on Robinson and Aronica’s (2015) following definition of creativity, which includes three critical components: (1) original ideas, (2) ideas that have value, and (3) ideas that spring from our imagination—
Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value. There are two other concepts to keep in mind: imagination and innovation. Imagination is the root of creativity. It is the ability to bring to mind things that aren’t present in our senses. Creativity is putting your imagination to work. It is applied imagination. (p. 146)
It is important to start with the component of original ideas because one critical misconception students have about their own creativity is that if their ideas resemble those of others or if they build on ideas shared in a collaborative setting, for example, then they aren’t truly creative ideas. In fact, some of the most creative acts spring from the work of others, from stimuli quite outside our minds. Robinson and Aronica (2015) clarify this when they explain, “Creativity is about fresh thinking. It doesn’t have to be new to the whole of humanity—though that’s always a bonus—but certainly to the person whose work it is” (p. 139). Original ideas don’t always mean original to the whole world. Original can be very personal. I have observed students arriving at solutions to problems or creating artistic effects that people before them discovered or created, but the idea was original to them. These acts were no less creative simply because someone else in the world experienced them, too. These students arrived at their results on their own, in a highly creative manner. Therefore, the idea of original is contextual and personal.
Deciding when ideas have value is a highly personal decision as well. The creator determines something’s value first and foremost, and then others determine its value when the work is shared. However, this determination may not be as straightforward as it sounds. There are times when the value of an idea is obvious to a learner because it fits with a clearly defined goal, need, or desire. Other times, students may question whether an idea has value because of a lack of clarity about the purpose of the idea generation or lack of self-confidence, or because they may not be used to acknowledging their own strengths. In these cases, instead of stepping in to assert the value of an idea, we might instead refer students back to their goals, materials, or criteria. Helping students make decisions about the value of their own ideas is part of our role as teachers and is a teachable skill in and of itself. The critical factor in determining whether something holds value is whether it meets a desired outcome or need. Robinson and Aronica (2015) clarify the personal nature of assigning value when they say, “It’s also about judging critically whether the work in process is taking the right shape and is worthwhile, at least for the person producing it” (p. 147). As a result, students have to assess their creative acts in order to determine their value, which brings us right back to the integrated nature of creativity and assessment.
The last component of Robinson and Aronica’s (2015) definition that needs consideration is their assertion that during creative processes, ideas have to spring from our imaginations. Educator and artist Robert Kelly (2012) agrees with this need when he explains:
Creativity involves bringing ideas or thoughts into forms, ultimately making something out of ideas that can be shared in the currency or medium of the discipline or field where the creative practice is occurring. This involves imagination. Imagination is the breeding ground for ideas that fuel creative practice. (p. 6)
This means students will have to visualize and dream, wonder and think while engaging in learning experiences. They will need to have strong catalysts to encourage this imagination and receive time to spend in this state, thinking about possibilities instead of certainties. In a classroom setting, the need to nurture imagination and the conditions required for doing so may feel like quite a shift.
As we work toward creative classrooms that invite imagination and original thought, it is helpful for identifying everyday creativity to open up our understanding of how these components manifest in a variety of contexts. Creative acts can fall into three categories, according to Kelly (2012): (1) inventive, (2) innovative, and (3) interpretive. First, there are creative practices that are inventive in nature, involving the creation of original work across disciplines. This may mean creating works of art, narrative texts, experiments, block towers, or construction projects, for example. Next, there are creative practices that are innovative in nature, which means students may grapple with redesigning or modifying an existing form, product, or system. One might find this creativity in health classes when students gather information and construct an informative publication to assist families in seeking health supports in the community. We may also see this creative practice in an early year’s physical education class when students create their own games while exploring the concept of strategic play. Lastly, there are creative acts that are interpretive in nature. This may occur when students engage in redesigning, modifying, evolving, or interpreting existing ideas. We may see this type of creativity in mathematics classrooms as students create complex, multistep problems and performance tasks based on skills they have already explored. We may also develop it in a science class when students create their own classification system for a set of organisms or in an accounting or business setting, when students develop a business plan, given a set of requirements and variables. When we unlock the ways students can explore creativity by expanding our conceptualization of what is creative, we open up the times and places for us to develop it in a variety of subject areas.
Creative Feelings
Another critical aspect of understanding creativity is considering how it feels to be creative, to be truly engaged in the creative experience. When describing the optimal state of creative expression, we could refer to this state as flow. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined this term in 1975 and describes the state of flow as follows:
Flow is a subjective state that people report when they are completely involved in something to the point of forgetting time, fatigue, and everything else but the activity itself. It is what we feel when we read a well-crafted novel or play a good game of squash, or take part in a stimulating conversation. The defining feature of flow is intense experiential involvement in moment-to-moment activity. Attention is fully invested in the task at hand, and the person functions at his or her fullest capacity. (Csikszentmihalyi, Abuhamdeh, & Nakamura, 2005, p. 600)
Flow connects to creativity in classrooms because when students are fully immersed in creative pursuits, their investment is tangible—they groan when the recess bell rings; they continue to glue, tape, and fold even after being asked to place their creations on the back counter; they rush from friend to friend, excitedly explaining how they are making decisions. This bodes well for all kinds of deep learning. Erkens et al. (2017) explain the importance of the kind of student investment in a flow state: “When people invest in something, they typically devote resources (time, talent, energy, and so on); persist through challenging problems that arise; seek help when needed; and develop confidence in what they are doing, learning, or investing in” (p. 113). The flow state invites authentic self-assessment and peer assessment and serves as a natural platform for seeking and giving feedback at times that matter to our students. They quite naturally move through creative processes, trying out ideas, seeking others’ advice, and reflecting on successes and challenges. In the state of flow, creativity, investment, and formative assessment are almost inseparable.
The line between process and product blends during creative flow. Students seek processes that get them to the products they are trying to create. Assessment and feedback from both teachers and their peers lead them in new directions or reinforce the choices they are making. The road of creativity is never straight. As Sawyer (2006) explains, “Creativity occurs while we’re doing a task, and as we’re performing the task we have to improvise through it, responding movement by movement to the changing needs of the situation. Everyday creativity is improvisational” (p. 445). Students imagine products, and we work alongside them to discover the processes that will get them to those products in meaningful and enriching ways.
