Defying the CrowdDefying the Crowd

Cultivating Creativity in a Culture of Conformity

By: Robert J. Sternberg

Book Review ETC 547 Darcy Markham

Table of Contents• Reviewer’s Comments * Educational Implications• The Nature of Creativity * The Role of Personality• The Role of Intelligence * The Relation of Motivation to Creativity

Synthetic Intelligence * Motivating Creativity – Analytic Intelligence * Environment & Creativity– Practical Intelligence * Putting It All Together

• Knowledge Formal & Informal * Personal Philosophy of Teaching• The Role of Thinking Styles * Reflections

in Creativity* Resources– Functione-mail: dmarkaz@aol.com– Form– Levels– Scope– Orientation Title Page

Reviewer’s Comments

Sternberg’s Book Defying the Crowd examines the idea of creativity and how it can be cultivated. The book itself focuses on the general public and though it relates and references the education system it is not specifically oriented in this matter.

For the purposes of this Review I will specifically focus on cultivating creativity within the education system a system which tends to support conformity rather than creativity.

The Nature of Creativity

• Intelligence

• Knowledge

• Thinking Styles

• Personality

• Motivation

• Environmental Context

The Role of Intelligence

• Intelligence serves three roles in creativity– Synthetic– Analytic– Practical

Synthetic Intelligence

• The ability to generate ideas depends on the individuals insight.– Selective Encoding-the student’s ability to recognize the

relevance of information that may or may not be immediately obvious.

– Selective Comparison-the student’s ability to determine how information from the past can be brought to bear on the problems of the future.

– Selective Combination-the student’s ability to fit together the pieces of information whose connection is not obvious.

Analytic Intelligence

• Analytical Intelligence involves knowing where the problem exists and how to define it. The four key parts are:– Problem Recognition– Mentally representing the information– Formulating a Strategy and Allocating

Resources– Monitoring and Evaluating Problem-solving

Practical Intelligence

• Making Good Ideas Work!– Involves the student’s

taking into account their own interests as well as the interests of others.

Knowledge

• Formal- Students must have knowledge of a particular field in order to be creative.– Students must have knowledge of a field in order to produce work

that is novel to that field

– Students must have knowledge of current thinking in order to move against the tide.

– Knowledge helps students transform an idea into a product

– Allows students to concentrate on new ideas rather than on basics.

– Knowledge allows students to use chance occurrences as a source for creative ideas.

Knowledge

• Informal- the knowledge picked up from daily living.

– Creativity in everyday life-Student’s ability to solve everyday problems by seeing them in a new way and using informal knowledge to solve them in an optimal way.

– Creativity in the Classroom- Student’s ability to know when to be creative and when not to be creative.

– See: Practical Intelligence for School

The Role of Thinking Styles in Creativity• How student’s approach a task are based

upon their thinking styles.– Important factors to consider:

• Thinking styles may vary across tasks and situations

• Thinking styles vary in strength

• Thinking styles are effected influences in the environment

• Thinking styles vary over time.

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Creative Thinking StylesFunctions

• Legislative- • Plan what to do and how to do it.

• Prefer tasks they can do their own way

• Prefer less structured tasks

• Executive• Prefer clear directions

• Follow instructions when solving problems

• Prefer step by step process

• Judicial• Analyze people’s behavior

• Prefer to evaluate the work of others

• Prefer to express their opinions

Creative Thinking StylesForm

• Monarchic Style- very high creative achievers tend to be monarchic in their style

– Prefer to finish one assignment before beginning another

– Devote time and energy to one project at a time

– Will work on a project for several hours without being distracted.

• Hierarchic-student’s who are hierarchic tend to be the most creative– Prioritize tasks

– Prioritize within a task

– Emphasize major points and de-emphasize minor ones

Creative Thinking StylesForm

• Oligarchic-these students are good at finding competing approaches to solving problems

• Tries to address problems simultaneously

• Difficulty setting priorities

• View all aspects with equal importance.

• Anarchic- these students take a random approach to problem-solving.• Do not organize thoughts prior to beginning a task

• Minds wander from idea to idea

• Speak before thinking.

Creative Thinking StylesLevels

• Global- students with a global style prefer big issues and often ignore details.

– Don’t pay attention to details

– They emphasize the general picture

– Make decisions without paying attention to details

• Local-students with a local style tend to be pragmatic and down to earth.

– Like problems that require engagement of details

– Not satisfied until the details are given close attention

– Focus on one thing and scrutinize it thoroughly.

Creative Thinking StylesScope

• Internal Style-students with an internal style tend to be introverted, task-oriented, aloof, socially less sensitive.

– Prefer to work alone

– Avoid group situations

– Prefer research to discussion

• External Style-students with an external style tend to be extroverted, people-oriented and out-going.

– Discuss ideas with others before beginning a project

– Prefer to work in groups

– Like to talk about ideas and listen to what others have to say.

Creative Thinking StylesOrientation

• Liberal Style-these students like to go beyond existing rules and procedures.

– Like to do things in new ways

– Avoid the established way of doing things

– Comfortable with unconventional methods

• Conservative Style-these students stick to the rules and procedures, and avoid ambiguous situations

– Like to do things the correct way

– Follow standard procedures

– Participate in traditional activities

Creative Thinking StylesEducational Implications

• Teachers and student’s will not necessarily match in their thinking styles therefore it is necessary that teachers and students alike be flexible with regards to the differences they encounter.

• Teachers can’t match every students style but they can teach in a way that allows children to express their styles to a maximum benefit

The Role of Personality

• Creative Students Display the Following:• Perseverance in the face of obstacles• Willingness to take sensible risks• Willingness to grow• Tolerance of ambiguity• Openness to experience• Belief in yourself and courage of convictions

The Relation of Motivation to Creativity• Intrinsic- Students who are intrinsically

motivated tend to be more creative and persevere in the face of adversity

• Extrinsic-Students who are extrinsically motivated tend to be less creative and look outside themselves for rewards.

Motivating CreativityEducational Implications

• De-emphasize grades• Make creativity an explicit part of an assignment• Give verbal recognition for creative work• Encourage students to submit work to external

shows or contests• Attempt to use a combination of intrinsic and

extrinsic motivators

Environment & Creativity

• Environmental Variable Affecting Creativity– The Context of Work

– Task Constraints

– Evaluation

– Competition

– Cooperation

– Home Climate

– Role Models

– School Climate

Putting It All TogetherFostering a Creative Spirit

1. Redefine Problems- Help students tolook at problems in new ways not justaccept what they have been told abouthow to think or act.

2. Teacher students to look forWhat other's don't see, to put thingstogether in new ways and look at pastexperiences as clues.

3. Teach students to distinguish goodideas from poor ideas, and to payattention to their potential contribution

4. Teach students that they need toknow enough about a particular subjectbut not everything in order to make acreative contribution

5. Cultivate in your students alegislative, global style of thinking

6. Teach students how to perservere inthe face opf obstacles, to take sensiblerisks, and be willing to grow.

7. Help students to discover and tap intotheir intrinsic motivators.

8. Create a classroom environment thatfosters creativity .

9. Ensure that the appropriate resourcesare available to enhance creativity

10. Teach students how to create a wayof li fe which fosters creativity .Encourgae a view of the world that iscreative.

Personal Philosophy of Teaching

“ All children can learn. The challenge is to find the right key to unlock the door.”

I believe children learn when they are actively engaged in the process. I believe that

children need to be given the right tools and strategies and be exposed to different ways of conceptualizing and comprehending material. Children need t0 draw on their prior knowledge and experienced in a n effort to conceptualize new information and store such information in a manner that is easily retrieved. It is therefore crucial that students be provided with numerous opportunities to learn new information in a variety of ways.

I believe that learning should be an adventure and that children should be filled with excitement when they enter the classroom. My job is to restore their joy of learning by finding the “key” that will unlock the door and provide them with the greatest adventure of all- Learning!

Reflections

• I believe that Sternberg presents some very important ideas in cultivating creativity in children. Just as with learning children need to be given the right tools and strategies in order to develop their own creative styles.

• Further children need to have the knowledge and experience which allows then to conceptualize a new idea and make that idea a reality.

• I believe that environment is important not only to learning but also to creativity and it is important to create environments that allow students the freedom to express themselves

Resources

• Book Review• http://cispom.boisestate.edu/murli/cps/

bookrevs/sternberg.html

• Sternberg Homepage• http://www.yale.edu/rjsternberg/

• Practical Intelligence for School

• http://www.pz.harvard.edu/Research/PIFS.htm