APA Format 6th Edition Template



Running Head: CREATIVITY FINAL

Final for Creativity for Teachers EPSY 5663

Nicolette Edenburn

Oklahoma State University—Tulsa Campus

Abstract

This final answers three questions or tasks given by Dr. Van Eman in the course Creativity for Teachers, EPSY 5663, at Oklahoma State University. The answers will mainly come from the texts of the course with some analysis of texts from other courses as well.

Keywords: creativity, person, process, product, press, definition

Final for Creativity for Teachers EPSY 5663

This paper will answer three questions or examine three concepts from the texts covered in this semester’s class on Creativity for Teachers. Analysis of the definition of creativity, creative theorists, and implications for the classroom will be given.

Question One

Develop a proposition to support the best description of creativity using person, product, process or environmental context variables.

Piirto (19998) quotes Paul Torrance: “If creative behavior were determined by heredity, there would be little that parents could do to increase it. There is compelling evidence that this is not true. How a young child’s creative behavior is treated by parent and other important people in his life seems to make all the difference”

Gary Davis: “The complexity of creativity and the effects of innumerable personal, familial, and environmental factors do not permit the development of a comprehensive, highly valid Creativity Quotient test that can make long-range predictions of outstanding creative achievement.”

I think the best definition of creativity is Piirto’s (2004), although not the one listed above. “Creativity is the personality, the process, and the product within a domain in interaction with genetic influences and with optimal environmental influences of home, school, community and culture, gender, and chance. Creativity is a basic human need to make new” (p. 37). This definition incorporates all of the Ps for creativity. Creative people tend to have certain personality traits (or develop personality traits that tend to be inherent within creative people in their field). Creativity involves a process, which includes dedication to one’s craft. Creativity isn’t just a lightning bolt of inspiration; it takes time to develop a talent in order to know how to be innovative in the field. Creativity also is a product, in that for it to be deemed “creative,” that idea or painting or novel or medicine should never have been made or thought of before. Creative press should also be addressed in a definition of creativity, because without a supportive environment, creativity cannot flourish. This is elaborated upon in Piirto’s definition, in that a person’s environment can include many different aspects. These she refers to in the book as the different Suns above the Piirto Pyramid of Talent Development. Without the support (or sometimes inspiration from lack of support) from home, school, culture, gender, and chance, a person may never find a way to develop their talent or their ideas. I find Piirto’s definition to be the most comprehensive, which makes sense since she has spent so much time analyzing other theorists’ definitions and research.

Question Two

Compare and contrast four creativity theorists using at least five criteria.

Criteria One: What is their theory or definition of creativity?

• Torrance: From Davis (1999), “ ‘I have tried to describe creative thinking as taking place in the process of [1] sensing difficulties, problems, gaps in information, or missing elements; [2] making guesses or formulating hypotheses about these deficiencies; [3] testing these guesses and possibly revising and retesting them; and finally [4] communicating the results” (p. 43). Therefore, emphasis on the creative process is key.

• Piirto: From Piirto (2004), “Creativity is the personality, the process, and the product within a domain in interaction with genetic influences and with optimal environmental influences of home, school, community and culture, gender, and chance. Creativity is a basic human need to make new” (p. 37). Creativity incorporates all of the Ps, and has a sociocultural aspect as well.

• Simonton: There are different levels of creativity, but to be truly creative is to create something that hasn’t been created before, and it must have a certain level of usefulness. Emphasis on creative product is key.

• Csikszentmihalyi: From Piirto (2004), “creativity is any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one” (p. 17). Emphasis is placed on creative product.

Criteria Two: Can creativity be tested?

• Torrance: Since he created the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, yes. Based on different activities, those who are creative show fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration of ideas in their responses.

• Piirto: Yes, creativity can be tested and in many ways. Each test, though, has its limitations, and one should be aware of those limitations before selecting and administering a test.

• Simonton: In the respect to creative process, it is possible that people could be tested for creativity based on original ideas.

• Csikszentmihalyi: Since creativity is a construct, albeit a large and heavily researched one, it is difficult to create a completely valid and measurable assessment. He wouldn’t be opposed to testing it, but he would be cautious when interpreting results and when constructing a test. Also, since creative talents are partially innate within a person, that should have a tendency to show up on a test early on.

Criteria Three: Can creativity be taught?

• Torrance: Lessons and activities from the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking can be used in order to develop creative and divergent thinking skills. There are creative abilities that are able to be developed within students.

• Piirto: Yes, creativity should be integrated within daily learning. People should focus on the creative process daily and experience works done by other creative people. The influence of others, the daily practice of creative thought, and the presence of a muse can help develop creative and divergent thinking skills.

• Simonton: Since creativity is within the context of the field that you work in, you need to be taught how to be advanced in the field to attain a functionality where innovation can be reached.

• Csikszentmihalyi: Creative traits tend to be a talent within people. Some people have little-c creative traits while others have big-C creative traits. Figuring out an individual’s talents and building on those is the key. A person must have training in their area of strength in order to become an expert in it and then have the ability to be creative within their talent area.

Criteria Four: What type of personality do creative people have?

• Torrance: Creative people have certain abilities and personality traits, such as imagination, logical thinking, originality, visualization, and many others. Some people may not exhibit those qualities as much as others, but they are qualities and abilities that can be taught and developed with the right mentor.

• Piirto: This is dependent on which type of creative person they are. People in different creative fields tend to have different personalities, based on Myers-Briggs personality test studies. Many have a tendency overall to exhibit the N category over the S category, which is Intuition over Sensing.

• Simonton: It would depend on the type of person. Creative scientists have different personalities than creative artists. It also depends if the person is performing at a little-C or a big-C, as Csikszentmihalyi would say. Those who are at a big-C are going to have much more passion, innovation, and drive for their field than those who are just operating at a problem-solving little-C level.

• Csikszentmihalyi: Creative people have certain talents and have the drive to pursue that talent. They find a “flow” that drives them to create. This can be applicable to any area of creative product.

Criteria Five: When can a person be called creative?

• Torrance: When a person regularly expresses creative abilities and follows the creative process, they will likely be creative. The consistency of having fluent, original, elaborate, and flexible thoughts show people are creative.

• Piirto: Any person can be creative. Creativity can take form in different ways, and people can be creative in different formats. Since creativity is a mixture of nature, nurture, and chance, once a person has realized all of the levels of the pyramid of talent develop and experience influence from the different suns, they may have reached a higher level of creativity.

• Simonton: Creativity is a lifetime’s work. It takes struggle and it takes being recognized for innovation in a field to reach optimal levels of creativity.

• Csikszentmihalyi: A person can be creative in many ways. Some people are creative in a little-c way, where they find creative solutions for everyday problems or appreciate creative culture. Others exhibit big-C tendencies, meaning they have a drive to be innovative and create original work. It all depends on one’s “flow” and their talent development, but everyone has a form of creativity within themselves.

Question Three Part B

What are some of the ways that you plan to use creativity to transform others?

Since taking this course, the topic of “The Challenge of Sustained Creativity” in Alexander and Winne (2006) chapter 30, page 706, spoke to me. In the section, it discusses that most of what teachers focus on is brainstorming, or generating ideas. The text also stated four aspects of creative careers that have been analyzed. It generally takes ten years to become an expert in a field and to be relatively known and recognized in a creative field. Creative people tend to be more productive than not-so-creative people. Creative people must have a high level of knowledge in their field. Creative people must be goal-driven and have the desire to be creative. Their goals and desires should help them build up the ability to perform the tasks needed to realize their creativity. Whether a person decides to go into a creative field or not, these seem to be characteristics needed in any field and characteristics that teachers should be nurturing. The section closes by saying creativity “teaching” should take a backburner to creative “talent development.” Students should be integrating designing into the normal curriculum, should strive for complete and in-depth knowledge on topics, and they should focus on a classroom environment geared towards improving existing ideas.

In Piirto (2004) and Davis (1999), the authors would agree with part of those findings and disagree with others. They cite the following four “Ps” in creativity: creative person, creative product, creative process, and creative press. Both books state that creativity can be taught, through methods like creative problem solving, dramatics, or through the development of divergent thinking skills. Even though that conflicts with the Alexander and Winne (2006) text, the principle is the same. Part of the creative process is practicing the creative method on a consistent basis and building on your knowledge of the craft. Part of the creative product is being able to produce a new and improved idea. The creative press deals with making an environment that is beneficial to the creative person, and the creative person has to do with personality traits that occur frequently within creative people. What Alexander and Winne (2006) are emphasizing is to create an environment (creative press) that gives consistent opportunities for creative and innovative ideas (creative process) and focuses on design within the school curriculum (creative product). This, in turn, will help to build a creative spirit within students (creative person).

I have tried to design lessons within my 2nd-5th grade gifted curriculum that tie in with creativity. I’ve implemented the use of these texts, creative lesson plans, and ideas from Bowkett (2007). In second grade, we have done team-building, brainstorming, creative dramatics, and several of the ideas promoted in Piirto and Davis. Second and third grade are participating in a national competition through Toshiba and the NSTA to design in groups ideas for inventions that could be created to help people within the next twenty years. Students brought items from home to build models of their inventions and are working on creating sample web pages and papers describing their research on present and past technology and their design process. Fourth and fifth graders are going to be presenting inventions they’ve created and built at our Invention Convention, where they have made display boards that show the process and reasons for their inventions.

We also focus on creativity from an analysis and design perspective. Third graders analyzed famous artworks, like an art critique, before having the title and reason behind its creation revealed. Fourth and fifth graders have participated in several engineering centers and experiments, where they have to design something, test it, and then design a second model improved upon after the findings from their first. Fourth graders were told to create a story without words and then had to use materials in the classroom to build a story in whichever format they decided. The classmates then had to examine the story to determine the beginning, middle, and end and its problem and solution. Fifth graders have been working all semester on independent study projects on topics of their choice. Based on their information and the audience they think would benefit from their newfound knowledge, they are creating products of choice that display that knowledge. Finally, the fifth graders are also working on creating a product of choice to be submitted for review (and hopefully publication) in Creative Kids magazine. We have discussed that work takes time, patience, and revision and that creative people often do not experience success with the first thing they produce.

Through the readings of these texts and the application of the strategies with my classes, I have seen several things. One, not all students have that creative spirit, or if they do, many times it has been beaten down by the world they live in. Many are impatient with themselves and the creative process. Many get frustrated when a creative idea doesn’t just come to them within the first five minutes. I’ve also learned that it’s difficult to build a lesson that caters to creativity and also is engaging for everyone. If a creative lesson is too specific, it’s more likely to not interest several in the group. If a creative lesson is too broad in nature, it’s often difficult to implement or get started, which is a struggle from a teaching perspective when time is limited.

I do feel like the idea of implementing sustained creativity in the classroom is and has been worthwhile. When the students let go of their inhibitions or have an “Aha” moment, they produce amazing things. I’m hoping that by creating lessons that are design-driven that the students will set more creative goals for themselves in the future. Our society depends on the creativity and innovation of its citizens, and it is possible to support and develop those talents at the elementary school level. As I learn more from our successes and failures throughout the next couple of years implementing these types of lessons, I hope the regular classrooms at my building will focus more on lessons that are design-based and that encourage the four Ps of creativity.

References

Alexander, P.A., & Winne, P.H. (2006). Handbook of educational psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bowkett, S. (2007). 100+ ideas for teaching creativity, 2nd ed. London: Continuum.

Davis, G. (1999). Creativity is forever, 4th ed. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.

Kersting, K. (2003). What exactly is creativity? Monitor, 34(10): 40.

Piirto, J. (2004). Understanding creativity, 3rd ed. Dayton, OH: Gifted Psychology Press.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download