StudyBlog

Can creativity be taught?  Yes, it absolutely can.  To understand why, we need to understand what creativity is first.  Creativity is, simply put, the ability to produce something new and of-value.  It is a skill valuable in any class, any activity, and – in looking to our children’s future – any industry.  Creativity is not just for “artistic types,” but available and useful to everyone, in whatever they do!  Learning to be creative, like any complex skill, is something we can train our mind to do.  Like lifting mental weights, the more we practice the easier it becomes and the more we can handle.  Let’s look at one strategy for developing creativity:

When encouraging one of our tutoring students to be more creative, this is a technique that I find very helpful.  The technique has 4 easy steps, that can be repeated over and over again:  Discussion, Planning, Trying, and Observing.

Discussion.  In the Discussion step, we (big surprise) talk about the problem we are tackling.  What is it we are trying to achieve?  What is easy about that?  What is difficult?  If we can’t see all the way to our solution, what would be one possible way to start?  Another name for discussion is Brainstorming.  That means that there are no wrong answers.  Get it all down on paper!  The term “Discussion” is framed within the context of people talking together – student and tutor.  However, this is definitely something that someone can do on their own, especially after a bit of practice.

Planning.  During the planning phase, we look at what we’ve achieved during the Discussion phase, and we decide on a first step.  Remember, the process repeats and repeats, so there’s no need to worry too much about where to start, just start somewhere!  If you can see your way a few steps down the road, great!  Otherwise, don’t stress.  You’ll have plenty of time to analyze later, during the Observation stage.  For now, just figure out that crucial first step forward. Sometimes it’s helpful to have a specific goal in mind.

Trying.  Here’s where you execute your plan, or maybe even just one tiny step in your plan.  This is the part that most people think of when they talk about creativity.  But the other steps are just as important.  If Discussion is when you let your brain go wild with possibility, then Trying is when you give yourself permission to give it a go.  Assume that you are the number-one expert in whatever you are doing, and act like it!

Observing.  This is the time you’ve set aside to look at what you’ve achieved.  How has it brought you closer to your goal?  What are the positive aspects of what you did?  What could you have done differently?  It’s very important to remember, there are no failures here, only success.  When students are hesitant to create, because of a lack on confidence in their abilities, this is often the step where they surprise themselves by seeing that they’ve achieved so much more than they thought they would.  Did things not turn out the way you planned at all?  Great!  What did that teach us?  Are we someplace new because of the unexpected result?

Repeat.  Once you’ve made your observations, it’s time to go back to Discussion and move forward some more!  I find it helpful – but not strictly necessary – to sometimes attach time limits to certain steps, depending on the complexity of the task and the maturity and experience level of the students.

Happy creating!