Big C and Little c Creativity
Understanding creativity as I am using the term in this book means understanding the difference between those highly creative, almost magical moments inventors and artists experience during their life’s work (what some call big C creativity) and those day-to-day creative moments every human being can experience as part of existing in a complex world (little c creativity). Sawyer (2006) explains the difference between big C creativity and little c creativity—which we can think of as everyday creativity—the kind of creativity we are striving to develop each day in our classrooms:
In contrast to big C Creativity, [there is] “little c” creativity. Little c creativity includes activities that people engage in every day: modifying a recipe when you don’t have all the ingredients called for; avoiding a traffic jam by finding a new way through side streets; figuring out how to apologize to a friend for an unintended insult. A person’s dreams or a child’s block tower could be creative under the second definition, but not under the first. (p. 47)
This distinction is important to establish in order to understand educators’ work inside schools to develop little c creativity so those learners who are interested, someday, in becoming big C creators in any variety of fields have the foundational skills and dispositions to be able to do so.
Furthermore, little c creativity, on its own, cultivates practical real-world skills students will need for success in various aspects of life after school. Tony Wagner (2008) refers to these as survival skills that students need as they navigate this complex world. Among the proposed skills Wagner (2008) identifies (based on several hundred interviews with business, nonprofit, and educational leaders) are critical thinking, problem solving, curiosity, imagination, adaptability, and agility. I would argue patience, resilience, and several others belong on that list as well.
Being able to think critically and solve problems in the workplace is highly valuable to employers who hunger for self-starters who can think on their feet. Curiosity and imagination are critical for students as they navigate the adult world, searching for ways to live productive lives in which they are able to relieve stress, maintain fitness, and nurture friendships, for example. Patience and adaptability become highly important as our students build their own family systems, which will inevitably be complex and taxing at times. Resilience and agility are critical for maintaining balance, for seeking help when needed, and for navigating the difficult journey of human life. Little c creativity can provide a context through which students can develop and hone these skills in a safe environment, where mistakes are not yet high stakes.
Components of Creativity
Creative Schools (Robinson & Aronica, 2015) and The Element (Robinson, 2009) are two of the most practical discussions of creativity in schools. These books explore some of the fundamental reasons why creativity is so essential and why it is so elusive at the same time. We can build our shared understanding on Robinson and Aronica’s (2015) following definition of creativity, which includes three critical components: (1) original ideas, (2) ideas that have value, and (3) ideas that spring from our imagination—
Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value. There are two other concepts to keep in mind: imagination and innovation. Imagination is the root of creativity. It is the ability to bring to mind things that aren’t present in our senses. Creativity is putting your imagination to work. It is applied imagination. (p. 146)
It is important to start with the component of original ideas because one critical misconception students have about their own creativity is that if their ideas resemble those of others or if they build on ideas shared in a collaborative setting, for example, then they aren’t truly creative ideas. In fact, some of the most creative acts spring from the work of others, from stimuli quite outside our minds. Robinson and Aronica (2015) clarify this when they explain, “Creativity is about fresh thinking. It doesn’t have to be new to the whole of humanity—though that’s always a bonus—but certainly to the person whose work it is” (p. 139). Original ideas don’t always mean original to the whole world. Original can be very personal. I have observed students arriving at solutions to problems or creating artistic effects that people before them discovered or created, but the idea was original to them. These acts were no less creative simply because someone else in the world experienced them, too. These students arrived at their results on their own, in a highly creative manner. Therefore, the idea of original is contextual and personal.
Deciding when ideas have value is a highly personal decision as well. The creator determines something’s value first and foremost, and then others determine its value when the work is shared. However, this determination may not be as straightforward as it sounds. There are times when the value of an idea is obvious to a learner because it fits with a clearly defined goal, need, or desire. Other times, students may question whether an idea has value because of a lack of clarity about the purpose of the idea generation or lack of self-confidence, or because they may not be used to acknowledging their own strengths. In these cases, instead of stepping in to assert the value of an idea, we might instead refer students back to their goals, materials, or criteria. Helping students make decisions about the value of their own ideas is part of our role as teachers and is a teachable skill in and of itself. The critical factor in determining whether something holds value is whether it meets a desired outcome or need. Robinson and Aronica (2015) clarify the personal nature of assigning value when they say, “It’s also about judging critically whether the work in process is taking the right shape and is worthwhile, at least for the person producing it” (p. 147). As a result, students have to assess their creative acts in order to determine their value, which brings us right back to the integrated nature of creativity and assessment.
The last component of Robinson and Aronica’s (2015) definition that needs consideration is their assertion that during creative processes, ideas have to spring from our imaginations. Educator and artist Robert Kelly (2012) agrees with this need when he explains:
Creativity involves bringing ideas or thoughts into forms, ultimately making something out of ideas that can be shared in the currency or medium of the discipline or field where the creative practice is occurring. This involves imagination. Imagination is the breeding ground for ideas that fuel creative practice. (p. 6)
This means students will have to visualize and dream, wonder and think while engaging in learning experiences. They will need to have strong catalysts to encourage this imagination and receive time to spend in this state, thinking about possibilities instead of certainties. In a classroom setting, the need to nurture imagination and the conditions required for doing so may feel like quite a shift.
As we work toward creative classrooms that invite imagination and original thought, it is helpful for identifying everyday creativity to open up our understanding of how these components manifest in a variety of contexts. Creative acts can fall into three categories, according to Kelly (2012): (1) inventive, (2) innovative, and (3) interpretive. First, there are creative practices that are inventive in nature, involving the creation of original work across disciplines. This may mean creating works of art, narrative texts, experiments, block towers, or construction projects, for example. Next, there are creative practices that are innovative in nature, which means students may grapple with redesigning or modifying an existing form, product, or system. One might find this creativity in health classes when students gather information and construct an informative publication to assist families in seeking health supports in the community. We may also see this creative practice in an early year’s physical education class when students create their own games while exploring the concept of strategic play. Lastly, there are creative acts that are interpretive in nature. This may occur when students engage in redesigning, modifying, evolving, or interpreting existing ideas. We may see this type of creativity in mathematics