Abstracting (eliminating details from a complex perceptual field to reveal underlying structures) is described as a tool of thought for developing creativity and inventiveness. The paper argues that the skill of abstracting is transferable between arts and sciences, and provides a preliminary model to teaching abstracting in a multidisciplinary…

Describes how a teacher can motivate students to be creative by dressing up, performing for them, hiding things, and designing visual experiments. Advocates that art teachers demonstrate that art class is a playful and exciting place to be. Suggests methods to encourage teachers and students to perform. (KM)

Two summer programs developed at Millersville University (Pennsylvania) are described: the Governor's School for Teaching, which seeks to attract outstanding high school students into teaching and acquaint them with instructional practices; and Improving Materials and Programs for the Academically and Creatively Talented (IMPACT), which promotes…

Describes a creative project for anatomy and physiology students in which students make a collage of the integumentary system. Includes guidelines that address the collage's size, composition, content, clarification, and grading. (MDH)

Discusses the value of children's games in developing and revealing personality traits; describes games in literature and suggests activities for library media specialists; and presents creative activities for elementary and middle school students that involve games and literature. (LRW)

Discusses the rationale for, and end results of, a small-scale study of the effects of learners' creativity on language learning. The study was part of an ongoing, larger-scale project on individual differences at Eotvos University in Budapest, Hungary. (Author/VWL)

Describes a high school course, "Material Arts Design," that celebrates materials, creativity, and culture, while concurrently encouraging individual responsibility towards the environment. Explains that the students develop a wide range of technical skills by exploring art and technology and address aesthetic and ecological issues through a…

A reanalysis of data from three previously published studies on whether creativity is content general or content specific suggest that, contrary to the results of recent research, a content-general factor may explain 40-50% of the variance in creativity checklist scores. Results are analyzed in light of other studies. (Author/CR)

Presents a developmental view of the creative process based on Montessori principles. Discusses the preschool child's need for activity, exploration at an individual pace, and connection between the self and the universe. Considers ways to nurture a child's self-actualizing creativity. (JPB)

Critics of the Virginia Standards of Learning claim the tests do not allow teachers and students to explore their own interests. Proponents say the tests might force schools to cut out time-wasting activities (like Friday movies) and concentrate on performance. Parents worry about their kids' progress. (MLH)

Japanese teachers participating in a workshop activity shared observations about U.S. schools. Teachers saw American schools' disciplinary procedures as stricter and more punitive than their own, marveled at principals' visibility and students' attention to attire, and noted that strict grading practices conflicted with instructional creativity…

Characterizes the use of recycling "junk" as a means for creating art by exploring various recycling traditions that are present in the United States. Demonstrates to students that "junk" can be fashioned into beautiful works of art. Offers four works of art and provides discussion questions and project ideas for each artwork. (CMK)

Looks at the importance of creativity in the context of family therapy. Examines creative techniques such as family sculpturing, family art therapy, puppetry, family drawings, and psychodrama. Focuses on the concept of creativity in prominent theories of counseling (i.e., humanistic, Gestalt, cognitive psychology) and the relation of divergent…

Summarizes proceedings of a 1-day seminar co-sponsored by NAMTA and Taliesin West, home of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. Discusses authentic progress in educational practices such as those of Maria Montessori and Wright, whose innovative legacies became traditions within their fields. Concludes that innovation comes when founding…

Published in 1949, chapter 1 of a book by the Stelton Modern School's coprincipal discusses the natural self-directed development of creativity and intellect in children. This process is thwarted and wasted by conventional schooling's emphasis on conformity, discipline, and uniform structured activities that have no relevance to the individual…