Teaching Kids to Think Creatively

Madelynn Katz

Many theories currently exist on the subject. The most widely-accepted theories on fostering creativity in children are from Kacy Allen, Tracey Kell, Erica Wagoner, and

Amanda Wiley and ret. Prof. Marvin Bartel.

• Why should we care about creativity in the classroom?

– According to an article titled, “Teaching Students to Think Creatively” by Patrick Mattimore in China Daily, students in China may score highest in math, but lowest in creativity.

– Newsweek reports that as emphasis on standardized tests increases, opportunity for creativity decreases.

What is creativity?Creativity is defined as the tendency to

generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be

useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and

entertaining ourselves and others.

Three reasons why people are motivated to be creative:

• need for novel, varied, and complex stimulation

• need to communicate ideas and values

• need to solve problems

In order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in new ways or from a different perspective. Among other things, you need to be able to generate new possibilities or new alternatives.

Tests of creativity measure not only the number of alternatives

that people can generate but the uniqueness of those

alternatives.

The ability to generate alternatives or to see things uniquely does not occur by chance; it is linked to other, more fundamental qualities of thinking, such as flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity or unpredictability, and the enjoyment of things so far unknown.

Africa

O p po s it ion to tra d itio na l va lu esM o st p are n ts a re un ed u ca ted

C h ild re n n e ed to le arn the ir fa th ers ' an d m o the rs'sk ills an d h e lp th e ir fa m ily su rv ive .

M r. D a bo th in ksT h e se a re n o t th e a nsw er

P e rha p s h e sh ou ld lo ok from an oth e r p e rsp ec tive

R e sis tan c e to fo re ig n ba sed ed u ca tionA fe ar th a t "o u tsid e rs" w ill te a ch th e ir

ch ild re n fo re ign id ea s an d w a ys.

Ig no ran ceP a re n ts do no t se e the va lu e o f

th e ed u ca tion the ir ch ild re n wo u ld rece ive

M r. Da b o 's O b serva tion fo r fo u r ye a rs:L o w E n ro llm e nt R a te

W h y?T ra d itio n a l E xp la n a tio ns

R e a l P ro b le m :S tu de n ts d on 't co m e to s cho ol

b e ca u se pa re nts ca nn o t a ffo rd su pp lies

S cho o l be g in s w h ena g ricu ltu ra l p rod u c ts a re le a stva lua b le o n th e lo c a l m arke t

D a b o 's S o lu t ionP ro du c ts a re e x ch a ng e d fo r su pp lies

G ra in s to re d un til m a rke t p rice s a re h igh e stE ve ryb od y w in s!

F a rm e rs n e ed to se ll h u gea m o u nts o f p ro du c ts to a ffo rdth e ne c e ss a ry s ch oo l sup p lies

N o t e n ou gh g ra in le ftto serv e th e fa m e rs' a nd

fa m ilie s ' ne e ds

Why Mr. Dabo is Creative• Creates a novel solution• Uses “domain relevant knowledge” to

find an appropriate solution• Looks from a unique perspective with

divergent thinking• Employs perceptual and cognitive

abilities to problem find, formulate, redefine, synthesize and solve the problem

• Is intrinsically motivated by passion• Works with product constraints, which

are the existential needs of community

A brief video about a child, a rollercoaster, and creativity…

Video Player Window (2).mov

Creative Process

• An ongoing, circular and multi-dimensional process of discovery, exploration, selection, combination, refinement and reflection in the creation of something new.

• The creative process includes preparation, incubation, insight, elaboration, and evaluation.

How to DISCOURAGE creativity in the classroom

“Creativity Killers”

1. I kill creativity when I encourage renting (borrowing) instead of owning ideas.

2. I kill creativity when I assign grades without providing informative feedback.

3. I am probably killing creativity if I see a lot of cliché symbols instead of original or observed representation of experience.

4. I kill creativity when I demonstrate example instead of defining a problem.

5. I kill creativity when I praise neatness and conformity more than expressive original work.

6. I kill creativity when I give freedom without focus.7. I kill creativity by making suggestions instead of asking open

questions. 8. I kill creativity if I give an answer instead of teaching problem

solving experimentation methods.

• “Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.” — Theodore Levitt

• “A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow.” — Charles Brower

• “When we engage in what we are naturally suited to do, our work takes on the quality of play and it is play that stimulates creativity.” – Linda Naiman

• “The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” — Alan Alda

• “It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.” — Edward de Bono