Not only as an educator, but as a human being, I have always struggled with the idea of creativity. I have never considered myself a creative person because I have always believed I do not fit the typical criteria of “creative.” Although people have often told me they think I am creative, I have never considered myself to be an out-of-the-box, spontaneous, and artistic thinker who comes up with imaginative ideas that have never been thought of before. I do not dress like a creative person who wears lots of coloured and patterned pieces purchased from a vintage boutique and I do not spend my time drawing, painting, or crafting. Therefore, I thought, I must not be very creative. After reading Katie White’s Unlocked: Assessment as the Key to Everyday Creativity in the Classroom, not only did I discover I am thinking about the meaning of creativity in a very narrow-minded and pre-defined way, but I can in fact use assessment as an educator to help students find their creativity and not fall victim to the same misconceptions I have.

By introducing students to creativity as a concept that is not limited to certain fields of study or certain types of people, it will empower students to be autonomous learners. Often, creativity is surrounded by implications that it is only present in “arts-related courses, and the notion that only gifted people are capable of creativity [is] prevalent and often inhibit[s] the development of this important skill in our schools. Mythology surrounds the topic of creativity, and this mythology can paralyze teachers in their pursuit of developing creative thinkers” (White, 2018, p. 14). As teachers, it is our responsibility to allow students to develop their creativity in all courses – even Pre-Calculus 12 and Physics 11 where the myths of creativity have drowned out the truths. The list of myths surrounding creativity found in White’s (2018) book were extremely helpful and enlightening in the sense that they allowed me to deconstruct my preconceived checklist of skills and personality traits I thought creative people embodied.

Myths about creativity:

  1. You’re either creative or you’re not
  2. Creative people generate quality results on their first effort
  3. Creativity is a solitary pursuit
  4. Creative people break all the rules
  5. Creativity happens entirely inside the mind, like a flash of inspiration
  6. Creative is all about fun
  7. Creativity is not a linear process
  8. No one can measure of assess creativity; the quality of creative products is completely a matter of opinion
  9. Creativity is about off-the-wall or weird ideas

(White, 2018, pg. 14-17).

This list was very comforting to me not only because it assured me I can weave creativity into all parts of my pedagogy, but I support any doubts my students may have about their own creativity. I love the idea of using assessment to foster creativity. If we facilitate assessment properly, “students can receive feedback on their creative processes, not only for the products they are yielding but also for the degree to which their creative processes are allowing them to advance thinking and learning. In this way, students can transfer the creative skills they develop from one context to the next” (White, 2018, p. 16). I appreciate the diversity of the idea that “sometimes the creativity will lie in the products and performances that students create, and sometimes the creativity will rest in the processes we use to get to very specific products” (White, 2018, p. 26). This truly breaks down any stereotypes of misconceptions that creativity is always an end result or a product of something. The idea that creativity can be the process works well with assessment because we can then use our learning goals to choose what part of the process or the product would be most appropriate to assess either formatively or summatively. Using assessment to strengthen and build creativity allows students to use their creative skills in multiple contexts knowing that they will not only be assessed on the product they produce. Student will also find assurance that they do not need to be “artistic” or “musical” to embrace creativity. Instead, students will learn that creativity is “the constant dialogue between unconscious inspiration and conscious editing; between passionate inspiration and disciplined craft” (White, 2018, pg. 17) and that teachers can easily assess their unique, individualized process of producing work whether it be writing an essay, solving a math equation, planning a community event, or creating an abstract piece of art.

While reading Unlocked, I was reminded of a book I read last semester called Dive into Inquiry: Amplify Learning and Empower Student Voice by Trevor Mackenzie. This book is of course about how inquiry empowers students’ independent learning and focuses on the process rather than the product. In this book, Mackenzie (2016) states that “[he] see[s] inquiry as the strongest method to create personalized learning pathways for all learners, a method that brings the curriculum of life into the curriculum of school” (p. 9). It seems that inquiry and creativity go hand-in-hand within the education world as they both allow students to explore the process of producing work, inherently learning more about themselves in the process. Mackenzie (2016) also writes that the four pillars of inquiry are “explor[ing] a passion, aim[ing] for a goal, delv[ing] into … curiosities, and tak[ing] on a new challenge” (p. 45). After re-reading this I was shocked the connections the four pillars of inquiry had with allowing and encouraging students to be creative in the classroom. Creativity in the classroom stems from well-developed assessment which allows students to be passionate and curious, provides them with a challenge, and allows them to aim for a goal. This makes sense because overall, inquiry could potentially be considered to be one, large, multidimensional and comprehensive assessment process for creativity.

Lastly, touching on Katie White’s book Unlocked one last time, it is important that teachers “unlock” and construct creative spaces for their students to learn and grow in. White (2018) suggests that constructing intellectual, emotional, and physical spaces while carefully considering the language used in the classroom will foster a creative environment for students. By giving students autonomy over their learning, we allow them to create a unique intellectual space they want to explore. Because creativity and inquiry involve risk, “we have to start with supporting emotional safety in the midst of risk” (White, 2018, p. 52) in order to construct a successful emotional space that students feel safe enough to explore. Physical space is a very personal and unique experience in relation to the creative process. Our surroundings “can influence our ability to achieve and sustain flow” (White, 2018, p. 55). For myself, I must be in a clean and bright space, preferably with some soft music and a hot mug of tea in hang. Teachers also must consider the language they use while constructing a creative space and this means “establishing meaningful definitions and creating shared language surrounding innovation” (White, 2018, p. 58). If positivity, encourage, community, and supportiveness are used to construct a space, creative success will follow for both student and teacher.

References:

Mackenzie, Trevor. (2016). Dive into Inquiry: Amplify Learning and Empower Student Voice. EdTechTeam Press.

White, Katie. (2018). Unlocked: Assessment as the Key to Everyday Creativity in the Classroom. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unbc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5622437. Created from unbc-ebooks on 2020-10-18 20:26:40.