Is it the tool or the training? So often in my years of teaching, I noticed how people were immediately ready to buy a pencil, paper, paint, and pen. When students enrolled for an art program, the first question was “what should I buy for supplies?” When they asked what was needed for the first
Promoting intrinsic motivation and problem solving are two areas where educators can foster creativity in students. Students are more creative when they see a task as intrinsically motivating, valued for its own sake. To promote creative thinking, educators need to identify what motivates their students and structure teaching around it. Providing students with a choice
The conventional system of schooling is sometimes seen as “stifling” of creativity. The pre-school, kindergarten and early school years are often the only ages where there is an attempt to provide a creativity-friendly, rich, imagination-fostering environment for young children. Researchers see the importance of fostering creativity because technology is advancing our society at an unprecedented
Salvador Dali, the great surrealist, used to grab ideas for paintings from the very fertile semi-sleep state we call the hypnagogic state. He’d lie on a sofa and hold a spoon in one hand, balancing it on the edge of a glass placed on the floor. Just as he’d drift off to sleep, he’d release
Our creative potential is nearly shut down by early schooling. Teachers are the first to admit this. In kindergarten, all the kids are artists and inventors. Starting in the first grade, the kids have to work all the time. There’s no more time for fun, because there’s so much they’ve got to learn. They’re rarely
If creativity is so accessible, what’s holding us back? When a group of people are asked, “Please raise your hand if you consider yourself to be creative,” – why do only a few hands go up? Why are corporate leaders, government officials, politicians, crime fighters, teachers, and parents all starving for new ideas? Why are
