Creativity

Concept and Definitions of Creativity, nature of Creativity, Stages of Creativity, Elements of Creativity, Characteristics of Creativity and creative child, role of Teachers in fostering Creativity.

1. Creativity Dr. Manju N. D Assistant professor S.V.K. National College of Education

2. Meaning of Creativity Creativity is the capacity or ability of a person through which something new ideas, objects, arrangement or re-arrangement of old elements can be built up for bringing about uplift in the society. The creative thinkers always explore new areas and makes new observations, new predictions and new inferences.

3. Definitions of creativity: According to Robert E. Franken 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. Spearman (1931) “Creativity is the power of human mind to create new contents by transforming relations and generating new correlates”. Drevdahl (1956): “Creativity is the capacity of a person to produce compositions, products or ideas which are essentially new or novel and previously unknown to the producer”. Guilford (1959): “Creativity is the capacity to produce ideas that are both new and useful through divergent thinking”.

4. Nature of Creativity Nature of creativity in a person can be summed up as follows: Creative child is courageous in the conviction of his beliefs and values. The creative child is curious to know more and more about his environment. Independent judgment is another characteristic of a creative child. The creative person is independent in thinking about the problems of various types.

5. Creative child becomes pre-occupied with a task where he concentrates all his mental energies on the task in hand. Willing to take risk is another capacity of a creative child. The creative child has vision of future problem.

6. Stages of Creativity: Wallas (1926) has emphasized there are four stages to creative thinking. Preparation  This stage consists of purposeful study and enquiry in order to collect experience and information needed to solve problem. The plan of action is formulated by means of collecting and analyzing the information Incubation This stage is an absence of creative thinking about the problem, There is a period of rest when there is no obvious activity and progress. It seeks uncover new relationship among familiar facts

7. Illumination Sudden idea occur through insight and it provide better solution to the problem. Thinker gets a insightful solution Verification Illumination is tried out. Verify idea or solution, whether it is correct or not.

8. Elements of Creativity: 1.     Fluency:  The ability to think well and effortlessly in order to generate a quantity of ideas, responses, solutions or questions. (Brainstorming builds fluency) Ex: List all things you can think of that are blue or have the word “blue” in them (Butterfly, sea, sky, blueberry) 2.     Flexibility:  ability to easily abandon old ways of thinking, adopt new ones, and produce ideas, responses, questions or solutions in a variety of categories. Flexibility generates a variety of ideas. Ex: Write many uses of paper?

9. 3.    Originality:  It is the ability to develop ideas that are statistically unusual, novel or unique Ex: Invent a machine to help you clean your room. Be sure to write down details on how the machine works, what it uses, and what it is made of. Draw a picture of your new invention and give it a creative title. 4.    Elaboration:  The ability to add details in order to modify or expand upon an idea or a general scheme. 5.    Sensitivity:  the ability to notice and perceive the problems before others notice it or see it again.

10. Characteristics of the creative children: Creative children or creative individuals have a great deal of energy, but they are also often quiet and at rest. Creative children/ individuals tend to be smart, yet also inexperienced at the same time. Creative children have a combination of playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility. Creative children alternate between imagination and fantasy ant one end, and rooted sense of reality at the other. Creative people seem to harbor opposite tendencies on the continuum between extroversion and introversion.

11. Creative children are also remarkable humble and proud at the same time. Creative children to a certain extent escape rigid gender role stereotyping and have a tendency toward androgyny. Generally, creative people are thought to be rebellious and independent. Most creative persons are very passionate about their work, yet they can be extremely objective about it as well. The openness and sensitivity of creative individuals often exposes them to suffering pain yet also a great deal of enjoyment.

12. A creative child has the following personality characteristics:  Autonomous  Bold  Complex  Dominant and self-assertive  Emotionally sensitive  Independent of judgment, introvert  Self-sufficient  Self-accepting and self-controlled  Flexibility, originality and fluency  Divergent thinking  Risk taker  Wide interest  High aspiration

13. Role of Teacher in fostering student’s creativity: Freedom to respond Opportunity for ego involvement Encouraging originality and flexibility Removal of hesitation and fear Providing appropriate opportunities and atmosphere for creative expression. Developing health habits among children Using the creative resources of the community Avoidance of blocks to creative thinking Proper organization of the curriculum Reform in the evaluation system Use special techniques for fostering creativity. Teaching by example

14. Special techniques for fostering creativity Brainstorming Developed by – Osborn -1957 It is the strategy or technique for allowing a group to explore ideas without judgment or censure. In practice, The children may be asked to sit in a group for solving a problem and attacking it without any inhibition from many angles In fact , literally storming it with a number of possible ideas and solutions. To start with, the students may be provided with a focus. Three stages ( warm up, ideation and Evaluation) Four steps (Selecting a problem and challenges, Fact finding, Brain storming Stage, Evaluation)

15. Lateral thinking It is solving problems through an  indirect  and  creative  approach, Using  reasoning  that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas The term was coined in 1967 by  Edward de Bono It is sometimes referred to in business, to use your inspiration and imagination to solve problems by looking at them from unexpected perspectives. Lateral thinking involves discarding the obvious, leaving behind traditional modes of thought, and throwing away preconceptions. Synectics It derived from the Latin word ‘ Synetikos ’ meaning-‘hold together’ Synectics  is a  problem solving  methodology that stimulates thought processes of which the subject may be unaware. This method was developed by  George M. Prince   and  William J.J. Gordon  in 1961.