just academic intelligence.
We will come back to this several times this quarter.
But remember, as the teacher, you will be the one responsible to establish an environment
where creativity is honored.
Will you kindle or kill creativity?
There’s a huge difference usually between a kindergartener and a first grader.
While we have a responsibility to socialize students enough to be successful throughout
their academic career, do we maybe go a little far towards killing creativity instead of
kindling, allowing it to grow from a small spark to a large idea?
I would argue that risk and experimentation have to be encouraged.
What does this have to do with teaching ESL or EFL?
Everything.
I know that I learn a language much more slowly when I am afraid to experiment with a new
sentence.
Our ESL/EFL classrooms should already be fostering atmospheres that value risk and experimentation.
Creativity “flourishes when there is a systemic strategy to promote it” according to Sir
Robinson.
The opposite of a systemic strategy is when we occasionally throw in some new activity
(mostly so we don’t bore ourselves too much).
Creativity needs to be integrated throughout the curriculum.
If you are worried about justification, just point out to your administrator that developing
learners who can come up with creative solutions to problems is a 21st Century Skill.
And everyone is talking about 21st Century Skills these days.