Lesson 1: What Creativity Is
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Welcome to the first lesson in my course about Teaching for Creativity! Take a look around your environment right now. Every object around you was creatively invented by another person who saw a problem that needed to be solved, or had a new idea to shape the future. Lightbulbs, microchips, penicillin...even the engineering feats of the rides at your favorite theme park were all designed using the power of creativity. What if you could harness the creativity within yourself to inspire the inventors of tomorrow? What if you could help your students harness their creativity in the classroom? This course is all about making that possible! In this lesson, we will learn about some of the basics of creativity, the forms it comes in, and how it is a beneficial skill to practice. Let's begin!
What Do We Already Know?
Take a moment to think about your current knowledge of creativity. What do you know about creativity? What do you want to know about creativity and its importance in the classroom? Let's utilize a KWL Chart to record our information and ideas for this unit. If you'd like, you can design your own KWL Chart with the materials you have available. However, if you're not quite ready to start practicing creativity yourself (and that's perfectly okay -- we've only just begun!), you can utilize the links below to access digital and printable templates for use. Start by filling out the "What I Know" and "Want to Know" sections of the chart, but don't limit yourself -- color the template, doodle your responses instead of writing them...have fun with it!
Defining Creativity
Great work! Your KWL Chart will serve as your knowledge-base for the first unit of the course. As part of our learning, we're going to look at our own perceptions of creativity as educators, and see how those might change throughout the duration of this course. So, using your KWL Chart and the information you currently know about creativity, what is a definition that you could write to answer the question: "What is creativity?" Please utilize the link below to contribute your current definition of creativity to our collaborative Padlet for this course. Helpful tip: Once you click on the Padlet link, in the bottom right of your screen will be a plus sign. Click on the plus sign to add your contribution, and "publish" to submit your response! It will be viewable by others.
When thinking about creativity, most people assume that it is an innate quality used by those who "make things." But what if creativity was more than that? What if we expanded that definition? Let's take a look at the video below.
According to Dictionary.com (n.d.), creativity is defined as “the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination.” It is an important skill that is highly valued by employers, but it is also a skill that encourages personal growth and self-fulfillment.
How Creativity Develops
Researchers Kaufman and Beghetto have developed the Four C’s of Creativity model (2009) to highlight the various creative tasks that people partake in, from everyday expressions of creativity to the creative works that are written about in history books. The Four C’s of Creativity model is summarized in the chart below.
As shown above, everyone participates in elements of creativity every single day. It’s also important to note that The Four C’s of Creativity is not a linear representation of creativity development; creativity ebbs and flows over time like the tides of the ocean.
Practicing creativity has many benefits, including improvements in mental and physical health. One reason for this is due to the flow state that is entered when a person is completely absorbed in a project or repetitive movements (such as with painting or crocheting). This state of mind raises dopamine levels, reduces anxiety, and slows heart rate, which leads to an increase in happiness over time (Stahl, 2018). Creative tasks such as writing and listening to music can also improve your immune system and strengthen connections in your brain, resulting in better cognitive function (Stahl, 2018).
Wrapping Up
Now that we’ve learned about what creativity is, it’s time to talk about what creativity isn’t. In the next lesson, we’ll dive into some common misconceptions related to creativity, and engage in some creative practice ourselves. Before jumping into the next lesson, it may be helpful to return to your KWL chart and add in some of the new information you’ve learned, if you haven’t already. If you're interested in diving deeper into the articles mentioned throughout this lesson, they are listed under the "Lesson Resources" heading below.
When you’re ready, click the links below to head to the next lesson, or return to the course homepage.
Click here to start Lesson 2: What Creativity Is Not!
Click here to return to the Teaching for Creativity Course Homepage!
Lesson Resources
Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Creativity. In Dictionary.com dictionary. Retrieved April 11, 2023, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/creativity.
Kaufman, J. C., & Beghetto, R. A. (2009). Beyond big and little: The four C model of creativity. Review of General Psychology, 13(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013688
Spencer, J. (2016, March 7). We need a bigger definition of creativity [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/MTCOExd0hDk
Stahl, A. (2018, July 25). Here’s how creativity actually improves your health. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2018/07/25/heres-how-creativity-actually-improves-your-health/?sh=5dcf4ee113a6