Tag: curiosity

Creativity in Education… More Updates

paulkfoxLeave a comment

It’s been awhile since I have ventured back into searches for “creativity in education” with blogging on the philosophy and practice of creative learning and creative teaching, two of the most essential needs (and deficiencies) in public school education.

After being inspired by the likes of Sir Ken Robinson (especially from his TedTalks), Ronald A. Beghetto and James C. Kaufman, Curtis Bonk, Eric Booth, Susan M. Brookhart, Susan Engel, Daniel Pink, Robert J. Sternberg and Wendy M. Williams, Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein, Roger von Oechand, Peter Webster, and many others, I periodically try to fulfill my ongoing mission of spreading the importance of fostering creativity in education, and finding research (and hands-on) material on the related subjects of innovation, inventiveness, curiosity, flexibility, adaptability, critical thinking, artistry, and self-expression.

Here is the latest installment of newly found resources for your perusal.

violin-1906127_1920_pixel2013

Creativity at Work

Linda Naiman, the founder of Creativity at Work, an international consortium of creativity and innovation experts, design thinkers, and arts-based learning practitioners, offers “trainings and workshops to help leaders and their teams develop the creativity, innovation and leadership capabilities required to adapt to change, stay competitive, improve business performance, and make a positive difference in the world. Clients include Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, educational institutions and government organizations.”

From a Creativity at Work blog, Seven Habits of Highly Creative People,  the following points are outlined in homage to Stephen Covey (Oct 24, 1932 – July 16, 2012):

  1. Prepare the ground
  2. Plant seeds for creativity
  3. Live in the question
  4. Feed your brain
  5. Experiment and explore
  6. Replenish your creative stock
  7. Play like a child: the secret to liberating your creativity

 

Newsweek-Logo

The Creativity Crisis

I don’t know how I missed this… Bo Bronson and Ashley Merryman wrote an education article, The Creativity Crisis, for Newsweek, posted on their website on July 10, 2010. Selected excerpts:

Back in 1958, Ted Schwarzrock was an 8-year-old third grader when he became one of the “Torrance kids,” a group of nearly 400 Minneapolis children who completed a series of creativity tasks newly designed by professor E. Paul Torrance. Schwarzrock still vividly remembers the moment when a psychologist handed him a fire truck and asked, “How could you improve this toy to make it better and more fun to play with?” He recalls the psychologist being excited by his answers. In fact, the psychologist’s session notes indicate Schwarzrock rattled off 25 improvements, such as adding a removable ladder and springs to the wheels. That wasn’t the only time he impressed the scholars, who judged Schwarzrock to have “unusual visual perspective” and ‘an ability to synthesize diverse elements into meaningful products.”

Today, Schwarzrock is independently wealthy—he founded and sold three medical-products companies and was a partner in three more. His innovations in health care have been wide ranging, from a portable respiratory oxygen device to skin-absorbing anti-inflammatories to insights into how bacteria become antibiotic-resistant. His latest project could bring down the cost of spine-surgery implants 50 percent. “As a child, I never had an identity as a ‘creative person,’ ” Schwarzrock recalls. “But now that I know, it helps explain a lot of what I felt and went through.”

Creativity has always been prized in American society, but it’s never really been understood. While our creativity scores decline unchecked, the current national strategy for creativity consists of little more than praying for a Greek muse to drop by our houses. The problems we face now, and in the future, simply demand that we do more than just hope for inspiration to strike. Fortunately, the science can help: we know the steps to lead that elusive muse right to our doors.

— Newsweek: Bo Bronson and Ashley Merryman

 

man-816967_1920_TanteTati

Not to be outdone by Newsweek, TIME published a compilation The Science of Creativity – a series of articles divided into four large chapters:

  1. The Creative Animal
  2. The Creative Mind
  3. Creativity in Action
  4. Creativity at Any Age

The essays, penned by a myriad of authors, are eclectic and intriguing, many of which have appeared in past issues of TIME magazine:

  • The Science of CreativityIntroduction: Striving for the New
  • This Is Your Brain on Creativity
  • Learning from Leonardo
  • Under the Hood
  • Are Neurotics More Creative?
  • A Fine Madness
  • The Power of Sleep
  • Inside the Creative Space
  • Seven Secrets to Unleashing Creativity
  • Pushing Your Envelope
  • Does Screen Time Stunt Kids’ Creativity?
  • You’re Never Too Old
  • When Schools Get Creative
  • How Parents Can Excite and Inspire
  • Eureka Moments
  • The Last Word

Creativity is one of the most human of qualities. But what is creativity, and what makes us creative? The Science of Creativity takes a look at both the science and the art of this world-changing trait—how we define it, how we measure it and what encourages it. With insights from the editors of TIME, this new Special Edition features thought-provoking articles on the meaning of creativity, its part in human history and its role in our future. 

— Amazon review of TIME special edition

 

nafme

Creativity in Orchestra

A recent NAfME article was written specifically for orchestral players and their music directors. Even after more than 43 years of conducting orchestras, I would have to admit that helping my instrumentalists to become more creative musicians has always been a challenge. In the Music Educators Journal, Volume 105, Number 3, March 2019, “Integrating Creative Practices into the Orchestra Classroom,” author Leon Park seeks to explore the realm of the “less traditional” in rationale, goals, and techniques to build the capacity of his students’ imagination, innovation, and creativity.

My primary objective as a high school orchestra educator is to help students develop and refine their perpetual and technical acuities as orchestra musicians – from understanding and applying proper instrument-playing technique in functional music theory as they relate to repertoire to reading and translating music notation with accuracy and confidence to interpreting musical compositions with an understanding of the composer’s intent and a sensitive sensitivity toward performing in an expressive manner.

The daily regime of helping my students of achieve these objectives is an extraordinarily enriching yet time-consuming endeavor. As such, I find that opportunities to engage students in experiences that reach beyond the purview of traditional orchestra musicianship – such as improvisation, songwriting, remixing, soundscape in, recording, and looping – are rare.

— Leo Park

After providing a list of hardware, devices, web apps, software, and iOS apps, Park proposes a series of exercises and other creative practices:

  • MEJDrone Improvisation
  • Circle Stringing
  • Soundscapes
  • Melodizing over Chords
  • Recontextualization
  • Songwriting

He also shares a video playlist of creative approaches, primarily string players engaging in creative music-making.

If you currently teach instrumental music, I recommend you read this piece. (You must be a member of the National Association of Music Education for access to its periodical Music Educators Journal.)

Creativity should be at the heart of all the affective areas of the curriculum. Its context is imagination, origination, and invention; but it goes beyond that to include interpretation and personalized imitation. Characteristically it calls upon preference and decision to a greater extent than other modes of thought. It is especially important as “a way of coming to know” through independent, innovative responses to ideas into means of expression.

— John Paynter in Sound and Structure

 

Educational Commission of the States

ECS_Vertical_Tag_1300pxIn a more recent release of EdNote (July 2018), How School Leaders Can Inspire Daily Creativity makes a good case that, “As building-level leaders, school principals play a key role in ensuring every student has access to high-quality and equitable arts learning as part of a well-rounded education,” citing numerous supportive sources:

The article concluded with the following salient statements:

From identifying the arts in a school’s budget to supporting student performances and gallery displays, principals can engage parents and the school community in the school’s educational goals.

While our [administrators’] daily routines may feel less inspired than other activities, it is through innovative ideas and acts of self-expression that shape everyday life as we know it. The arts can provide students with these same opportunities, setting them up for success in school, work and life.

— EdNote: Cassandra Quille

 

creative-869200_1920_Foundry

 

The Conversation

Check out What Creativity Really Is – and Why Schools Need It  by Liane Gabora from The Conversation.

Associate Professor of Psychology and Creative Studies, University of British Columbia, Gabora explores “the creative process” in studies from the Interdisciplinary Creativity Research Group.

She examines sorting out these apparently antipodal/opposing concepts:

  • The Conversationinventors vs. imitators
  • creators vs. conformers
  • innovation vs. over-stimulation
  • devaluation of creative personality attributes such as risk taking, impulsivity and independence vs. focus on the reproduction of knowledge and obedience at school

She shares three insightful suggestions on cultivating creativity in the classroom:

  1. “Focus less on the reproduction of information and more on critical thinking and problem solving.”
  2. “Curate activities that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries…”
  3. “Pose questions and challenges, and follow up with opportunities for solitude and reflection.”

 

fantasy-2890925_1920_KELLEPICS

Additional Links

A couple more “finds” for your reading pleasure:

Hopefully, readers/followers of this website will send in their own “gems” on creativity. Please feel free to comment and share your own references… so we can collaborate on and re-energize this dialogue.

If you have not had the opportunity to read my past blog-posts on creativity, please take a moment and examine these:

Now go out there and… teach, learn, and be creative!

PKF

© 2019 Paul K. Fox

 

wooden-train-2066492_1920_Couleur

Photo credits in order from Pixabay.com:

 

How Retirement Has Changed Me… Revisited

paulkfoxLeave a comment

Part II: The reinvention continues… new perspectives, recent renovations, fun pathways, and more technology

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Enjoy your time with your family and friends next week!

I feel very blessed and thankful for my health, happiness, economic stability, and relative comfort. My wife and I have “weathered” the so-called “passage to retirement” with success and grace, and continue to explore finding life’s meaning to fulfill the three most important things a job usually provides (according to best-selling author Ernie Zelinski): purpose, community, and structure.

Back in July 2015, I wrote the introduction to this “personal trek” of post-employment transitioning, coping with life-style changes/altered expectations, and personal metamorphosis to “living the dream!” (You can review all of these articles by clicking on the “For Retirees” above.) Specifically on “how retirement has changed me,” nine months ago, I wrote “Part I – One retiree’s quest for learning technology, science, and history” (https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/2017/02/13/how-retirement-has-changed-me/), and can report “all is good” in progress on all of these fronts.

We all know personal growth is about curiosity, exploration and acceptance of change… so, now’s the time to report back. What have you been up to, Paul, since then?

 

WordPress

Writing, Collaborating, and Becoming a Better Techie

Here are a few quick check-marks to add to my post-employment technology portfolio:

  • I learned how to create a blog site and write blog articles
  • I learned how to use Zoom online and hold committee meetings on the web
  • I learned how to make a webinar video

To all current and future retirees, I strongly recommend venturing into the creative process of writing… and building a website to archive all of your “treasures.” Posting a blog is a perfect vehicle for getting something off your chest, promoting discussion on almost any topic, researching areas you always wanted to unearth, sharing your thoughts and experiences, and stating your opinion for the record using the Internet.

“The sky’s the limit” for the subjects you could present. What do you like to write about? It is probably easier to dive into the things that are closest to you, your “pet peeves” and passionate viewpoints, or perhaps drawing from the vast store of knowledge and competencies you developed in your music education career. My own “categories” on my website are “Becoming a Music Educator” (for pre-service and new music teachers), “Creativity,” “Ethics,” “Firesides” (epistles I have given to my students), and “For Retirees.”

Look into one of the free, “do-it-yourself” online sites like WordPress, Wix, Web, or Weebly.com. Unless you really want to, it is not necessary to pay for a domain name. However, if you want an easy-to-remember tagline (something everyone can remember), be creative with the title of a new Google email account (from which these web-creation services usually generate your website’s domain name). My professional email is paulkfox.usc@gmail.com, so WordPress removed the dot and created my website moniker as “paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com.”

My quest for further education in stimulating personal technological advances have included using services like “Doodle,” “Wufoo,” “Zoom” or “Go to Meeting” for collaborating with members of the Council for Teacher Training, Recruitment, and Retention, and submission of several videos which have been archived in the NAfME Academy Professional Development library (of which I am most proud):

nafme

  • Marketing Your Professionalism for Collegiate Music Education Majors: Tips and Strategies to Prepare and Present Yourself for Interviewing and Landing That First Music Teacher Job (two-part video)
  • Preparing for a Smooth Transition to Retirement
  • Supercharge the School Musical

 

Non-Technological Developments

No, I’m not dead yet. Retirement has provided me many rich new set of pursuits and brain-stimulating activities. Some of these activities are intellectual, some physical, and some just wear out my wallet!

How to spend large amounts of our monthly pension? In other dimensions of personal development, my wife and I are slowly renovating our house, finally getting around to making decisions on colors, styles and its overall presentation. When I was a full-time music teacher, I didn’t spend a lot of time at my home. Now in retirement, I have discovered how much it costs to frame a picture, especially if the only criteria when choosing a frame is the beauty of the wood grain and how well you match the double matting to the lithograph. (Without asking the price, I bought a $800 frame for my $125 Charles Wysocki print!)  Taking the high road, we hired a professional to securely hang things on the wall, another very expensive process when your interior decorator ($75/hour) accompanies your installer ($50/hour) to do the job, but all is “perfect” and no marital disputes erupted! After refinishing the floors, installing new windows, painting all the walls, “staging” several rooms (new transformations), and finally finishing the wall-hangings, it looks like the Foxes have a “showcase” residence.

gracie - 1

Raising two cute dogs have become a centerpiece of my life. We need to walk them several times a day, something on which you can’t procrastinate. One would think this regular physical exercise is part of an aerobic routine that is keeping me super-fit!

I have learned so much from my day-to-day dealings with my pups Gracie and Brewster (see previous blog-post https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/2015/09/22/what-i-have-learned-from-my-dogs-in-retirement/), although inspiring a few questions:

  1. How do they always know my mood and needs better than I?
  2. No matter when you glance at them, what moves them to show you unconditional “love at first sight,” instantly lowering your blood pressure, nurturing your peace-of-mind, and improving your disposition?
  3. Since dogs have no lips, how are they so aptly able to express a loving kiss with a simple lick of our hands?
  4. How is it that they are always available (24/7) to cuddle, play, sleep in your lap, explore the mysterious ends of their leashes, and follow you everywhere?
  5. Regardless of the mistakes you make, why are they the first to forgive you?

And all they ask in return is to “hang around with you!”

brewster - 1

Just for fun, check out illustrator Kelly Angel’s representation of “how your dog views you” at https://www.boredpanda.com/how-you-see-yourself-vs-how-your-dog-sees-you/.

Although I volunteer as the founding director of the South Hills Junior Orchestra and teach “kids of all ages” on Saturdays every week, one of my other volunteer pursuits centers around pushing wheelchairs at the local hospital. The good news? I see so many of my students and their families at St. Clair Hospital. My favorite trip is going to the family birth center and discharging a new mother and her baby… and with surprising frequency, reuniting a former student or colleague with their “old” school music teacher or community orchestra director. Any bad news? Well, I am still puzzled why I have lost a little of my stamina and endurance since retiring. After only a little more than 3 1/2 hours of pushing wheelchairs (some of whom contain very large patients), I notice I am ready for a power nap! This does not mesh well with my employment days when I was teaching full-time, arriving to school by 6:45 in the morning, and often did not make it home until 9 PM (after-school rehearsals, meetings and performances of the marching band, fall play, and spring musical. What’s up about that?

 

pmea

Philosophy of Post-Employment Professional Engagement

“Ask not PMEA can do for you, but what you can do for PMEA.”

Where have you heard that before? Sounds like something from the soapbox of the PMEA Retired Member Coordinator? (Check out “PMEA in Retirement”).

The most important part of my long-term goals is to try to make a difference in other people’s lives… colleagues, collegiate or pre-service educators, and others.  As for PMEA, I’m throwing my hat in the ring as your Coordinator of Retired Members. In addition, I accidentally walked into a summer meeting a little more than a year ago and was voted in as chair of the Council for Teacher Training, Recruitment, and Retention. This is an exciting time in during PMEA’s new governance and recently ratified five-year strategic plan. We have the opportunity of doing some real meaningful work for music education in the state of Pennsylvania.

I hope that you continue to participate in PMEA and NAfME yourself. Obviously, once we “Cross the Rubicon” into retirement, we need not to worry about the hectic day-to-day schedule, politics, and stress of a full-time teaching position. However, we can make a difference, acting less engaged but still on-board helping our professional associations and advocating for the success of music education. PA music teachers (the focus of many of these blogs), please consider keeping your membership up-to-date, joining the PMEA Retiree Resource Registry, volunteering for guest conducting, presenting sessions, doing other jobs for PMEA, an/or attending official events.

r3_logo

In a recent Retired Member Network eNEWS, I mentioned that as unofficial mentors and sage advisers, there are many ways retired members can “return the favor” of a career full of wonderfully enriching professional development and music festival resources, simply by helping PMEA out a little:

  1. Review the five-year PMEA Strategic Plan – posted online at https://www.pmea.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/PMEA-Strategic-Plan-2017-21-Final-1.pdf. Focus on possible things in which you may have the skills or interests to contribute to our profession, and propose something new “for the good of the order.” Here are sample objectives – any of these “strike a chord” with you?
    • 1E. Continue to improve and find new and innovative ways to engage PMEA members in advocacy efforts including Advocacy Day in Harrisburg and Music in Our Schools Month activities (“team-up” with retiree Chuck Neidhardt, PMEA State MIOSM Coordinator).
    • 2A. Explore topics of lifelong learning (music therapy, community music, service learning…)
    • 2E. Focus on topics of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access by providing space for dialogue, reaching more students beyond traditional ensembles, and identifying and promoting success stories and appropriate practices.
    • 3B. Investigate possibilities of various partnerships with other music associations.
    • 3E. Develop leadership (e.g. retreat and training sessions).
    • 4B. Promote and expand the Music Performance Assessment program (e.g. solo and chamber ensemble opportunities, virtual MPA’s, and traveling adjudicators).
  2. Still have your “conductor chops?” One way to encourage your colleagues to think of you in becoming a guest director or accompanist of a PMEA festival is to join the PMEA Retiree Resource Registry (see the retired member section of the website at https://www.pmea.net/retired-members/) and send an email sharing your interest and availability to the District President and the local Festival/Fest Coordinator.
  3. Did you know that anyone can suggest a session for a local workshop or PMEA spring and summer conference? (See the PMEA website.) What’s on your mind? What do you think is important to explore, collaborate, or exhibit? I know of few PMEA retired members who do not have a “special expertise” and passion about an area in music and education. Go ahead, “let the cat out of the bag” while it is still “fresh” in your mind!
  4. Submit articles or reviews to our PMEA News editorial committee chair Doug Bolasky (also a retiree) for publication consideration in our state journal. Like #3 above, this is an excellent outlet to “get something off your chest,” promote discussion on almost any topic, research areas you always wanted to unearth, share your thoughts and experiences, and state your opinion “for the record.”
  5. Offer to serve on a PMEA committee. For example, volunteer to serve on the listening or session evaluation committee. Prefer to stay “close to home?” Ask your District President if you can be appointed to (or be placed on the ballot for) one of the many leadership positions in need of caring, committed, and competent representatives. Also, PMEA always needs guest lecturers, panel discussion members, presiding chairs, and info booth volunteers for the spring conference.

 

senior-2642030_1280

In short… we need you, your collective wisdom, experience, and the ability to dodge problems before they become big. Sure, relax a little, personally reflect, refocus, and revitalize your goals during your retirement, but don’t retreat from “doing your bit” for “making a difference” in music education.

PKF

© 2017 Paul K. Fox

 

Photo credits from Pixabay.com: “grandparents” by Marvin Roaw and “senior” by RitaE.

Lessons in Creativity (Part V)

paulkfoxLeave a comment

Samples of “Creativity” in Education Journals

In the continuation of this “calling” — my life’s mission on spreading the importance of fostering creativity in education, and finding research (and hands-on) material on the related subjects of innovation, inventiveness, curiosity, flexibility, adaptability, critical thinking, artistry, and self-expression — here is a library of more resources.

The lists below by no means serve as an inclusive or comprehensive bibliography! Some of these articles and authors have been cited before in my past blog-posts. Speaking of which, if you have not read them, take a moment and examine these:

So, what are you waiting for? Click and go! Get out there and peruse this “content” to your heart’s “content!”

clarinet-1485911

What Started it All…

When I began this blog on creative teaching and learning four years ago, I was initially inspired by the February 2013 issue of ASCD Educational Leadership. I am amazed to find that today many of these articles remain “unlocked” and available via the Internet, although I do not know how long they will remain “free” to nonmembers. (See links below.) Anyone who is interested in further study of imaginative approaches to make learning more interesting and effective (“teaching creatively”) and strategies of teaching that are intended to develop students’ creative thinking or behavior (“teaching for creativity”) should purchase the entire journal or become a subscriber/member of ASCD: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb13/vol70/num05/toc.aspx.

 

an-artist-1-1507776

Creativity in Music Education from NAfME

Just when I thought I have seen everything, the March 2017 issue of MEJ (Music Educators Journal) arrived in my mailbox. What a joy! The articles on creativity and music education are listed below. Become a member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) to receive full access to this journal.

The best introduction and summary to this series is provided by Katherine Strand (first reference below). She poses the challenge, “Ask yourself how you and your students can be more creative in both the classroom and your own lives.”

  • MEJ March 2017: Introduction – Looking Forward to a Creative Future by Katherine Strand
  • MEJ March 2017: Learning to Be Creatively Expressive Performers by Katherine Strand and Brenda Brenner
  • MEJ March 2017: The Neuroscience of Improvisation by Andrew T. Landau and Charles T. Limb
  • MEJ March 2017: Music Listening is Creative by John Kratis Brenner
  • MEJ March 2017: Developing Musical Creativity Reflective and Collaborative Practices by Lisa M. Gruenhagen Brenner
  • MEJ March 2017: Developing Musical Creativity through Improvisation in the Large Performance Classroom by Martin Norgaar

“In the hubbub of everyday teaching, we sometimes forget that each time we look at a child, we are actually looking at the child in the moment as well as the future young adult, the middle-aged working professional, the parent, the grandparent, and the retiree. But that is our job – to see the child as he or she is and also consider what this young person could be and what possible future awaits him or her…

“But what should we pin our hopes on, and what are the positive choices that those who graduate from our schools may have when they leave our music programs? As British author Kenneth Robinson, an international advisor on education in the arts, stated in a 2006 TED talk, we cannot know what futures our students will face, but we do know that they may find a variety of professions and many livelihoods. We hope some of our students will become professional musicians, but realistically, only a small percentage will follow this path. Given that fact, we need to consider how our impact on our students can be broadened – how we may help them reach the best possible futures for themselves.”

— Katherine Strand, Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Education Department in the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, Bloomington

 

 

dancer-1462605

Other Contributions from Educational Journals

Finally, I wanted to include a few of these older releases, still very relevant and thought-provoking.

  • Kappan November 2013 Visual Thinking Strategies = Critical and Creative Thinking by Mary Moeller, Kay Cutler, Dave Fiedler, and Lisa Weier
  • Kappan September 2012 Flunking Innovation and Creativity by Yong Zhao
  • Kappan October 2010 Learning to Be Creative
  • Kappan June 2002 Test Scores, Creativity, and Global Competitiveness by Gerald W. Bracey
  • MEJ May 1990: Creative Thinking in Music by Peter Webster (2 articles)
  • MEJ May 1990: What is Creativity? What is it Not? by Alfred Balkin
  • MEJ May 1990: Structuring the Music Curriculum for Creative Learning by John Kratis
  • MEJ May 1990: Strategies for Fostering Creative Thinking by Janet L. S. Moore
  • MEJ May 1990: Crosscultural Perspectives of Musical Creativity by Patricia Shehan Campbell
  • MEJ May 1990: Tools and Environments for Musical Creativity by Lyle Davidson

Do you have any “favorite” articles about the pursuit of creativity in the schools? Please feel free to share your recommendations by writing a comment to this blog. Thanks!

PKF

violin-1-1313573

© 2017 Paul K. Fox

Photo credits (in order) from FreeImages.com: “The Artist” by Oskar Mellemsether, “Clarinet” by Karl-Erik Bennion, “An Artist” by Alfonso Romero, “Dancer” by Wendy Cain, and “Violin” by Pedro Simao

More Lessons in Creativity

paulkfoxLeave a comment
Your daily experiences should all be about curiosity, divergent thinking, creative self-expression, and life-long learning!

 

What did you think of my May blog-post “Lessons in Creativity” (part 1) on this subject? Did you review the sample opportunities to stimulate your brain, build your artistic sensitivity, and nurture your expressive soul… resources like the following?

If you have not read the first article in this series, please go back to https://paulkfoxusc.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/lessons-in-creativity/. For a survey of all blogs on this subject, click on the link (to the right) “Creativity and Education.”

preschool-class-activities2-2-1251386My “soapbox” in this forum has always been that we need to do things in education  intentionally – in the classrooms, written/posted weekly lesson targets, and curriculum. In school, we have spent an inordinate amount of time developing convergent thinking, a.k.a. one-answer-only principles/laws/inarguable facts.What is needed is MORE divergent thinking – multiple solutions or pathways to the resolution of a problem, open-ended “out-of-the-box” proposals – generating fresh views and novel solutions. Best practices in education would be a combination of both convergent and divergent thinking techniques – the ultimate role of our profession – mastery of the essential 21st century learning skill of critical thinking.

Here and in future blogs, “the plan” is to offer more ideas on becoming more creative – improving self-awareness, experimentation, and enjoyment of inventiveness, innovation, and flexibility/adaptability – openness to new and diverse perspectives.

This is a good place to post your opinions and perspective. Thanks for responding with comments to this blog series.

And now, the next bi-monthly installment of research, resources, and my own ramblings to consider….

Cultivating Curiosity

Cultivating Curiosity book - 1I stumbled on a free ASCD webinar for July 28, 2016 that will “detail ways to foster student curiosity through novelty and play; questioning and critical thinking; and experimenting and problem solving.” Based on Dr. Wendy Ostroff’s book, Cultivating Curiosity in K–12 Classrooms: How to Promote and Sustain Deep Learning, the online session will dive into the concept of a structured, student-centered environment that allows for openness and surprise, where inquiry guides authentic learning. “When a classroom is grounded in curiosity, teachers have the unique opportunity to mine students’ deepest held wonder, making their engagement natural and effortless and allowing them to fully open up to learning.” For more information on the workshop, go to http://ascd.org/professional-development/webinars.aspx.

The book Cultivating Curiosity in K-12 Classrooms itself is an excellent find. Dr. Wendy Ostroff defines her rationale in support of curiosity as critical to student success in school:

  • Curiosity jump-starts and sustains intrinsic motivation, allowing deep learning to happen with ease.
  • Curiosity releases dopamine, which not only brings pleasure, but also improves observation and memory.
  • Curious people exhibit enhanced cognitive skills.

The chapters layout a plan to foster student curiosity through exploration, novelty, and play; questioning and critical thinking; and experimenting and problem solving.

 The Artist’s Way

The Artist WayThe “power” of journal writing and brainstorming is so essential to the creative process. Author and educator Julia Cameron has written a series of books on the subject of “unblocking your inner artist.” The Artist’s Way, the title of one of her international best-sellers, has been transformed into a movement of artists helping other artists, a program she says is “used in hospitals, prisons, universities, human potential centers, and often among therapist doctors aids groups in battered woman’s programs, not to mention fine art studios, theological programs, and music conservatories.”

Her lessons included two fundamental tools, morning pages and artist date. Morning pages are three pages of daily longhand writing, strictly free stream-of-consciousness, a.k.a. “brain drain,” absent from any form of censorship or (as she calls it) “logic brain.” Her other tool, artist date, is “a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness…” quality time spent alone with your “creative child.” For painters, 3D artists, writers, photographers, musicians, singers, and actors, I heartily recommend her tutorials The Artist’s Way and for retirees It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond.

More Best of Bonk!

The World is Open bookOne of my “heroes” on the subject of instructional strategies in creativity, critical thinking, motivation, and collaboration is Professor Curtis J. Bonk, Indiana University (Bloomington) School of Education and author of The World is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education. His course materials and creativity exercises are amazing, and he has been very generous in sharing the slide presentations of his classes. If you have not already done so, you should peruse his “Best of Bonk” website at http://www.indiana.edu/~bobweb/r546/index.html (click on the creativity module), and find out the meaning of these terms:

  • Six hats
  • KWL
  • Reverse brainstorming
  • Checkerboarding
  • Wet ink
  • Second best answer
  • Pruning the tree
  • Fish bowl

If these intrigue you, take a gander at Dr. Bonk’s blog TravelinEdMan where he reflects on his speaking experiences around the world, and posts articles, recommended reading lists, links to other bloggers/sites, etc. at http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/.

He also shared his book, 100+ Activities for Motivating and Retaining Learners Online, available as a free download from http://tec-variety.com/freestuff.php.

Two Ideas for Music Teachers

cornet-593661_1920For school music directors, I would suggest to offer a weekly “create a warm-up” opportunity run by student conductors. Many well-intentioned “school maestros” are guilty of setting up the rigid format of a “benevolent dictatorship” (“my way or the highway”) and not allowing the individual participants to share any input in running practices or interpreting the music. For the first five minutes of the rehearsal, ask student volunteers to choose the articulation or key of a scale, and even create a drill from the challenging rhythmic motives introduced by the music in the folder. Variations on tempo and dynamics can be lead by the student leaders.

My mother had an elementary lesson of free association, “rapid writing” in response to looking at a large picture posted in the front of the classroom. Although probably not as valued by her unimaginative principal (to be fair, this was in the 60s, and phonetics drill was preferable over creative writing), her concept is much like the nonjudgmental practice of brainstorming… “do not stop to edit or evaluate what comes out of your head” and “there are no wrong answers or interpretations.” Save any proofreading and assessment of merit, categorizing, prioritizing, spellchecking, and fixing punctuation or grammar for later drafts. This artistic process can be adapted for singers or instrumentalists. Take two minutes out of a practice, post a giant photograph of just about any scene, and have the musicians express their feelings via random improvisations, communicating “on the spot” what they see, feel, and think about from their observation of the picture. Encourage the communication of their “views” using contrasts of the various musical elements: major/minor tonality, tempo, rhythms, articulations, dynamics, phrasing, etc.

Until next time…

clay-1220105_1920As quoted on the back cover of the Cultivating Curiosity in K-12 Classrooms, “We learn by engaging and exploring, asking questions and testing out answers. Yet our classrooms are not always places where such curiosity is encouraged and supported.” As important as literacy and logic, how can we nurture creativity in the schools? For this forum, can you share your thoughts on additional lessons in creativity?

PKF

© 2016 Paul K. Fox

Other Blogs on Creativity in Education at This Site

Lessons in Creativity

paulkfoxLeave a comment

 

anvil-1169340_1920

Sharing the thoughts of others on inspiring innovation, ingenuity, divergent thinking, and creative self-expression in the schools is my lifelong mission. I place this perspective at the top of the critical “big four list” for satisfying  “the real purpose of education” – personal discovery, self-improvement, and developing the building blocks for success and happiness in life:

  • Creativity
  • Literacy
  • Logic
  • Global understanding

wondering-1434779-1

Even though I am now retired, my “mind energizing” routine every morning is to take several moments to “surf the net,” looking for interesting articles on the subject of cultivating creativity in education. A typical online journey might include “waking up” with the following progression (but, this is NOT a fixed script, since this is all about becoming more self-aware and practicing  the skills of inventiveness, personal initiative, and flexibility – openness to new and diverse perspectives).

  1. Visit https://curiosity.com/ and “sit a spell.” Read several mind-expanding articles.
  2. Connect with other professionals with Edutopia.com. Today I  “found” several interesting sections to satisfy my thirst for discussions on infusing the arts in education:
  3. If you have not explored the National Creativity Network website, go to http://nationalcreativitynetwork.org/blog/.
  4. woman-1172718_1920Randomly check out what’s happening in the arts’ scene on the World Wide Web:
  5. Troll for new ideas and sites with a general (and ever-changing Google search). Several results of “lessons in creativity” are shared below.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

As a non-casual observer of most traditional instruction in the schools, I note that teachers are generally very well trained at facilitating in their classes the “left-brain” attributes of speech, language, writing, linear and sequential thinking, understanding of symbols, and logical progression. They focus more on the final product – not the process, laws and rules – not ambiguity, convergent (one-answer-only) thinking – not open-ended questioning, and summative – not formative assessments. Of course, mastery of reading comprehension, writing skills, vocabulary, and understanding of mathematical expressions are essential for a “good education,” but to make the learning authentic and personalized, the habits of creative self-expression, adaptability, self-direction, and intrinsic motivation are equal in importance. And, to the main point of my thesis, this “equality” should not be relegated to the high school students’ enrollment in an “optional” arts elective or two!

Throughout my research in nurturing one’s creative inner self and nourishing more of the “right brain” attributes (divergent and holistic thinking, spontaneity, intuition, artistic expression, etc.) into every day life, these five terms/concepts keep coming up:

  • daydreaming-1568518Curiosity
  • Daydreams or fantasies
  • Focus
  • Play
  • Risk-taking

To glean a new perspective for prioritizing “originality” in school and in life, let’s peruse a few online expert’s “lessons in creativity.” (The following just lists the lessons; you need take the time to read the authors’ entire articles to gain full understanding.)

9 Illuminating Lessons on Creativity

by Margarita Tarakovsky (World of Psychology) http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/04/14/9-illuminating-lessons-on-creativity/

  1. Creativity is about showing up.
  2. learn-2-1237605Creativity is about getting curious.
  3. Creativity is limitless.
  4. Focus on the process, not the product.
  5. Being creative does not mean being skilled.
  6. Forget perfection, and find the “magic threshold.”
  7. Creativity is full of surprises.
  8. Creativity is full of ups and downs.
  9. Everyone is creative.

18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently

by Carolyn Gregoire (The Huffington Post) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/creativity-habits_n_4859769.html

  1. They daydream.
  2. They observe everything.
  3. They work the hours that work for them.
  4. They take time for solitude.
  5. They turn life’s obstacles around.
  6. They seek out new experiences.
  7. They “fail up.”
  8. They ask the big questions.
  9. They people-watch.
  10. ideas-1439573They take risks.
  11. They view all of life as an opportunity for self-expression.
  12. They follow their true passions.
  13. They get out of their own heads.
  14. They lose track of time.
  15. They surround themselves with beauty.
  16. They connect the dots.
  17. They constantly shake things up.
  18. They make time for mindfulness.

5 Lessons on Creativity from Former Disney Imagineer

by Jonha Revesencio (The Huffington Post) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonha-revesencio/creativity_b_5350605.html

  1. In order to be great, you need to get started.
  2. Focus on what you do best.
  3. Add value. Don’t just criticize.
  4. See things differently.
  5. Stay curious.

education-548105_1920As soon as I posted these wonderful resources, several new ones popped up. Also, please look up the following:

These is just a gourmet sampling of what’s out there. You should venture out on your own expedition… there is a lot of material to review, at least on the rationale of creativity in education, if not the “how to” of bringing it into the classroom. That’s the next step… fodder for future articles. Happy hunting!

creativity-1187107

PKF

© 2016 Paul K. Fox

Other Blogs on Creativity in Education at This Site

preschool-class-activities2-2-1251386

preschool-class-activities2-1-1439482

More Creativity Resources

paulkfoxLeave a comment

doodled-desks-2-1207070

Additional Perspectives and Research for Creativity in Education

One of the best statements of rationale for more inclusion of creativity in Grades K-12 schooling comes from the introductory page of the P21 Arts Map, designed in cooperation with nation’s arts educators and The Partnership for 21st Century Skills:

“Business leaders and visionary thinkers concerned about preparation of students for the future know that the ability to be creative – a key 21st Century Skill – is native to the arts and is one of the primary processes learned through arts education. The examples in this Skills Map illustrate how the arts promote work habits that cultivate curiosity, imagination, creativity, and evaluation skills. Students who possess these skills are better able to tolerate ambiguity, explore new realms of possibility, express their own thoughts and feelings and understand the perspectives of others.” – P21 Arts Map at http://www.P21.org (published in 2000)

creative-cubes-1509571Any discussion about creativity in education should begin with a thorough look at defining what it means to be innovative and original. As stated by the Partnership for 21st Century, essential factors in creativity are demonstrating originality and inventiveness in work, being open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives, developing, implementing, and communicating new ideas to others, and acting on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contributions to the domain in which innovation occurs.

Download the entire P21 Arts Map by clicking on this link.

imagination-1199071Another fantastically in-depth resource is the website of Linda Naiman, founder of “Creativity At Work” and a pioneer of arts-based learning as a catalyst for developing creativity, innovation, and collaborative leadership in organizations.

She has posted one of the best definitions of “creativity” I have ever read:

“Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity is characterized by the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing. If you have ideas, but don’t act on them, you are imaginative but not creative.” – Linda Naiman

A few of my favorite articles from her website:

In her blog on “Can Creativity Be Taught,” Naiman reflects on the research of George Land (1968-1993, revised in 2004) and a popular TedTalks video of his presentation “The Failure of Success” – https://youtu.be/ZfKMq-rYtnc.

open-door-classics-3-1245602Land’s statistics concluding with “non-creative behavior is learned” show that the longer a student is in school, the lower he/she scores on a creativity tests. We teach our children “not to risk being wrong” and don’t go “all out” in finding an unique solution to a problem… only respond with “the one correct answer!” This reminded me of a insightful Sir Ken Robinson TedTalks video, filmed in 2006, with more than 36 million viewers: (http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?language=en).  If you have not viewed any of Sir Ken’s TedTalks, you owe yourself a look!

One of Naiman’s blog posts is a book review for Let the Elephants Run: Unlocking Your Creativity and Changing Everything by David Usher. On my “required reading” list, this the-author-5-1166957brings us to our next stop for a more penetrative discussion of creativity in education! Usher asks, “How do we jump start our creative process as adults? What does it mean to be a creative person? How do we follow through with our ideas and turn them into tangible outcomes?” These are the fundamental questions with which we must grapple in order to enhance the creative potential and self-expression of our students.

Other excellent books on creativity that should be investigated include the following:

  • The Little Spark: 30 Ways to Ignite Your Creativity by Carrie Bloomston
  • The Creativity Challenge: Design, Experiment, Test, Innovate, Build, Create, Inspire, and Unleash Your Genius by Tanner Christensen
  • Insight Out: Get Ideas Out of Your Head and Into the World by Tina Seelig
  • inGenius: A Crash Course on Creativity by Tina Seeli
  • The Ignorant Maestro: How Great Leaders Inspire Unpredictable Brilliance by Itay Talgam
  • Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace

Finally, I will leave you with a link to the late great curriculum innovator and co-author of fingerpaint-1-1495376“Understanding By Design,” Grant Wiggins, who proposed a revolutionary framework for improving student achievement. Emphasizing the teacher’s critical role as a designer of student learning, UbD™ works within the standards-driven curriculum to help teachers clarify learning goals, devise revealing assessments of student understanding, and craft effective and engaging learning activities. Since his death in May 2015, I have noticed numerous postings (and variations) of his creative rubric:

Some more “creative” food for thought…

Care to comment? Please send me your favorite creativity links/publications.

If you have not read the rest of my articles (quoting other “masters”), here’s the list:

More to come…

creativity-1187107

PKF

© 2016 Paul K. Fox