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Anyone can be creative at anything anytime. Creative people are normal and real humans who have learned to think differently, observe critically, perceive purposefully, position patterns objectively, abstract constructively, think with their bodies intelligently, model creatively and playfully interact with ideas, concepts, knowledge and things with the intention of inventing something ‘’novel, effective and whole-N.E.W’’. By changing how we teach what, educationists have the power to plow, till, water and nurture creative minds who pass through their hands every academic year. New approaches to teaching and learning that aim at exposing students to knowledge, providing opportunities to interact with ideas and or concepts, acquiring skills and playing is an effective way of lighting the fire of literacy, creativity and ingenuity in students- children, youth and adults alike.
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“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by
its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is
stupid’’ (Albert Einstein), is our
educational system judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree instead of its
ability to swim? What can educators do to practically equip students with creative skills?
Defining Creativity
Creativity is quite relative as many people consider different people to be creative based on their experience, perception and lifestyle. Even though creativity may be difficult to define, its nature is worth dissecting, digesting and assimilating.
According to Mishra, Henriksen & the Deep-Play Group 2013, ‘creativity is not a ‘’magical’’ process, but rather creative ideas emerge from combining pre-existing ideas and concepts in unique and new ways’ to create something that is ‘’novel, effective and whole’’-NEW.
Creativity can therefore be simply defined as the use of one’s imagination to explore or play with existing ideas or knowledge with the intention of creating something ‘novel, effective and whole-N.E.W’ with a touch of style, esthetic and value. Creative people think and see in their mind what nobody thinks or sees resulting in the creation of something innovative that nobody has seen before.
Are Creative People Born or Made?
Every human has an inherent genius lying inside of them which needs to be awakened. Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein in their book Sparks of Genius (The 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People) lay out the critical creative cognitive thinking tools- Thinking differently, observing, imaging, recognizing and creating patterns, analogizing, abstracting, embodied thinking, modeling and playing that ‘spark’ creativity in any person when studied and practiced according to the authors.
The Cognitive Tools That Spark Creativity
The mind is as a fertile land which has to be plowed, tiled, watered and pruned. In this sense anyone can be taught, trained and challenged to exercise their imagination by exploring the ‘thinking tools of the world’s most creative people’ spelt out by Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein. From Albert Einstein through Virginia Woof to Apple’s Steve Jobs these innovators have practiced the creative cognitive tools. These tools are not farfetched.
Thinking Differently
The first creative cognitive tool is to Think Differently. This is a psychological process of reasoning in a certain way. To be creative one must think creative. The good old book for example states clearly ‘as a man thinks, so is he’’ (The Bible, Proverbs 23:7). We must learn to discipline our thoughts in the direction of innovation by imagining and inventing something new with a touch of style, value and esthetic.
From art to medicine, creative people have asserted that what is in one’s mind is as important as what one can creatively produce. In other words, how one thinks and what one can imagine makes all the difference. Sculptor Beverly Pepper for example asserts that ‘art is in your head. It’s how you think and what you think’. In the same way, biochemist Szent-Gyorgyi educates that- ‘discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought’. For the Root-Beinsterns, creative people ‘learned to … see and feel things in their mind’ (page 16). They continue to argue that ‘learning to think creatively in one discipline… opens the door to understanding creative thinking in all disciplines’.
The discipline of thinking differently therefore must be cultivated as a habit in every person. As educators our key responsibility will be to prepare the minds of students to think differently in order to create esthetically. This can be achieved by providing the opportunity for students to think out of the box, inviting them to explore their imagination and practice their creativity skills. In my work with pre-school children and school-age children for example, I have observed that the learning space and specific learning materials affect how children and youth think and imagine which translate into how they learn, interact and even behave. In one of my observation for instance, I noticed that offering play dough for example to pre-school children after outdoor play helps them to calm down, think and discuss what they feel.
Designing a learning space and providing construction materials such as pencils, crayons, watercolors, construction papers for pre-schoolers for example is a way of inviting them to explore. By talking to them about what they see, think, want and then encouraging them to draw or paint instead of just coloring ‘pre-made –drawings’ for instance is a way preparing their minds to be creative and facilitating their learning process.
In likewise manner, giving the chance to School -Age -Children to create their own puzzles using their own words for example, encouraging them to capture their daily in journal or paint their feelings through poetry or challenging them to brainstorm on issues in their community and then use drama solve these problems for example are all various ways of helping children to be creative.
Perceiving
Perceiving is the second cognitive tool for creativity. Perceiving is the ability to observe carefully, think critically, see differently and capture objectively. In perception, paying attention to what goes on in one’s mind when one observes anything in order to capture how the individual sees, thinks, interprets and appreciates things, situations, circumstances and his or her environment is a vital way of developing strong creativity skills. For instance, by challenging the individual to get out of their comfort zone and touch, feel, smell, taste and listen to whatever they see helps see the world with a different lens.
Helping pre-schoolers to create mental pictures as you read stories or play music, giving them the chance to see, touch, feel and smell with sand, clay, paint or water and asking them to describe how they feel, what they see or even challenging them to mold with clay for example are all effective ways of nurturing their creative minds.
In the same way, cooking club members of School- Age –Children can be given ingredients and tasked to come up with their own recipe to cook a new dish from the scratch for example. Children can then be encouraged to pay attention to what they see, feel, smell and taste what they cook. Again, youth can be asked to describing their experience through writing or discussion. This is an important way of getting youth to get out of their comfort zone interpret, create something new and appreciate their creative skills.
Patterning
The Third creative cognitive tool is termed Patterning. This creative cognitive tool refers to the repetitive form of anything- design, form, movement, structure, style, scents or smell, sound and texture. It can be as esthetic as the creative arrangement of an art work, sound of music, movement of body, a theme of a drama or as disturbing as the repeating occurrence of the cause of a disease or physical therapy.
From the kitchen to the ‘zumba’ dance floor, patterns are everywhere every day. Patterns can be recognized through critical observation and /or created by practice. It takes the careful observer to identify the hidden facial pattern of a fine artwork for example and the skilled and experienced physician to identify the pattern of a disease in a patient and then outline treatment.
In my experience with early childhood education, I have noticed that pre-school children are curious about designs with patterns. In the same way, school-age children are adventurous with patterns in artifacts, music and drama. Pre-schoolers and school age children can therefore be taught to recognize and create patterns by first of creating the opportunity to observe existing patterns and giving them the chance to create their own patterns. Collecting artifacts and bringing them to a pre-school classroom to show and discuss during a large group discussion or circle time for example is a good way of preparing the minds of pre-school children to be creative. Giving the children the chance to smell, see, touch and feel the patterns of the art works for example is a positive way of introducing creative ideas of patterning.
Likewise, in a School-Age-Program, planning a trip to a museum is an excellent way of helping school children see a varied of patterns in art work. Again, the Science Club of the School Age Program can visit a local hospital to learn about the patterns in illness. Another way is also invite a musician to sing and dance with the dancing club members. This is a great way of teaching them body movement and music patterns. Youth can then be challenged to form their own dance or compose their own songs or music.
Abstracting
Abstracting is the fourth creative thinking tool. Abstracting involves using a single variation of a word, a shape, color, style, texture, taste, design etc to elucidate the ‘hidden truth’ and ‘reveal a critical often surprising essence’ of a whole idea, concept, situation or context. The process usually involves ‘leaving out ‘parts of a whole with the intention of engaging the mind to think, imagine, envision, appreciate and judge.
In order to zero it down to the simplest form-creative people often use analogy-‘the functional resemblance between things that are otherwise unlike’. By referring to an abstract idea such as youthful age, new or blessings for example, poets and writers often analogize it by choosing the color or word ‘green’. In this sense, abstracting and analogy are two sides of the same coin-both are used to achieve the same purpose.
As an education technician, I have observed that pre-school children love to hear the sounds of words and sentences that rhyme. Hence Pre-schoolers can learn or be taught to repeat short rhyming words of a poem or a story book for example. This prepares them to start thinking about sounds, words and concepts. For example why the word ‘green’ refers to grass, youth or something new.
School Age children can also be encouraged to play with words in their own ways and then write poems that rhyme. Again, the drama club members can be challenged to come up with an abstract drama which invites a whole community to think abstract.
Embodied Thinking
The fifth creative cognitive tool is referred to as ‘Embodied Thinking’. This is the ability to think with one’s body-paying attention to ‘the sensations of the muscle, skin and sinews’ as well as ‘the feelings in the body movement, balance and tensions’. Closely linked to this kin esthetic skill is ‘empathizing’ where one must journey in to the world of something or someone else and walk in their shoes in order to imagine their world and see the world through their eyes, taste their experience and then feel and think for them.
Giving the opportunity for Pre-schoolers to describe what they feel when they ride a bicycle for example, run or slide etc. at the playground is a positive way of encouraging them to think with their bodies.
In likewise manner School Age youth can be encouraged to document or share with their friends what they feel in their bodies when they think of something or engage in any new activity.
Playing
Playing is the psychological process of using the mind, body, knowledge and abilities to enjoy an activity. When one is playing, it is usually for the pure fun of it. According to the psychologist Jean Piaget, play helps build cognitive skills in various ways. First of all, 'practice play ' helps exercise and develop any thinking tool by enhancing skill through practice. Secondly, 'symbolic play' strengthens tools such as analogizing, modeling, play-acting and empathizing through pretending and making oneself believe. Thirdly, 'game playing' teaches making rules and even breaking them. In my experience, I have observed that pre-school children and school-age children are have a lot of energy and like to engage in outdoor active outdoor activities such as running, sliding biking and playing football. Giving pre-school children and school age youth to engage in free-play by providing age appropriate toys, board games and implementing indoors or active outdoors creative play activities is an effective means of encouraging children and youth to interact with knowledge as well as play with ideas and concepts.
In summary, the ideas of the Root-Bernsteins suggest that every person has the ability to reason and innovate. Hence, creativity is not reserved for the noble or for a chosen few. Anyone can be creative at any point in time with anything. Creative people are normal and real humans who have learned to think differently, observe critically, perceive purposefully, create and position patterns, abstract and analogize constructively, think with their bodies, model and play with ideas, concepts, knowledge and things with the intention of inventing something new.
Conclusively, educators have a sacred responsibility to light the fire of literacy, creativity and ingenuity in every student. This goal can be achieved by playfully exploring the creative cognitive tools discussed in this essay-think differently, observing, perceiving, recognizing and forming patterns, abstracting and analogizing , thinking with the body, modeling and playing
Defining Creativity
Creativity is quite relative as many people consider different people to be creative based on their experience, perception and lifestyle. Even though creativity may be difficult to define, its nature is worth dissecting, digesting and assimilating.
According to Mishra, Henriksen & the Deep-Play Group 2013, ‘creativity is not a ‘’magical’’ process, but rather creative ideas emerge from combining pre-existing ideas and concepts in unique and new ways’ to create something that is ‘’novel, effective and whole’’-NEW.
Creativity can therefore be simply defined as the use of one’s imagination to explore or play with existing ideas or knowledge with the intention of creating something ‘novel, effective and whole-N.E.W’ with a touch of style, esthetic and value. Creative people think and see in their mind what nobody thinks or sees resulting in the creation of something innovative that nobody has seen before.
Are Creative People Born or Made?
Every human has an inherent genius lying inside of them which needs to be awakened. Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein in their book Sparks of Genius (The 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People) lay out the critical creative cognitive thinking tools- Thinking differently, observing, imaging, recognizing and creating patterns, analogizing, abstracting, embodied thinking, modeling and playing that ‘spark’ creativity in any person when studied and practiced according to the authors.
The Cognitive Tools That Spark Creativity
The mind is as a fertile land which has to be plowed, tiled, watered and pruned. In this sense anyone can be taught, trained and challenged to exercise their imagination by exploring the ‘thinking tools of the world’s most creative people’ spelt out by Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein. From Albert Einstein through Virginia Woof to Apple’s Steve Jobs these innovators have practiced the creative cognitive tools. These tools are not farfetched.
Thinking Differently
The first creative cognitive tool is to Think Differently. This is a psychological process of reasoning in a certain way. To be creative one must think creative. The good old book for example states clearly ‘as a man thinks, so is he’’ (The Bible, Proverbs 23:7). We must learn to discipline our thoughts in the direction of innovation by imagining and inventing something new with a touch of style, value and esthetic.
From art to medicine, creative people have asserted that what is in one’s mind is as important as what one can creatively produce. In other words, how one thinks and what one can imagine makes all the difference. Sculptor Beverly Pepper for example asserts that ‘art is in your head. It’s how you think and what you think’. In the same way, biochemist Szent-Gyorgyi educates that- ‘discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought’. For the Root-Beinsterns, creative people ‘learned to … see and feel things in their mind’ (page 16). They continue to argue that ‘learning to think creatively in one discipline… opens the door to understanding creative thinking in all disciplines’.
The discipline of thinking differently therefore must be cultivated as a habit in every person. As educators our key responsibility will be to prepare the minds of students to think differently in order to create esthetically. This can be achieved by providing the opportunity for students to think out of the box, inviting them to explore their imagination and practice their creativity skills. In my work with pre-school children and school-age children for example, I have observed that the learning space and specific learning materials affect how children and youth think and imagine which translate into how they learn, interact and even behave. In one of my observation for instance, I noticed that offering play dough for example to pre-school children after outdoor play helps them to calm down, think and discuss what they feel.
Designing a learning space and providing construction materials such as pencils, crayons, watercolors, construction papers for pre-schoolers for example is a way of inviting them to explore. By talking to them about what they see, think, want and then encouraging them to draw or paint instead of just coloring ‘pre-made –drawings’ for instance is a way preparing their minds to be creative and facilitating their learning process.
In likewise manner, giving the chance to School -Age -Children to create their own puzzles using their own words for example, encouraging them to capture their daily in journal or paint their feelings through poetry or challenging them to brainstorm on issues in their community and then use drama solve these problems for example are all various ways of helping children to be creative.
Perceiving
Perceiving is the second cognitive tool for creativity. Perceiving is the ability to observe carefully, think critically, see differently and capture objectively. In perception, paying attention to what goes on in one’s mind when one observes anything in order to capture how the individual sees, thinks, interprets and appreciates things, situations, circumstances and his or her environment is a vital way of developing strong creativity skills. For instance, by challenging the individual to get out of their comfort zone and touch, feel, smell, taste and listen to whatever they see helps see the world with a different lens.
Helping pre-schoolers to create mental pictures as you read stories or play music, giving them the chance to see, touch, feel and smell with sand, clay, paint or water and asking them to describe how they feel, what they see or even challenging them to mold with clay for example are all effective ways of nurturing their creative minds.
In the same way, cooking club members of School- Age –Children can be given ingredients and tasked to come up with their own recipe to cook a new dish from the scratch for example. Children can then be encouraged to pay attention to what they see, feel, smell and taste what they cook. Again, youth can be asked to describing their experience through writing or discussion. This is an important way of getting youth to get out of their comfort zone interpret, create something new and appreciate their creative skills.
Patterning
The Third creative cognitive tool is termed Patterning. This creative cognitive tool refers to the repetitive form of anything- design, form, movement, structure, style, scents or smell, sound and texture. It can be as esthetic as the creative arrangement of an art work, sound of music, movement of body, a theme of a drama or as disturbing as the repeating occurrence of the cause of a disease or physical therapy.
From the kitchen to the ‘zumba’ dance floor, patterns are everywhere every day. Patterns can be recognized through critical observation and /or created by practice. It takes the careful observer to identify the hidden facial pattern of a fine artwork for example and the skilled and experienced physician to identify the pattern of a disease in a patient and then outline treatment.
In my experience with early childhood education, I have noticed that pre-school children are curious about designs with patterns. In the same way, school-age children are adventurous with patterns in artifacts, music and drama. Pre-schoolers and school age children can therefore be taught to recognize and create patterns by first of creating the opportunity to observe existing patterns and giving them the chance to create their own patterns. Collecting artifacts and bringing them to a pre-school classroom to show and discuss during a large group discussion or circle time for example is a good way of preparing the minds of pre-school children to be creative. Giving the children the chance to smell, see, touch and feel the patterns of the art works for example is a positive way of introducing creative ideas of patterning.
Likewise, in a School-Age-Program, planning a trip to a museum is an excellent way of helping school children see a varied of patterns in art work. Again, the Science Club of the School Age Program can visit a local hospital to learn about the patterns in illness. Another way is also invite a musician to sing and dance with the dancing club members. This is a great way of teaching them body movement and music patterns. Youth can then be challenged to form their own dance or compose their own songs or music.
Abstracting
Abstracting is the fourth creative thinking tool. Abstracting involves using a single variation of a word, a shape, color, style, texture, taste, design etc to elucidate the ‘hidden truth’ and ‘reveal a critical often surprising essence’ of a whole idea, concept, situation or context. The process usually involves ‘leaving out ‘parts of a whole with the intention of engaging the mind to think, imagine, envision, appreciate and judge.
In order to zero it down to the simplest form-creative people often use analogy-‘the functional resemblance between things that are otherwise unlike’. By referring to an abstract idea such as youthful age, new or blessings for example, poets and writers often analogize it by choosing the color or word ‘green’. In this sense, abstracting and analogy are two sides of the same coin-both are used to achieve the same purpose.
As an education technician, I have observed that pre-school children love to hear the sounds of words and sentences that rhyme. Hence Pre-schoolers can learn or be taught to repeat short rhyming words of a poem or a story book for example. This prepares them to start thinking about sounds, words and concepts. For example why the word ‘green’ refers to grass, youth or something new.
School Age children can also be encouraged to play with words in their own ways and then write poems that rhyme. Again, the drama club members can be challenged to come up with an abstract drama which invites a whole community to think abstract.
Embodied Thinking
The fifth creative cognitive tool is referred to as ‘Embodied Thinking’. This is the ability to think with one’s body-paying attention to ‘the sensations of the muscle, skin and sinews’ as well as ‘the feelings in the body movement, balance and tensions’. Closely linked to this kin esthetic skill is ‘empathizing’ where one must journey in to the world of something or someone else and walk in their shoes in order to imagine their world and see the world through their eyes, taste their experience and then feel and think for them.
Giving the opportunity for Pre-schoolers to describe what they feel when they ride a bicycle for example, run or slide etc. at the playground is a positive way of encouraging them to think with their bodies.
In likewise manner School Age youth can be encouraged to document or share with their friends what they feel in their bodies when they think of something or engage in any new activity.
Playing
Playing is the psychological process of using the mind, body, knowledge and abilities to enjoy an activity. When one is playing, it is usually for the pure fun of it. According to the psychologist Jean Piaget, play helps build cognitive skills in various ways. First of all, 'practice play ' helps exercise and develop any thinking tool by enhancing skill through practice. Secondly, 'symbolic play' strengthens tools such as analogizing, modeling, play-acting and empathizing through pretending and making oneself believe. Thirdly, 'game playing' teaches making rules and even breaking them. In my experience, I have observed that pre-school children and school-age children are have a lot of energy and like to engage in outdoor active outdoor activities such as running, sliding biking and playing football. Giving pre-school children and school age youth to engage in free-play by providing age appropriate toys, board games and implementing indoors or active outdoors creative play activities is an effective means of encouraging children and youth to interact with knowledge as well as play with ideas and concepts.
In summary, the ideas of the Root-Bernsteins suggest that every person has the ability to reason and innovate. Hence, creativity is not reserved for the noble or for a chosen few. Anyone can be creative at any point in time with anything. Creative people are normal and real humans who have learned to think differently, observe critically, perceive purposefully, create and position patterns, abstract and analogize constructively, think with their bodies, model and play with ideas, concepts, knowledge and things with the intention of inventing something new.
Conclusively, educators have a sacred responsibility to light the fire of literacy, creativity and ingenuity in every student. This goal can be achieved by playfully exploring the creative cognitive tools discussed in this essay-think differently, observing, perceiving, recognizing and forming patterns, abstracting and analogizing , thinking with the body, modeling and playing
