Creativity or Conformity? Building Cultures of Creativity in Higher Education Essay

Permission is granted to reproduce copies of these works for purposes relevant to the supra conference, provided that the author(s), source and copyright nonice are included on severally copy. For other uses, including extended quotation, please contact the author(s). Abstract Whatever else it may be, creativity is intriguing this view appears to be shared by the literature on the subject and by popular culture. While there is pocket-size agreement some the exact genius, processes and products of creativity, there seems to be a enthrallment both with its complexity and the sheer im surmisal of providing clear explanations for it.This paper does non attempt to generate yet another explanation, but instead offers a framework for exploring creativity in the context of teaching and instructor education. The nature of creativity in teaching is usually evidenced by its products advance(a) curriculum design or original students work. The focus of this paper, however, is on crea te opportunities for teachers to understand, explore and express their identities as toneal practiti binglers.These opportunities are offered in the clay of creative reproval, a framework of creative methodologies for engaging teachers each and collectively in identifying and expanding their creativity practices. The notion of creative blame challenges the action-reflection duality of pensive practice and extends reflection beyond cognitive, retrospective models to encompass the geographic expedition of possibility by means of play, pictorial matter-making, writing, action methods and storytelling.The paper offers examples of and reflections on these methods from the authors use of creative methodologies in a teacher education architectural plan at Queens University capital of Northern Ireland. imaginative Reflection, Creative Practice Expressing the ineffable The concept and practices of creative reflection have been developed in a teacher education programme at Queen s University Belfast to bring up the model of reflective practice on which the programme is establish. Creative reflection is a framework of creative methodologies whereby teachers explore their practice and the liminal spaces in the midst of action and reflection.This work is a response to the need in teacher education for the ontogenesis of more(prenominal) complex models of reflection, related to purpose, which take greater cognisance of existing knowledge from other disciplines, particularly those aspects of psychology refer with cognitive processes including problem-finding, insight, wisdom, creativity Leitch and Day (2000 186-187). creative thinking itself is an elusive concept the literature on the subject incorporates a throw of perspectives and dichotomies, raising a fig of questions.Those pertinent to this paper include is creativity a cognitive process, or is it socially constructed? is creativity to do with outcomes, or with processes and qualities such as fluenc y, visual modality and originality? what are the conditions which musical accompaniment the development of creativity? what is the nature of creativity in education, and does it have a place in teacher education? sensation of the assumptions on which this paper is based is that teachers are creative by extension, teacher education should therefore provide them with opportunities to identify themselves as creative and to call forth their creativity.Craft (2001 48) suggests that teachers are spicyly creative Certainly some of the characteristics of high creators (childlike qualities, feeling under siege, being on the edge, high energy and productivity) which Gardner identifies in Creating Minds (1993), also emerged as a characteristic of ordinary educators in one of my research projects (Craft, 1996a Craft and Lyons, 1996). Crafts allusion to productivity is complemented by Eisners exploration of the processes, the artistry and the craft involved in teaching (2002).both facets of creativity, product and process, are incorporated into the framework for creative reflection. Details honour as to how participants engage in process activities as salutary as in deliberation on the outcomes of these processes. The process of creativity, mysterious as it is, has hanker been a source of fascination and speculation. Helmholtzs classical model, developed in 1826, includes the stages of saturation, exploration and incubation Poincare added to these the aspect of assay (Balzac, 2006).The four-stage model developed for this select incorporates and elaborates on these stages Model for Creative Reflection Phase 1 conceptualization This aspect of creative reflection recognises that the creative process involves uncertainty and possibility and that participants need preparation to access that responsibility of receptivity, or Keatsian Negative Capability, which Keats defines as when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any scratchy reaching after fact and reason (Buxton Foreman, 1895).In this phase of creative reflection, threshold activities are offered to enhance possibility and to free the imagination. One of the to the highest degree successful of these threshold activities has been the invitation to participants to select examines and quotations on a relevant ascendent teaching, learning or creativity itself. This employment is based on the notion of stepping stones into a liminal world of exploration, as in Progoffs system for entering the twilight world of process meditation (Progoff, 1980).While participants are in the process of choosing images and quotations which engage them, music is played in the background to enhance relaxation and stimulate intuitive rather than rational decision-making. The activity is conducted without password to encourage focus and a connection with the unconscious. Another threshold activity is that of visualisation for example, separates are asked to opine their l earning some their practice as a journey and to articulate this in the form of images or writing. The sharing of the results is part of the process of synthesis described in the final phase of this model.Threshold activities are directed at the group as a whole as well as at individuals for example, participants are asked to imagine an i involve space for teaching and learning and to suggest in form something which they might like to include in this space. Offerings range from comfortable chairs to the muddle of this space at the seaside and the presence of flowers and music centres. This activity generates ideas active inclusiveness and introduces into the discussion metaphors and symbols which enhance the learning process.The idea of bringing an ideal spot or world into the realms of possibility through group visualisation is based on the process of reflective meditation in psychosynthesis (Ferrucci, 1982 Assagioli, 1999). Phase 2 Play This phase is based on the assumptions that a good deal of learning happens through play, that play is an essential aspect of cultural development (Huizinga, 1970), and that a group can create meaning, possibility and modernistic insights through the processes of play.Play is also important because it has the potential to free participants from external concerns so that they may enter the state of flow. According to Csikszentmihalyi (1991, 1997) this is an optimum state in which the person is fully focused and immersed in what he or she is doing, usually with a successful outcome. The activities in this phase are conducted rapidly their purpose is to generate energy, enjoyment of the group process and a range of new ideas. The processes involved provide opportunities for divergent thinking they include instinct mapping, creative thinking and brainstorming.The brainstorming methods in this model of the creative reflection are informed by Kelley and Littmanns (2002) methods for enhancing fluency of ideas and innovation at heart the context of team-building. Phase 3 Exploration This aspect of creative reflection is active, with the purpose of creating a product. The processes involved may include creative writing, storytelling, or the use of art materials, or action methods based on psychodrama to narrow the experience (Moreno, 1994). The exploration phase may be individual or collective it may take place in pairs or small groups.In one particular activity, an individual selects one of his or her identities as a teacher from a list this list includes the more translucent identities such as mentor, helper and instructor, as well as more metaphorical ones as foot soldier, sower or bridge. The individual then elaborates this personal identity through writing and art, imagining in detail, for example, what this identity might look like, its voice, its tools and how it engages in relationship. The image below depicts the process of exploration on both individual and group levels.Participants, given the task of expressing their understandings of themselves as reflective practitioners, arranged together the quotations, images and artefacts which they had chosen as individuals to express this notion. The circle of people made from create from raw material paper was created as a collective piece for the final image this suggests that the group product extended beyond that of a loose order of battle of individual ideas to a creative collaboration of knowledge and understanding. pic Phase 4 Synthesis In the final phase of creative reflection, which is akin to the verification tage of the Helmholtz/Poincare model, participants present and reflect on their ideas, stories and collective images. In this phase, which is adapted from McNiffs process of dialoguing with the image, participants engage with and reflect on the artefact engendered by the creative process (McNiff, 1992). Through this process, the experience and learning are synthesised into new understandings, or the identif ication of new questions which might be raised about professional practice. The image below represents the world of reflective practice as created by a group of practitioners through the use of props. pic Discussion about this image revealed that each of the scarves, which are circumscribing and containing the world of reflective practice, represents a might owned by one of the practitioners, while the Russian dolls and the teddy exclude on the edge of the circle symbolise those learners who exclude themselves from learning. The act of dialoguing with the image engendered ideas amongst the participants for engaging those who are currently on the outside and who have not yet found a satisfactory means of expression.In umpteen ways, the process of writing this paper has been a struggle to express that which is unexpressible it is challenging to articulate the complexity of the spaces between reflection and practice, as well as the complexity of creativity itself. It is hoped that further research will augur whether the processes of creative reflection can take sufficient cognisance of these complexities to support teachers in recognising and expressing their creativity. References Assagioli, R. (1999) The Act of Will A Guide to Self-Actualization and Self-Realization, Knaphill, David Platts Publishing fellowshipBalzac, F. (2006) Exploring the Brains Role in Creativity,Neuropsychiatry Reviews, Vol. 7, no. 5, may 2006. http//www. neuropsychiatryreviews. com/may06/einstein. html Accessed 14/11/2006 Buxton Foreman, H. (1895, Complete revised edition) The Letters of tail Keats, London Reeves & Turner Craft, A. (2001) Little c Creativity, Craft, A. Jeffrey, B, and Leibling, M. (eds. ), Creativity in Education, London and novel York, Continuum, pp 45-61 Craft, A. (1996a) Nourishing educator creativity a holistic approach to CPD, British Journal of In-Service Education, 22 (3), 309-322.Craft, A. and Lyons, T. 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