It is frequently maintained that creativity involves flexibility, spontaneity, and divergent thinking. Contrary to this commonly held notion, rules play a central role in creativity. For example, in art most work is not revolutionary but rather takes place within a framework of rules dictated by a tradition, a school, or a style. Skills, too, are…

Lists a number of people who were creative and some who were not. Their example may serve as a guide for students involved in creative effort. (RK)

Defining creativity as a process that draws upon talents, education, skills, thinking and working styles, and inherent intelligence, and pinpointing motivation as the single most important ingredient in the creativity recipe, this book provides dozens of concrete, hands-on exercises and techniques that can help a parent or teacher keep creativity…

This study designed an instrument which would illuminate that atmosphere which is most favorable to the creative process. Analysis of classroom verbal interaction was executed from tape recordings of 44 science sessions, representing 11 fifth grade science classes from five widely separated and diversified schools in the Houston area. A 42-item…

Eliciting creativity in every student in the classroom can be a realistic goal for classroom teachers. Teaching creatively can include: embracing a student-centered learning approach; using thematic approaches to content area subjects, which also promotes motivation; using a cooperative learning group process; and utilizing creative arts.…

The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of classroom activities to enhance children's imaginations could improve their creative abilities. Subjects included 25 fifth-grade students in the Grand Forks, North Dakota, school district. Students were given the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking and were provided with materials designed…

FIVE PRINCIPLES FOR ENCOURAGING CREATIVE THINKING ARE TO TREAT QUESTIONS WITH RESPECT, TO TREAT IMAGINATIVE IDEAS WITH RESPECT, TO SHOW PUPILS THAT THEIR IDEAS HAVE VALUE, TO PERMIT PUPILS OCCASIONALLY TO DO SOMETHING FOR FUN OR PRACTICE WITHOUT THREAT OF EVALUATION, AND TO TIE IN EVALUATION WITH CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCES. DR. E. PAUL TORRANCE'S…

The primary concern of the English teacher should be to develop the unique potential every student has for imaginative thinking and creative expression. The ability to think creatively stimulates the student's intellectual curiosity, frees him from the rigidity of social class values, religious dogma, and historical precedent, and enables him to…

Article stresses the teacher's influence on the creativity of children and the importance in recognizing the necessity for encouraging the development of each child's creative expression. (RK)

Irving Taylor's paper formulates a theory of creativity which emphasizes the alteration of the environment in accordance with personal patterns of perception. The necessary components are elaborated: (1) an explanatory statement of motivation in creativity; (2) a delineation of the forms creativity can take; (3) an identification and…

How to deal with the absence of creativity and critical thinking in the educational setting is discussed. All efforts to improve education will be futile if we don't take into account the absence of relationship among the participants and between the participants and the content of education. Relationship--i.e., connecting with others and with…