Myths of creativity

Nothing focuses the mind like a hanging.
Samuel Johnson

... as does giving a public presentation.

Having had a long time interest in creativity as a motivating factor in good school projects, I decided in a weak moment that creativity might deserve a short presentation all of its own. So I wrote up a description and the librarians of the British Columbia Teacher-Librarian Association actually asked me to give the talk at their conference last week. So I needed to focus the mind..

Here was the outline:

• Why is it imperative we take developing creativity seriously? (Daniel Pink, Richard Florida, Ken Robinson, job trends, Bloom, "21st entry skills, Net Gen attributes, etc.)
• Concerns and myths about creativity. (Totally supported by research my own opinion.)
• 10 ways to encourage creativity in every assignment.
• Four practice lessons to modify for creativity. (We ran out of time to do these.) 

Concerns

Concern 1: Creativity isn't always about art. Kids can be creative in lots of areas, ala Gardner's multiple intelligences.

Johnson’s Multiple Creative Abilities 

• Writing/Presenting/Storytelling
• Numeric problem-solving
• Graphic artistic (drawing, painting, sculpting, photography, designing)
• Athletic/movement (Sports, dance)
• Musically artistic
• Humor
• Team-building
• Problem-solving
• Inventing
• Leading
• Organizing
• Motivating/inspiring

Concern 2: Creativity must be accompanied 
by craft and 
discipline. Being creative doesn't mean rules or guidelines aren't present - even necessary.

Concern 3: The world is not really interested in your creativity, but that's OK. Even we don't "see" a child's vision, we need to encourage it and remember creativity can be its own reward.

Concern 4: If we ask students to demonstrate creativity or innovation, we need some tools to determine whether they have done so. Some great ideas from participants in the workshop on this, especially regarding asking kids to articulate the creative process.

Concern 5: Creativity is the antithesis of good test scores. While most tests look for "one right answer," creativity can and should be an important part of school. Is test taking or formulating new ideas the better whole life skill?

Myths of creativity (from Harvard Business School research - Breen, Bill. “The 6 Myths of Creativity,” Fastcompany.com, Dec. 1, 2004)

1. Creativity Comes From Creative Types
2. Money Is a Creativity Motivator
3. Time Pressure Fuels Creativity
4. Fear Forces Breakthroughs
5. Competition Beats Collaboration
6. A Streamlined Organization Is a Creative Organization

Myths of creativity (Johnson)

1. Only academically “gifted” children are creative.
2. Creativity does not belong in core courses like math, science, social studies, English.
3. Creativity is fluff.
4. Creativity does not require learning or discipline.
5. Technology automatically develops creativity.
6. Teachers themselves do not need to display creativity.

10 ways to encourage creativity in every assignment

1. Ban clip art.
2. Ask for information to be shown in multiple formats/media.
3. Encourage the narrative voice when writing and when giving oral presentations.
4. Ask for multiple possible answers to questions or multiple possible solutions to problems.
5. Give points for "design” on all
 assignments - more than just
 "neatness counts." (The Non-Designers 
Design Book , Robin Williams)
6. Instead of simply marking a response "wrong," ask for a reason why the answer was given
7. Take advantage of free online
 tools. See the change your image workshop.
8. Ask students to design classroom rules, modify procedures and solve issues.
9. Honor students’ personal
 interests and unique talents.
10. Seek out the creative ideas of other educators.

The presentation has some rough edges, needs some trimming, and will benefit from comments from participants. But hey, I had fun with it!

Are we asking the wrong question about e-books?

I am stealing this observation (only because he has it first) from Tim Stahmer at Assorted Stuff.

In his post this morning, Seth Godin discusses about how businesses almost always interpret – incorrectly – the impact of new technologies.

The question that gets asked about technology, the one that is almost always precisely the wrong question is, “How does this advance help our business?”

The correct question is, “How does this advance undermine our business model and require us/enable us to build a new one?”

So, what happens if we substitute “school” "library" for “business”?

Both Tim's and Seth's especially resonated with me since I spent part of the weekend working on a set of "rants" about e-books and libraries for short presention at a Mackin book gathering on Wednesday evening that is a part of the AASL conference.

I definitely think a new model for library business is essential if we are going to survive. The number one challenge is listed below ...

Educating Zombies: the book you, yourself, may have written after a few beers

I am not quite sure how or why I started reading the Drill and Kill: Educating Zombies blog by J. The stuff I've read by authors who go only by first initials tend to be, ahem, adult in content. But I have constantly enjoyed J's hard-headed but humorous commentary on education with the over-riding theme that schools are creating mindless, rather than mindful, students.

I liked J's posts enough to invest in his book, Educating Zombies (ordering information is on the blog link above). And I highly recommend you buy and read it provided that you:

• enjoy those wonderfully truthful, non-PC conversations that educators can have only after a few beers.
• have never really gotten over the traumas of junior high school and that rebukes from your eighth grade girlfriend/boyfriend still sting.
• have a tolerance for, if not an appreciation of, profanity as a modifier.
• like to read the views of teachers with a genuine compassion for kids, schools and learning.

In an introduction and a baker's dozen of short chapters, J takes a good whack at childhood obesity, religion in schools and government, political correctness, e-mail etiquette, over-protection of kids, conformity, and "advisory" programs designed to "build character." All genuine concerns of veteran educators who see the good intentions of soft-minded, fearful policymakers inadvertently killing kids with kindness.

My dog-eared copy of Educating Zombies. I hope I didn't just offend dog lovers, book lovers, or e-book readers.

My paper copy (first book I've read on dead trees for a year) has just about every other page dog-eared with big blue stars inked beside passages like these:

... I do not want to diminish the love educators have for their students, but in the end they teach and reward conformity to the least creative kids.

You would be surprised how much information you can get from a book flap. Usually enough to fool people into thinking you have read it.

... it's best not to prank administrators who have 1/3 less sense of humor than regular people.

We go into education because we don't like adults. Therefore, spending an entire evening with them is as much fun as pulling dead animals from underneath a car. It is nerve-wracking, boring, repetitive and necessary.

Nothing screams "asshole" like the Blackberry prayer. You have seen this, two hands meeting around the black plastic, head down, ... I have seen administrators standing in front of a student body thumb-hammering into their Blackberry. ... If you own a Blackberry I would like to suggest you mute the volume then shove it up your ass.

What's different about me now from when I first started is that now I go into the classroom and I wonder everyday what I am going to learn instead of what I'm going to teach.

For the typical kid, a "Person of the Week" makes them feel special; like everyone else.

I always hear stories from adults that claim to remember being picked last as a kid and how they still suffer from that. It usually comes from assholes that people still shun. Go figure.

Schools are rife with conformity masked as such things as schedules, rules, lockers, procedures, lines and more. There is no room for the child that questions authority or seeks an alternative path.

... parents continue to insist that the education they received as children is the same kind their kids should have. It seems as though every other profession has evolved and people accept this except in education.

... children that have been taught resiliency, that have not been coddled, will survive.

Thank you to the the short-sighted, stupid asshole administrators that I have worked under the past fifteen years. If it were not for your complete lack of understanding of children I would have nothing to write about.

The book combines a few wild adolescent tales, an Animal House-type prank or two, a couple of interviews with veteran and beginning teachers, and plenty of references to sports and rock-and-roll mixed in with fifteen years of observations about educational foibles. Self-indulgent at times, off-task often, and too obviously aiming at shocking us old farts with rap lyric vocab, J's humanity and concern for kids still seeps through the tough guy mask. Better luck next time, dude.

Now that this little temper tantrum is out of the author's system, I hope J focuses on a book that outs "self esteem" programs like Kohn's Punished by Rewards exposes extrinsic motivation.

But don't wait for a second book. If you are not humor-challenged nor offended by profanity, you'll both enjoy and appreciate Educating Zombies.

Go for it.