The best corporations know that innovative thinking is the only competitive advantage that cannot be outsourced. The best schools are those that create cultures of imagination. Now in paperback, "Imagination First" introduces a wide-variety of individuals who make a habit of imaginative thinking and creative action, offering a set of universal…

This article presents the concept of creative potential and its link to talent. Psychological measures to assess creative potential in children and adolescents (EPoC) and adults (Creative Profiler) are then described. Implications for developing creativity are proposed.

Proactivity is important to individual success, particularly where individuals face significant obstacles and where formal support may be lacking or difficult to access. The study tracks mature students over a one-semester university preparation course designed for returners to learning. Measures of proactivity included proactive personality,…

The importance of educating students to think critically and creatively was recognized over 2,000 years ago by Socrates, reworked in the 1950s by Benjamin Bloom, and reinforced by many modern-day educators. With changes in lifestyle brought on by innovations in digital technology, teachers, administrators, and parents alike are questioning the…

The major objectives of this study were to determine the characteristics of creativity development of Chinese children, the creative organizational climate of Chinese schools, and the relations among them. The results provided evidence that the creativity scores of children in elementary school were significantly higher than those of children in…

When the going gets tough, the tough get...innovative. That's the approach some forward-thinking community college leaders are taking as their institutions set about the task of restocking the nation's workforce in the face of historic enrollments and severe, if seemingly unending, budget cuts. Recognized by the Aspen Institute as the most…

Over the years, many training methods for creativity and innovation have been developed. Despite these programs and research, further improvement is necessary, particularly in schools of technology and engineering education, where previous efforts have focused on developing solutions to defined problems, not in identifying and defining the…

This article centres on a research project in which freehand drawings provided a richly creative and colourful data source of children's imagined, ideal learning environments. Issues concerning the analysis of the visual data are discussed, in particular, how imaginative content was analysed and how the analytical process was dependent on an…

The "Three Artistic Processes" provide a powerful model for organizing standards-based music teaching and assessment as well as a vision of the musically educated student. They also clarify how student-centered music education helps children master 21st-century skills necessary for future success. This article outlines why and how music teachers…

People tend to think that inventions must be complex and sophisticated. Yet, some of the most useful inventions have been simple, or elegant, like Velcro, zippers, and Post-it[R] notes. Kitchen utensil drawers are filled with all sorts of great inventions, and in this article, the author discusses a challenge that allows students to develop their…

Creativity is the cultural capital of the twenty-first century. This article presents an argument for the arts to lead a new wave of education reform that repositions creativity as the centerpiece of an education that prepares a generation of change agents for doing good.

Creativity, content, and policy have multiple relationships. Creativity and disciplinary content are inextricably linked. In dealing with creativity, the first education policy choice is whether to recognize and act on that fact. Care is needed in using the term "creativity" in advocacy contexts, lest the relationship between creativity and…

Competitions are recommended for identifying and providing for the exceptional talents of young people. Competitions have been a cornerstone of gifted education, putting talents to the test by enabling gifted students to showcase their abilities and receive acknowledgement and recognition for their talents. Competitions have been noted as "a…

In the continuing debate about American competitiveness in the global economy, politicians and educators alike have pointed not to students' test scores, but to their creativity and ingenuity, as models for the rest of the world. Teaching creativity has been a hot-button topic this fall, from the National Academy of Education's annual meeting in…

Creativity is a talent that undergirds invention and innovation, making it an important skill in today's society. Although students are often told to "be creative," they many times do not know how and have little practice in this skill. This document presents an analysis of 33 creative products made by adult participants at a state conference for…