Fostering Creativity
Focus on Learning
2010
Welcome!
• Please select a centre and indulge your
cerebral laterality!
“The human mind is like a parachute - it
functions better when it is open”
Coles Rules
Creativity Statistics and Quotes
• Birth to 5 year olds = 95%
• Students graduating from college = 25%
• Most of adult life = 10% creative
(Tony Buzan)
• http://www.cre8ng.com/creativityquotes.htm
Fostering…….
“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you
it is going to be a butterfly” Buckminster
Fuller
Why Not? Proceed with
Caution….you might have fun!
“It is better to have enough ideas for some of
them to be wrong, than to be always right by
having no ideas at all”.
Edward De Bono
Creativity is doing something differently than your
habitual way…
“An essential aspect of creativity is not being
afraid to fail”
Dr. Edwin Land
Me…..Creative?
• It’s just a process with various
stages that don’t always occur in
the same order:
Defining the problem 
 Generation of ideas
Testing the promising ideas 
 Evaluating the idea
Implementing the idea 
Functional Fixedness and
Blockage!
The right answer
Don’t be foolish
Avoid Ambiguity
To err is wrong
I’m not creative
That’s not logical
Follow the rules
Be practical
Play is Frivolous
That’s not my area
Cognition and Problem Solving
•
You're out hiking in a remote area
when you are drenched by a
sudden, violent storm. You seek
shelter in an abandoned cabin in
which you find a pile of 2X4
lumber (each board is 8 feet long),
some very rusty carpenter's tools,
and some woodworking clamps.
You decide to dry out your
clothing, gear, and yourself by
building a fire in the fireplace (your
matches are dry).
It would be good if you could
hang up your heavy, soaked
overcoat so you decide to build
a clothes rack to place near
the fire. But you can't find any
nails, rope, or wire which you
might use to build a sturdy
enough structure to hold your
wet coat, which must weigh a
ton! As a responsible camper,
you don't want to damage the
cabin or its contents. Is there a
solution to your dilemma?
•
Try this... Take two 2X4's and place the
clamp where indicated. The ends of the
2x4's should be jammed between the floor
and the ceiling of the cabin. You can then
hang your soaked coat on the handle of the
clamp.
•
What now seems pretty obvious to you
probably wasn't only a few seconds ago.
The reason is that we are often blinded to
new, creative uses for common objects by
something called functional fixedness, a
mental set in which we think only of the
traditional use of objects. In this example,
you probably thought of building something
out of the lumber using the tools instead of
making a pole out of the objects available.
#1 Reason to Just do it!
Q W E R
T
Y
U I O P
DNA and the Millennial
“Knowledge is created by the learner, not
given by the teacher”
unknown
(Sesame Street and the 20 minute rule!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ4
6vyR9o
Cerebral Laterality
Why is your brain like a pizza?
http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_01/d_01_cr/d_01_cr_ana/d_01_cr_ana.html
Right Brain / Left Brain
Preference
Testing….testing……..
Key Functions of Left and Right
Hemisphere
Left:
parsing
Successive or sequential
Logical expression
Focal perception
Analytical
Aggressive
Sense of time
Literal
Linguistic/symbolic
Verbal intelligence
Mathematical calculation
Conscious thought
Logical analysis
Outer awareness
Use of language
Methods, rules
Right:
holistic
Simultaneous
Gestalt expression
Synthetic
Passive
Present-mindedness
Metaphorical
Configurational
Practical intelligence
Recognition of patterns
Subconscious thought
Emotional reaction
Inner awareness
Use of intuition
Creativity
Sensation and Perception – Connecting to Memory
•
•
•
•
•
Sensation
Vision
Perception
Hearing
Taste and Smell
“We do not see the world as it is, we see it as we are”
unknown
Sensation
The process through
which the senses pick up
visual, auditory and other
sensory stimuli and
transmit them to the
brain
Perception
The process through
which sensory
information is actively
organized and
interpreted by the brain
What do we see?
•
•
•
A cartoonist named W.E. Hill in
1915 first published this
drawing. It's hard to see what
it's supposed to be. Is it a
drawing of a pretty young girl
looking away from us? Or is it
an older woman looking down
at the floor?
Well, it's both. The key is
perception and what you expect
to see.
Here's a hint: The young girl's
necklace is the older woman's
mouth. The young girl's chin
and jaw are the older woman's
nose.
Perception within context
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR20070404
01721.html
• the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best
musicians in the world. He played one of the
most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin
worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days
before Joshua Bell sold out a theatre in Boston
where the seats averaged $100
Multiple Intelligences
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Linguistic
Logical / Mathematical
Musical
Spatial
Naturalistic
Body / Kinaesthetic
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Storytelling
Once upon a time…..
dereweretreebears
5 random objects…..make a story-the more
outrageous, the better – so memory serves!
There’s more than one way to think!
Divergent thinking
is the intellectual ability to think of many, original,
diverse and elaborate ideas
Convergent thinking
is the intellectual ability to logically evaluate,
critique and choose the best idea from a selection of
ideas
There’s more than one way to think
• Divergent Thinking Guidelines
(Putting it all out there)
•
•
•
•
Defer Judgement
Combine and Build on Ideas
Seek wild ideas
Go for quantity
Divergent Tools
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mind mapping
Brainstorming
Brain writing
Forced Connections
Visual Connections
Ladder of Abstraction
Scamper
Thinking Hats – De Bono
(A Whack and a Kick)
•
•
•
•
•
•
White hat – knowledge possessed as needed
Blue – type of thinking being used
Black – risks, drawbacks, criticisms
Green – opportunities, possibilities, alternatives
Yellow – advantages, benefits
Red – feelings, intuition
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Debono_Diagram.JPG
Using your whole brain…And
adding on….
Using the “Creative No” = Yes And ….
Humour - fun and in service (surprise,
exaggeration, nuance, juxtaposition, reversal, release
and timing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zse4LJK8OZ0
It’s Inspirational!!!!! A love letter?
Convergent Thinking
(Pulling it all together)
•
•
•
•
Be Deliberate
Check your Objectives
Improve your Ideas
Be Affirmative
Convergent Tools
(Putting it together)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Card Sort
Evaluation Matrix
Highlighting
Pluses / Potentials / Concerns
Power
Let’s Think
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
• Expect the unexpected and be prepared to be different – it’s all
about perspective!
• Use music, auditory and visual stimulation
• Don’t forget to doodle!
• Always diverge before converging and do so at every step!
• Use Storytelling
• Just keep being curious
• Turn it upside down, inside out and backwards
More….
• The classroom is the best place to fail – for students, too!
• http://www.mycoted.com/Category:Creativity_Techniques
• Use something different : YouTube -Use blogging as a summary
technique - Use invoicing for marks
• If it’s not the right answer, change the question – the answer changes
automatically
• Jeopardy or circle discovery for Review
• Soft and Hard Thinking Got a hunch? Use a metaphor…..
• Create or Recreate a game …You’ll regret being boring more…
• you’re right, trust yourself! Do a little bit at a time – you’re in charge!
Go forth…foster!
• Enjoy! Create!
• Use your resources, ask and don’t be afraid to fail!
Thanks for being here - I’m always happy to help
kenneyc@algonquincollege.com