Cultivating Creative Minds

Creative minds propose new ideas, fresh ways of thinking, unique perspectives, and are usually one step ahead of the norm. In today’s world, individuals who do not embrace innovation and change will be replaced by those who do.

According to Howard Gardner , in order to be creative and think outside the box, individuals must have mastered a discipline or offer a high degree of knowledge. Personality style is of high importance in creativity. People who are highly creative are risk takers who are not afraid to make mistakes. If something doesn’t work for them, they analyze what didn’t work and begin again. A creator differs from an expert. The expert works to understand what is, while creative minds become dissatisfied with the norm and set out into uncharted territory.

As educators we can develop creative minds in the following ways:

• Provide open-ended learning opportunities with multiple avenues for choice.
• Appreciate and foster divergent thinking with constructive feedback.
• Provide practice in change and innovation.
• Provide opportunities to use creativity and thinking in pictures.

Creative minds envision possibilities. Individuals with creative minds dream and imagine, thrive on change, like to be different, and view the world in unique ways. Those with creative minds are more likely to survive in a complex and ever-changing world than those who seek controlled realities.

Did you know?

The top work competencies in the upcoming decade include creative problem solving, complex communication skills, adaptability, self-management, self-development, and systems thinking (Houston, 2007).

The ability to create unique solutions and the ability to assess, analyze, and judge are essential to productive thought. “Creativity is the ability to produce novel, high-quality, task-appropriate products” (Sternberg, 2007, p. 105).

Creative teachers in the full range of subject areas and grade levels have successfully incorporated authentic learning activities into their curricula (Berman, 2008; Bonnette, 2006; ChanLin, 2008).

"The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot a wrong question."
—Anthony Jay

The information below is based on ideas in the PLS on-site courses Collaborative Inquiry for All Students: Preparing Minds for the Future™ , Meaningful Activities to Generate Interesting Classrooms® , Reading Across the Curriculum™ , and Student Engagement and Standards-Based Learning™ .

Read on for ways to engage creative minds
Creative minds thrive on outside-the-box thinking and will value opportunities to take thought processes one step further. Below are some quick warm up or cool down activities that will engage creative minds.

Similes
When people have an opportunity to compare what they see, creative thinking results. Ask students to create similes (comparisons using like or as) that relate to what they have learned. For example, a history teacher might offer the following: The War of 1812 is like ______________ because ________________. Challenge students to fill in the blanks with memorable, accurate, and fun phrases—the more creative the better!

Problem Solving
Challenge students to use their organizational and planning skills by presenting them with a curriculum-specific problem. For example, a physics teacher could show a picture of a large ball in a narrow-mouthed glass jar. Ask them how they could remove the ball from the jar? How could they remove it without touching the jar? What if the jar were made of a different substance?

Picture Analysis
Pass out catalogs or have students bring in pictures. Ask them to share what they see and relate what they see to what you are learning. Let them have fun and share stories to personalize the learning.

Taking It Further
The World Forum on Creativity was held in Oklahoma City this year. Click the link below and check out creative thinkers Daniel Pink, Sir Ken Robinson, and others. http://stateofcreativity.com/

References
Berman, S. (2008). Performance-based learning: Aligning experiential tasks and assessment to increase learning (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Bonnette, R. (2006). Out of the classroom and into the community: Service learning reinforces classroom instruction. Technology Teacher, 65(5), 6–11.

ChanLin, L. (2008). Technology integration applied to project-based learning in science. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 45(1), 55–65.

Houston, J. (2007). Future skill demands, from a corporate consultant perspective. Presentation at the National Academies Workshop on Research Evidence Related to Future Skill Demands. Retrieved March 2011, from http://www7.nationalacademies.org/cfe/Future_Skill_Demands_Presentations.html

Sternberg, R. J. (2007). Wisdom, intelligence, and creativity synthesized. New York: Cambridge University Press.