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Portrait of a Learner 4-8

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Portrait of a Learner 4-8 > Factors > Creativity

Creativity

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Factor Connections

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Creativity is a dynamic and iterative process (mental, material, and/or social) of making new connections, exploring, and transforming the world in new and meaningful ways. Creativity is typically defined as a combination of divergent/experimental thinking—generating new ideas—and convergent/evaluative thinking to narrow them in, resulting in novel products that are meaningful to the creator and also, often, to the surrounding community. This creative process is a core element of all learning experiences, because individuals usually learn most effectively when they play an active role in constructing their understandings. Students' early Creativity has been shown to predict later Creativity and academic success.

Main Ideas

There are many pathways to Creativity, but in general learners are most likely to think creatively when they feel confident and supported in their ability to explore, take risks and make mistakes, to ask questions and try new solutions. Opportunities for exploration help encourage learners to come up with multiple possible solutions to a problem. Some research suggests that children with ADHD may experience more frequent “mind wandering” (a shift of focus away from a given task to other unrelated thoughts), which has been shown in some cases to lead to increased Creativity. Creativity also often emerges from Collaboration, either during play, or during semi-structured group projects, where learners can improvise, consider others perspectives, and build off one another, generating novelty both individually and as a group. That is, collaborative Creativity allows for a participatory and dynamic creative process where individuals can play different roles, bring different viewpoints, and can support learners in seeing how they can be creative in new ways.

Learner's environments across home and school play a pivotal role in encouraging Creativity. In order to allow Creativity to flourish, learners' environments must allow for flexibility—with open-ended tasks, unstructured conversations, respect for the learner, a Sense of Belonging, and independence. Providing ample time and comfort and expectations of ambiguity and failure, can support a learner's natural Creativity. In addition, creative learning is also enhanced by carefully-designed guiding structures or scaffolds, which ensures that learners are moving towards their learning goals through the creative process.

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Research-Based Strategies For This Factor

Creating Visual Representations

Creating visual representations such as drawings, diagrams, graphs, and concept maps, whether student or teacher-generated, can help students process abstract concepts, enhancing understanding and retention of information.

Drawing

Encouraging children to draw and to explain their drawings in the classroom, can support the development of Core Academic Literacies, especially when solving complex problems across content areas.

Games

Games support learning, as learners engage with new information in fun and informal ways.

Cooperative Problem Solving

As learners work together to solve problems, they learn new strategies and practice Communication skills as they express their academic thinking.

Read-Alouds

Read-alouds are an instructional practice in which teachers read aloud from a text to students, modeling fluent reading, asking questions, and actively engaging with students to enhance their understanding.

Guided Inquiry

In guided inquiry, teachers scaffold student learning and help students use their own language for constructing knowledge by active listening and questioning.

Communication Boards

Communication boards are displays of graphics (e.g., pictures, symbols, illustrations) and/or words where learners can gesture or point to the displays to extend their expressive language potential.

Gestures

Using motions to explain new concepts or ideas supports the ability to process new information and to convey thinking and conceptual understanding.

Music & Dance

Music and dance supports learners in a myriad of ways, including supporting their engagement and motivation, connecting with cultural background, and offering structure during play.

Foster Growth Mindset

Growth mindset is the belief that people can grow their intelligence and abilities (through effort, good strategies, and support from others).

Translanguaging

Translanguaging is a flexible classroom practice enabling students to listen, speak, read, and write across their multiple languages or dialects, even if the teacher does not have formal knowledge of these additional languages.

Building Empathy

Developing empathy in educators and in learners is an iterative process that requires taking the time to understand and honor others' perspectives.

Rubrics

A rubric is a tool that communicates expectations for success for students to achieve and can include symbols or charts that are easy for students to understand.

Feedback

Feedback is the process of providing learners with information about their learning to support their progress and improvement, and can come from a range of sources, including teachers and peers.

Creating a Culture of Error

Creating a culture of error means creating an environment in which errors are valued and encouraged as a necessary part of the learning process, which can help learners to view errors and learning more positively.

Simulation Learning

Simulations involve students engaging in interactive experiences that mimic real-world scenarios to explore content, practice skills, and solve problems.

Youth Participatory Action Research

Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is a student-centered approach that puts the learner at the helm of the research process, from ideation to dissemination, to investigate and advocate for change they want to see in their schools and communities.

Collaborative Writing

Collaborative writing activities allow peers to work together to plan, draft, edit, and revise during the composition process, supporting writing skills and engagement with content knowledge as students write to reflect upon and apply what they have learned.

Retrieval Practice

Retrieval practice requires students to access information, or get information “out” from Long-term memory in order to support better retention and understanding.

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