Chapter 1 UNDERSTANDING CREATIVITY Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning

Chapter 1 UNDERSTANDING CREATIVITY Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Objectives • After reading this chapter, you should be able to: – Explain creativity as an attitude, process, product, skill, set of personality traits, and a set of environmental conditions. – Compare and contrast creativity with conformity and convergent thinking. – Discuss the relationship between creativity and intelligence. – Discuss ways adults can facilitate children’s creative expression. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Objectives (continued) – Explain the concept of multiple intelligences and their relationship to art. – Identify characteristics of gifted and talented children. – Discuss the implications of brain research. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

With What or Whom Do You Associate Creativity? • • • The architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright? A play by Shakespeare? A painting by Georgia O’Keeffe? Henry Ford’s Model T? The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky? Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Some Acceptable Definitions of Creativity • The ability to see things in new ways • Boundary breaking and going beyond the information given • Thinking unconventionally • Making something unique • Combining unrelated things into something new Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Torrance (1963) defined creativity as… …the process of sensing problems or gaps in information, forming ideas or hypotheses, and communicating the results. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Gardner (1993) defines a creative person as… …an individual who regularly solves problems, fashions products, or defines new questions in a way that is initially considered novel, but that ultimately becomes accepted in a particular cultural setting. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Gardner’s Beliefs about Creativity • A person can be creative in a particular developmental domain, rather than across all domains. • Creative individuals regularly exhibit their creativity, as opposed to a once-in-a-lifetime burst of creativity. • Creativity can involve the fashioning of products or the devising of new questions, as well as the solution of problems. • Creative activities are only known as such when they have been accepted in a particular culture. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Creativity can be explained as a(n): • • • Attitude Process Product Skill Set of personality traits Set of environmental conditions Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Children demonstrate a creative attitude when they: • Try out new ideas and different ways of doing things • Push boundaries and explore possibilities • Manipulate and transform ideas and materials • Take things apart and put them back together in different ways • Physically play with objects • Imagine, engage in fantasy, or just daydream • Solve problems or try to figure things out • Ask questions or challenge accepted ways of thinking or acting. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Creativity as a Skill • Although all children are capable of creativity, the potential to create remains dormant without practice. • The skill of creativity requires practice to grow. • Creativity often peaks at about four to four-and-a -half years of age and is followed by a sharp drop upon entrance to elementary school. • Environmental conditions and practice can keep creativity alive. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Creativity as a Set of Personality Characteristics • • • An openness to the new and unexpected A tolerance for ambiguity A willingness to experiment and take risks Impulsivity and curiosity A preference for complexity Being highly intuitive Sensitivity and flexibility Introversion and individualism Nonconformity, daring to be different Independence Playfulness and a sense of humor A preference for being alone Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Torrance (1962) identified seven indicators of creativity: • Curiosity: The child’s questioning is persistent and purposeful. Curiosity can be either verbal (asking questions) or nonverbal (manipulation and active exploration) • Flexibility: If one approach fails, the creative child will try a variety of different approaches. • Sensitivity to Problems: The child is quick to see gaps in information, exceptions to rules, and contradictions in what is seen and heard. • Redefinition: The child sees hidden meaning in statements; new uses are found for familiar objects; the child sees connections between seemingly unrelated things. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Torrance (1962) identified seven indicators of creativity (continued): • Self-Feeling: The child has a feeling of selfimportance and individuality; self-direction permits the child to work alone. • Originality: The child has surprising, uncommon, interesting ideas. • Insight: The child has access to realms of the mind that the less creative visit only in their dreams. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Creativity as a Set of Environmental Conditions • In order to create, children need a source of inspiration or an experiential background from which to draw. • The greater one’s background of experiences with people, places, and objects, the greater the range of possibilities to draw from in creative activity. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Healy (1994) states that parents of creative children: • Show them how to be problem finders, as well as problem solvers • Have full lives themselves and don’t depend on their children to meet their emotional and achievement needs • Are not in awe of their child and do not defer to his demands; do not feel compelled to entertain their child • Tolerate divergent ideas and mistakes • Provide discipline and structure to give children security to explore • Set realistic standards and encourage pride in achievement • Show active interest in their child’s thoughts and creative efforts Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Healy (1994) states that parents of creative children (continued): • Encourage a close, nurturing relationship as well as freedom of physical expression • Give children early responsibility for making choices and decisions • Permit children to have solitude and to daydream • Show children how to be curious and observant • Allow honest expression of emotions • Encourage children to feel intuitively as well as think logically • Do not put pressure on school for “competency” that excludes intellectual creativity • Expose children to a broad range of artistic and intellectual pursuits Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Four Environmental Conditions that Can Provide Obstacles to Creativity • Home: Families may view creative behaviors as misbehavior. • School: Teachers may not understand or value the creative child; creative children may feel confined by a conforming curriculum. • Gender roles: Gender expectations may limit boys and girls to certain behaviors. • Society, culture, and tradition: Cultural expectations may require children to sacrifice individuality. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Adults Facilitate Creativity • • Celebrating creativity Valuing creativity Being a creative partner Providing time and space for creativity • Providing materials conducive to creativity • Providing a psychological climate conducive to creativity • Weaving creativity throughout the curriculum Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Comparison of Open- and Closed-Ended Materials • Open-Ended – – – • Closed-Ended Are conducive to creativity Have multiple outcomes Have many uses Are multipurpose Are used in many “right” ways – Are flexible: use and purpose determined by the child – Reflect unlimited range of possibilities or options – Are conducive to conformity – Have single outcomes – Have a singular use – Have only one purpose – Are used in only one “right” way – Are inflexible: use and purpose determined by adults – Reflect very limited range of possibilities or options Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Conformity and Convergent Thinking • These are dominant in most curriculum and school goals. • Children are expected to come up with the right answers to specific questions. • Conformity includes behavioral expectations. • When carried to extremes, conformity and convergent thinking can stifle creativity. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Creativity versus Intelligence • High scores on tests of creativity are not correlated with high scores on IQ tests. • Some basic level of intellectual functioning and an average IQ near 100 are required for creativity. • Tests of intelligence should be used judiciously to screen creative children. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Gifted and Talented • Gifted and talented children show high performance in one or more areas: – General intellect – Academic aptitude – Creative thinking or production – Leadership – Talent in the arts – Physical ability Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Young gifted and talented children may: • • • Be curious and inquisitive Have a good sense of humor Be unusually aware of their surroundings Be able to think quickly and at abstract levels Have an extensive and mature vocabulary Ask thought-provoking questions Have a long attention span Be able to sustain concentration Have a developmental lag between physical and intellectual domains • Have a developmental lag between their social and intellectual domains Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Gardner’s (2006) Definition of Intelligence • The capacity to solve problems or make things valued by one’s culture Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Identification Criteria for Gardner’s Intelligences • Potential isolation by brain damage • The existence of idiot savants, prodigies, and other exceptional individuals • An identifiable core operation or set of operations • A distinctive development history, along with a definable set of “end-state” performances • An evolutionary history and evolutionary plausibility • Support from experimental psychological tasks • Support from psychometric findings • Susceptibility to encoding in a symbol system (Howard Gardner 1983: 62– 69) Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Multiple Intelligences • • Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence Musical-rhythmic intelligence Interpersonal intelligence Visual-spatial intelligence Verbal-linguistic intelligence Logical-mathematical intelligence Intrapersonal intelligence Naturalist intelligence Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Gardiner’s Multiple Intelligences (1993 b) Intelligence “Smart” Strengths and Interests Bodily-kinesthetic Body Sports, movement, dance, acting, dramatics, large motor and playground activities Musical-rhythmic Music Singing, dancing, playing a musical instrument, listening to music Interpersonal People Making friends, socializing, cooperative projects, being a leader, resolving peer conflicts Visual-spatial Pictures Art, looking at pictures, daydreaming, puzzles, maps, charts Verbal-linguistic Words Speaking, reading, writing, listening, telling stories, thinking in words, discussions, memorizing, word puzzles, word games Logical-mathematical Math, reasoning, logical and abstract thinking, problem solving, patterns, working with numbers, computers Intrapersonal Self Understands self, knows strengths and accepts limits, works alone, pursues own interests, reflective, self-paced learner Naturalist Nature Recognizes plants, minerals, animals, clouds, rocks, flora, fauna, other natural phenomena Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Art • Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence • Manipulation of art tools enhances use of large muscles; sensory-motor integration, fine motor skills, and eye-hand coordination • Involves bodily and kinesthetic movements and multisensory stimulation • Different media require different types of processing, involving different physical movements and skills Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Art (continued): • Children can make musical instruments or sound makers • Art can be produced in response to music • Background music can trigger artistic processing • Musical-rhythmic intelligence Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Art (continued): • Interpersonal intelligence • Children talk about and share their art with others • Children work together and practice social skills at the art center • Children use peers as resources while doing art • Children engage in group art projects • Children comply with rules and limits of the art center Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Art (continued): • Art involves symbolic representation • Materials for two- and three-dimensional processing are provided • Use art books, art posters, and illustrated children’s books that are visually aesthetic and stimulating • Children’s artwork is displayed at their eye level • Visual-spatial intelligence Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Art (continued): • Verbal-linguistic intelligence • Children talk about their art • Encouraging art sharing as part of show-and-tell • Read art books to children • Engage in art dialogue with children • Take art dictation • Teach art vocabulary • Label art materials and supplies • Conduct art critique using artistic elements for children’s discussion Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Art (continued): • Patterning, color mixing, quantifying, problem solving • Set up an organized art center in which materials are grouped and classified • Children make choices, decisions, and carry out plans • Logical-mathematical Intelligence Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Art (continued): • Intrapersonal intelligence • Children work alone and reflect on their processing and results • Personal emotions, thoughts, and ideas are expressed • Provide multicultural art supplies • Plan art activities focusing on the child’s sense of self Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Art (continued): • Take nature walks to collect specimens for art • Provide natural materials for painting, printing, collage, sculpture, and weaving • Children use personally meaningful symbols to represent nature and their surrounding environment • Naturalist intelligence Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Brain Research • A line of study documenting that early experiences have a decisive impact on the architecture of the brain and on the nature and extent of adult capacities. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Brain Research (continued) • During the early years the brain has the greatest capacity for change. • How the brain develops hinges on a complex interplay between heredity and environment. • The developing brain is malleable, flexible, and plastic, with the ability to explode with new synapses or connections. • The brain’s neural plasticity allows it to constantly change its structure and function in response to external experiences. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.