Reading: Teaching Creatively and Teaching for Creativity (David J. Brinkman)

A straightforward yet clear overview about the different degrees of creativity, as well as how teachers might be creative in the way in which they themselves teach. Despite focusing upon the tuition of musicians, this offered some interesting quotes and thoughts about what creativity is and how the creative process might be supported.

• "Big C" and "little c" creativity - Big C creators are icons in the study of music, little c creators of 'ordinary' creativity... new interpretation of familiar piece of music.

• Personality traits associated with creative individuals: willingness to take risks, tolerance for ambiguity, intrinsic motivation, sense of humour, wide range of interests, persistence.

• "Creativity takes time. Although we may have flashes of insight, it takes time to work out the implications and uses of that insight."

• "Creativity happens when expertise, creative thinking skills and motivation overlap."

• "We can teach and model techniques for generating ideas, for being sensitive to personality traits the might encourage creative expression and risk taking in their work."

• Time needs to be allocated to creative activity. (Have a set routine?)
  

• 'Incubation' is part of the creative process - teaching situations can be structured so that students will recognise the value in allowing an idea to 'simmer'.

• Important for students to have joy and interest in what they are doing/learning.

• 3 facet model of creativity (Sternberg) - intellectual style (note to self: what is this?), intellect and personality are integrated in a creative person. They are also intrinsically motivated, curious, and have a desire to work for recognition.

... though I have to say, not a lot of this is 'new' or unexpected to me. But it is nice to have thoughts on this topic reinforced somewhat.

The trouble with language

So much of all this is just semantics… the inherent difficulty of language in defining and describing concepts as intangible as creativity, originality, innovation, inspiration, talent, skill, hard work, genius, value... (thank you, Sean for that list of concepts. I’m sure I could keep going and adding more into the mix).

Anyway, really feel like I should have a glossary at the start of my thesis. Even if I define these words in my own terms, it'll help people understand what I'm trying to get at. I hope.

Routine vs Inspiration, Inspiration vs Restrictions...

Speaking of scrawlings on tickets and the like, I just came across this surprisingly coherent piece of writing that I committed to paper a number of weeks ago while sitting on the tram...

I am always surprised at how many ideas I have when I just get out and do things, as opposed to sitting down and thinking right, I have to do work now. How does this fit in with the role routine supposedly plays in the creative process? Well, perhaps it should be a habit to immediately do something else if you're not being effiecient with what you are trying to do at the time... if there is no flow of ideas. You can't force creativity. Maybe I need to establish some structures for myself, or have a piece of music that always sets a particularly creative or cerebral mood?

I do like the idea that routine can help to provide structure... as a way of eliminating extraneous ideas, as well as helping to put the mind in a particular 'mode'. One idea can spark many, but to be efficient (timelines are incredibly prevalent in the fashion industry), one has to eliminate (survival of the fittest idea - how Darwinian) some of these ideas in order to simply get stuff done in time.

In fashion, we always talk about 'inspiration' as though it is some divine thing... as though we as designers are suddenly blessed with this fantastic thought that we just had to realise in the form of clothing. The fact of the matter is, this is so rarely the case. (Or is that just me?) We are compelled to make things on a fairly constant basis, so when the matter of inspiration is brought up, it is generally a way of us designers setting ourselves little projects. It is very hard to create something from nothing at all - a few wispy thoughts - but by picking a theme, we are then able to narrow down our choices in terms of colour palette, silhouette, fabric choice, etc. The infinite combinations and permutations and possibilites are refined to a particular language for a collection, and we can start making...

...there are many potential pots ready to be sculpted from one piece of clay, I suppose. But in the end, only one form is selected, shaped and refined... Oooh, imagery and metaphor. Was that creative?

Bringing it all in... ish

Have been reading LOTS over the past few weeks, but probably without a lot of direction… I just want to know what other people think about creativity, what drives creativity, and how it can best be harnessed. To be honest, haven’t really yet brought it back to the various questions I set myself to contextualize my research.

What I found I have been doing is sometimes responding on quite a personal level… as in, “Oh yeah, I work in that way,” or transversely, “My brain does NOT work like that.”

A friend of mine - a student of creative arts – was telling me of an author (she couldn’t remember who it was, and I haven’t been able to figure out who it was since) who used to set aside very specific times in which to do his writing… for example, from 9am to 12pm. Those were the only times when he would write – the rest of the time he would spend walking around his garden, thinking about what he would write the next day. This particular process was so effective for him that what he wrote during his was incredibly refined – so much so that next to nothing was required in terms of editing before publication.

I CANNOT imagine working in this way at all. Perhaps, if I gave it a go and it became a routine, it could be effective. Certainly, the process of reflection is (to me) highly important in reaching a successful resolution. However, I would find it amazingly hard to let go, and resist the urge to scribble a sudden thought and inspiration onto the nearest scrap of paper or receipt, tram ticket or even my leg. (These all at some time have been surfaces onto which I have scribed my thoughts).

Actually, that reminds me of what Roald Dahl once said about inspiration, and how it could suddenly strike from nowhere. (I’ll find the original quote, as it is really interesting). He once got an idea in the middle of nowhere while driving, and was stuck without pen or paper. In the end, he ended up drawing the word ELEVATOR into the dust that had collected on the back windshield. This lead to Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator).

Interestingly, I have probably been doing something similar with this research journal… not writing in the dust, funnily enough, but I had abandoned it temporarily while I fill my head with other people’s thoughts, trying to work out what I feel about them and comparing various different processes to my own. It is only now, after this period of thinking and meditation that I feel ready to write… and I am finding that the process of writing is triggering a lot of new thoughts. Trying to clarify and distill these thoughts is a fantastic way of thinking of new ones.

Sometimes

Sometimes I wish that I could record my thoughts, simultaneously grasp all the various tracks along which my mind runs, and be able to articulate all the fuzzy edges and fleeting thoughts with clarity.

Thoughts in Transit

I sometimes feel as though I do my best thinking while aimlessly wandering around... or when I'm waiting for trams. For this reason, I end up with lots of scrawlings on receipts or tram tickets. They're ideas that I simply cannot afford to forget, so they have to be written down!

It's not as though I'm necessarily relaxing in these situations, but I do feel like the different surroundings (and maybe the lack of other distractions) help me to contextualise and realise the intangible thoughts that have been floating around in my head (often for a number of days). I guess it is a bit like the sudden bolts of inspiration that can hit while in the bath or shower... that I had to relax in order to clarify an idea or sort out a problem.

(As a side note, I used to do maths problems in my sleep when I was at school. Going to bed after attempting to solve a difficult problem - my head still full and buzzing - was often the best way to get an answer. It was rare that I'd wake up with the exact answer in my head, but I'd always know what I'd done wrong the night before, and what I needed to do to solve it properly. To this day, I don't know if this was a healthy thing or not, but it did work. I just wish it worked with my designing!)

Speaking of side notes, this is another aspect of thought that really intrigues me... that we create branches of ideas in our heads, like vine tendrils... delicate webs of neurons...
...and that sometimes the very act of writing our thoughts down interrupts this incredible branching process and we lose some of what we'd thought in those moments. Even now, having written this, there's a niggling feeling of a lost, floating thought. How ephemeral our cognitive processes can be!

What makes a genius?

Just caught the tail end of the documentary What Makes a Genius? on SBS2. Was bummed to realise that I'd missed most of it, but the internet is a wonderful thing, and am currently watching it from the beginning.

Having seen the last 10 minutes, as well as the first 5, there seems to be a fair amount of discussion about the role of creativity and genius. The very beginning features a man capable of squaring large numbers in his head - up to 5 digits. However, he says:

"I wouldn't call myself a genius, and I'm not just being modest. I think genius is something that is a very creative process, whereas what I'm doing is a process that is somewhat mechanical. It's almost like, you know, genius is Mozart who can compose brilliant compositions. I'm merely someone who's playing the piano real well... and I think there's a real difference between a skill and something that's immensely creative."

Anyhow, I'm off to watch some more.

Here is the opening part of the documentary