The significant global challenges faced in the world today require innovative solutions and creative thinking. In traditional postsecondary education, technical programs such as engineering often focus on technical competencies as opposed to creative thinking. However, as industry demands for creative technical employees continue to increase,…

This is the text of Michael Armstrong's address to the Brian Simon Centenary conference, held at the Institute of Education on 26 March 2015. Michael Armstrong celebrates the humanism that underlay Brian's belief in a common system of education, democratic and non-selective, and finds its counterpart in the creative practice of school children.

The development of capacities of creativity has long been important in creative arts education (Morgan, 2012) and is increasingly becoming important to other fields in higher education (McWilliam and Haukka, 2008, Csikszentmihalyi, 2006, Edward, McGoldrick & Oliver, 2006). To develop such capabilities at least two factors need to be addressed:…

Against a background of low literacy among many Jamaican children and young adults, the Learn-to-Read-Read-to-Learn @ Your Library was launched by the Jamaica Library Service and the Library and Information Association of Jamaica. The year-long program seeks to develop creative and literate learners through reading, writing and artistic…

The paper examines variables involved in creativity and suggests ways in which gifted adolescents may be helped to isolate conditions under which they get their best ideas. Among variables considered are the hypnagogic state (physical and mental condition just before sleep), the hynopompic state (physiological and mental condition upon awakening),…

Creative arts programing for gifted and talented elementary students has incorporated academics (ecology, mathematics, history, genealogy, computer science, and independent research) into activities such as puppetry, creative drama, storytelling, dance, music, pottery, and poetry. The arts classes have been popular with students, parents,…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of Rudolf Laban's theories of movement to the teaching of choreography and improvisation. The paper presents learning activities appropriate for early encounters in the development of artistic process skills. It is predicated on the theory that the choreographic process is a heuristic process…

The thinking of D. W. Winnicott, pediatrician, psychoanalyst and gifted writer, provides the most effective validation of every kind of devoted labor in literature and the arts which is currently available. Winnicott is important because he has formulated a theory of development which makes creativity central and intrinsic to human nature. One of…

Of the nine long range goals of adapted physical education, creative thinking and moving has received the least attention. However, this goal may be more important than others in helping handicapped children self-actualize through sports, dance, and aquatics. This paper defines behaviors in the creative process and describes several assessment…

In Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois a group of schools has united together to form the Beloit Educational Computing Consortium (BECC). A recent survey of selected teachers in BECC schools indicated that even though the schools do not consciously set out to teach creativity via computers, substantial creative behavior is demonstrated by the…

What first graders chose to put in their journals when given no direct suggestions for topics was studied during the 1985-86 school year in a suburban Birmingham, Alabama, classroom. Journal writing was scheduled for 30 minutes daily throughout the school year, but not all children chose to write every day. At the end of the year, all of the…

Does a drawing embody the form and focus of what the artist actually sees, or instead, is it only after seeing the finished drawing that the artist knows the true meaning of his or her visual experience? It is the knowledge of the visual experience that drives the representation of it. Knowledge of the visual experience is present in varying…

A multimethod model of educating gifted and talented students was based on graduate students' study of 14 eminent self actualized individuals. Common environmental elements of these individuals were found in parent background, birth order, relationship with family, education, task commitment, personality traits, and interests. The model was…

This paper examines how pedagogical approaches in writing classrooms can better draw upon the whole of students' abilities--intellectual, affective, and creative. Many teachers know too well that students rarely respond well to writing prompts which monopolize their cognitive, linear capacities while ignoring creative strategies and affective…

This conference presentation begins with an outline of the assumptions involved in a theoretical model for the teaching of creatively gifted young children. The assumptions include: (1) creativity is continuous, not dichotomous; (2) creativity is a dynamic, interactive, and multidimensional process; (3) creativity may encompass intentionality but…