Table 1.2: Detailing Threats to Creativity
| Threat | Explanation |
| Right Answers | When the goal is arriving at the correct solution, product, or understanding, the divergent thinking required during creative processes is limited. There is a time for right answers but not when creativity is the goal. |
| Teacher Control | When teachers control the brainstorming, drafting, or revision stages, it stops learner creativity in its tracks. Help-seeking behavior is critical for the teacher-student relationship during times of creativity, but control over the creative process must rest with the learner. Hovering can also inhibit freedom to explore because students may feel overly monitored. |
| Lack of Purpose | When our efforts hold meaning, our motivation and investment are authentic and personal. Tasks that hold little purpose or relevance for students make creative work within those tasks a tremendous challenge for even the most compliant student. |
| High Stakes | When learners believe their teacher will judge or value (including grade) processes and products too early and without time for revision, risk taking and creative approaches might disappear, and the quest for compliance may take over. Premature grading and a focus on competition or comparison can threaten the creative process. |
| External Rewards | Studies demonstrate the devastating effect of external rewards on creative outcomes (Amabile, 1996; Torrance, 1965). The desirable state of flow depends on intrinsic motivation. Even praise can shift the learning away from exploration, toward the search for even more praise. |
| Negative Self-Talk | Student and teacher beliefs about their creative abilities can determine whether students develop creative qualities. Negative self-talk and a belief that only a few possess creativity reflect a fixed mindset (the assumption that abilities are static and cannot be changed in any meaningful way; Dweck, 2006) that yields little creative output. This kind of thinking can also lead to learned helplessness in students, which is not productive. |
| Limited Understanding or Skill | Creativity emerges from skill and understanding. In order to manipulate, imagine, and create, students must first have understanding and skill with which to do so. It is very difficult for students to be creative when they know too little about the realm in which they are working. |
| Tight Timelines | To engage fully in creative processes, students need time to generate ideas, experiment, ask questions, set goals, reflect, revise, and assess their progress. Short timelines can limit both creativity and assessment and can result in products that are less than satisfactory to the learners. |
| Overstimulating Environments | Creative people often need a balance between time to engage with others and seek stimulation and time to reflect. An environment that is overstimulating can overwhelm students and reduce the productivity during stages of the creative process. |
| Silence | If creativity is going to flourish, there needs to be conferring, discussion, debate, research, sharing, and collaboration. All these activities require two-way communication, which will result in an environment that strays from silence. |
| Prescriptive Steps | Formulaic steps can certainly lead to consistency, and when products and processes that yield similar results each time are the goal, formulae work. However, true creativity is much messier than this. The organic nature of creativity lends itself to students leading the way more often than not, with each student engaging in a slightly different journey. Therefore, student choice is intimately tied to creativity. |
It is important to acknowledge that learning is complex, and the various ways learners engage in the experiences we design for them are multifaceted. This book does not assert that students need to engage in creative pursuits all the time, every day in our classrooms. Indeed, there are times when listening to others is critical. There are moments when exploring patterns and algorithms is highly advisable. There are times when direct instruction is the most effective way to explain concepts and skills and guided practice is the most efficient way to build confidence. Creativity is a highly desirable and important aspect of human learning, but it is not the only one. Therefore, there are times when the threats in table 1.2 emerge as the most effective approaches in certain contexts. However, when creative processes are always on the back burner in favor of more expedient approaches, then the scales have tipped too far in the other direction. Teaching is about finding a balance and developing a vast skill set that readies learners for the life in front of them.
It is also important to note that embedded within the creative process, there will be moments of direct instruction. If a student is struggling to organize his or her thinking, the teacher may need to offer directed guidance. Similarly, when a student is preparing to express his or her creativity, a teacher may offer a systematic guide for effective speaking. Creativity in classrooms is not without teacher intervention and support. There are times when the most direct route to the solution to a smaller problem can open up creative growth in other areas. We do not have to choose between creativity and instruction. Both live in partnership within the creative process. Paul A. Kirschner, John Sweller, and Richard E. Clark (2006) assert the importance of teacher guidance during creative learning: “In so far as there is any evidence from controlled studies, it almost uniformly supports direct, strong instructional guidance … during the instruction of novice to intermediate learners” (p. 83). Understanding the important role of the teacher in creative work is critical. The interplay between student decision making and exploration and assessment to guide targeted instruction and support is vital for ensuring that students gain the maximum benefits of creative work.
Assessment Processes That Unlock Creativity
When we imagine new ways of designing our assessment and instruction to support creativity, it is not so much about throwing everything out and starting again. We aren’t going to stop using summative assessment, nor are we going to suddenly change every aspect of our learning environment. Like much of the growing we do in our lives, the shift is more about looking at existing practices in new ways. It is using the skills and processes we already possess, but using them differently. Accomplishing this change might involve exploring our existing practices with a different lens. In creative classrooms, teachers still preassess to determine students’ needs and strengths. They invite goal setting and reflection from the learners in the room. They continue to utilize formative assessment to guide instruction and support feedback and self-assessment processes. And they still make time to verify learning through summative assessment. These types of assessment processes are critical in any kind of learning environment because they support long-term learning. However, how they unfold or manifest may be a little different from what we usually practice, especially with regard to teachers’ and students’ roles in the assessment process. This book will focus on three of these assessment practices, which constitute the heart of assessment to support creativity: (1) formative assessment (information gathering), (2) feedback (dialogue with others), and (3) self-assessment (dialogue with self). See the reproducible “Applying Assessment Within the Stages of the Creative Process” (pages 45–46) for information on how these types of assessment apply within each stage of the creative process, and guiding questions for assessment work in each stage. The following sections will explore the shift in classroom roles as we use assessment to promote creativity; note the ways in which teachers may apply formative assessment, provide feedback, and facilitate self-assessment; and examine the need for explicit instruction for supporting feedback and self-assessment among students.
Assessment Roles for Teachers and Students
In classrooms where teachers work to develop creativity, assessment processes most often rest in the hands of learners, as opposed to remaining solely the responsibility of teachers. Teachers still play a part, of course, but their role shifts to facilitator and co-constructor as opposed to director and owner. Readers may wonder if elementary-age students are capable of assessing. It has been my experience that even students in the earliest schooling years are indeed able to assess and apply impressive insights as they reflect on their and their classmates’ work.
Teachers may choose the direction of the creative process based on learning goals, but they shift decision making to the students at critical times.