Book Review ETC 547 Darcy Markham
Defying the Crowd
Cultivating Creativity in a Culture of
Conformity
By: Robert J. Sternberg
Table of Contents
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Reviewer’s Comments
The Nature of Creativity
The Role of Intelligence
Synthetic Intelligence
– Analytic Intelligence
– Practical Intelligence
Knowledge Formal & Informal
The Role of Thinking Styles
in Creativity
– Function
– Form
– Levels
– Scope
– Orientation
* Educational Implications
* The Role of Personality
* The Relation of Motivation to Creativity
* Motivating Creativity
* Environment & Creativity
* Putting It All Together
* Personal Philosophy of Teaching
* Reflections
* Resources
e-mail: dmarkaz@aol.com
Title Page
Reviewer’s Comments
Sternberg’s Book Defying the Crowd examines the idea of
creativity and how it can be cultivated. The book itself
focuses on the general public and though it relates and
references the education system it is not specifically oriented
in this matter.
For the purposes of this Review I will specifically focus on
cultivating creativity within the education system a system
which tends to support conformity rather than creativity.
The Nature of Creativity
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Intelligence
Knowledge
Thinking Styles
Personality
Motivation
Environmental Context
The Role of Intelligence
• Intelligence serves three roles in creativity
– Synthetic
– Analytic
– Practical
Synthetic Intelligence
• The ability to generate ideas depends on the
individuals insight.
– Selective Encoding-the student’s ability to recognize the
relevance of information that may or may not be immediately
obvious.
– Selective Comparison-the student’s ability to determine
how information from the past can be brought to bear on the
problems of the future.
– Selective Combination-the student’s ability to fit together
the pieces of information whose connection is not obvious.
Analytic Intelligence
• Analytical Intelligence involves knowing
where the problem exists and how to define
it. The four key parts are:
– Problem Recognition
– Mentally representing the information
– Formulating a Strategy and Allocating
Resources
– Monitoring and Evaluating Problem-solving
Practical Intelligence
• Making Good Ideas
Work!
– Involves the student’s
taking into account
their own interests as
well as the interests of
others.
Knowledge
• Formal- Students must have knowledge of a particular
field in order to be creative.
– Students must have knowledge of a field in order to produce work
that is novel to that field
– Students must have knowledge of current thinking in order to
move against the tide.
– Knowledge helps students transform an idea into a product
– Allows students to concentrate on new ideas rather than on basics.
– Knowledge allows students to use chance occurrences as a source
for creative ideas.
Knowledge
• Informal- the knowledge picked up from daily living.
– Creativity in everyday life-Student’s ability to solve
everyday problems by seeing them in a new way and using
informal knowledge to solve them in an optimal way.
– Creativity in the Classroom- Student’s ability to know
when to be creative and when not to be creative.
– See: Practical Intelligence for School
The Role of Thinking Styles in
Creativity
• How student’s approach a task are based
upon their thinking styles.
– Important factors to consider:
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Thinking styles may vary across tasks and situations
Thinking styles vary in strength
Thinking styles are effected influences in the environment
Thinking styles vary over time.
NEXT
Creative Thinking Styles
Functions
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Plan what to do and how to do it.
Prefer tasks they can do their own way
Prefer less structured tasks
• Executive
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Prefer clear directions
Follow instructions when solving
problems
Prefer step by step process
• Judicial
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Analyze people’s behavior
Prefer to evaluate the work of others
Prefer to express their opinions
Creative Thinking Styles
Form
• Monarchic Style- very high creative achievers tend to be monarchic
in their style
– Prefer to finish one assignment before beginning another
– Devote time and energy to one project at a time
– Will work on a project for several hours without being distracted.
• Hierarchic-student’s who are hierarchic tend to be the most creative
– Prioritize tasks
– Prioritize within a task
– Emphasize major points and de-emphasize minor ones
Creative Thinking Styles
Form
• Oligarchic-these students are good at finding competing approaches to
solving problems
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Tries to address problems simultaneously
Difficulty setting priorities
View all aspects with equal importance.
• Anarchic- these students take a random approach to problem-solving.
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Do not organize thoughts prior to beginning a task
Minds wander from idea to idea
Speak before thinking.
Creative Thinking Styles
Levels
• Global- students with a global style prefer big issues and often ignore
details.
– Don’t pay attention to details
– They emphasize the general picture
– Make decisions without paying attention to details
• Local-students with a local style tend to be pragmatic and down to earth.
– Like problems that require engagement of details
– Not satisfied until the details are given close attention
– Focus on one thing and scrutinize it thoroughly.
Creative Thinking Styles
Scope
• Internal Style-students with an internal style tend to be introverted,
task-oriented, aloof, socially less sensitive.
– Prefer to work alone
– Avoid group situations
– Prefer research to discussion
• External Style-students with an external style tend to be
extroverted, people-oriented and out-going.
– Discuss ideas with others before beginning a project
– Prefer to work in groups
– Like to talk about ideas and listen to what others have to say.
Creative Thinking Styles
Orientation
• Liberal Style-these students like to go beyond existing rules and
procedures.
– Like to do things in new ways
– Avoid the established way of doing things
– Comfortable with unconventional methods
• Conservative Style-these students stick to the rules and
procedures, and avoid ambiguous situations
– Like to do things the correct way
– Follow standard procedures
– Participate in traditional activities
Creative Thinking Styles
Educational Implications
• Teachers and student’s will not necessarily match
in their thinking styles therefore it is necessary
that teachers and students alike be flexible with
regards to the differences they encounter.
• Teachers can’t match every students style but they
can teach in a way that allows children to express
their styles to a maximum benefit
The Role of Personality
• Creative Students Display the Following:
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Perseverance in the face of obstacles
Willingness to take sensible risks
Willingness to grow
Tolerance of ambiguity
Openness to experience
Belief in yourself and courage of convictions
The Relation of Motivation to
Creativity
• Intrinsic- Students who are intrinsically
motivated tend to be more creative and persevere
in the face of adversity
• Extrinsic-Students who are extrinsically
motivated tend to be less creative and look outside
themselves for rewards.
Motivating Creativity
Educational Implications
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De-emphasize grades
Make creativity an explicit part of an assignment
Give verbal recognition for creative work
Encourage students to submit work to external
shows or contests
• Attempt to use a combination of intrinsic and
extrinsic motivators
Environment & Creativity
• Environmental Variable Affecting Creativity
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The Context of Work
Task Constraints
Evaluation
Competition
Cooperation
Home Climate
Role Models
School Climate
Putting It All Together
Fostering a Creative Spirit
1. Redefin e Probl ems - Help stud ents to
look at p robl ems in new ways not just
accept what th ey h ave been told about
how to think or act.
3. Teach stud ents to distinguish good
id eas from poor id eas, and to p ay
att ention to th eir pot enti al cont ribution
5. Cultivat e in you r stud ents a
legisl ativ e, glob al styl e of thinking
7. Help stud ents to dis cover and t ap into
th eir int rinsi c motiv ato rs.
2. Teacher stud ents to look for
What oth er's don't s ee, to put things
tog eth er in new ways and look at p ast
experiences as clu es.
4. Teach stud ents th at th ey n eed to
know enough about a parti cul ar subj ect
but not everything in order to make a
creativ e cont ribution
6. Teach stud ents how to perservere in
th e face opf obs tacles, to t ake sensibl e
risks , and b e willing to grow.
8. C reate a classroom envi ronm ent th at
fost ers creativity .
9. En sure th at th e appropriate resou rces 10. Teach stud ents how to create a way
are avail able to enhance creativity
of li fe whi ch fost ers creativity .
Encourgae a vi ew of th e world th at is
creativ e.
Personal Philosophy of
Teaching
“ All children can learn. The challenge is to find the
right key to unlock the door.”
I believe children learn when they are actively engaged in the process. I believe that
children need to be given the right tools and strategies and be exposed to different
ways of conceptualizing and comprehending material. Children need t0 draw on
their prior knowledge and experienced in a n effort to conceptualize new
information and store such information in a manner that is easily retrieved. It is
therefore crucial that students be provided with numerous opportunities to learn
new information in a variety of ways.
I believe that learning should be an adventure and that children should be filled
with excitement when they enter the classroom. My job is to restore their joy of
learning by finding the “key” that will unlock the door and provide them with the
greatest adventure of all- Learning!
Reflections
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I believe that Sternberg presents some
very important ideas in cultivating
creativity in children. Just as with
learning children need to be given the
right tools and strategies in order to
develop their own creative styles.
Further children need to have the
knowledge and experience which
allows then to conceptualize a new idea
and make that idea a reality.
I believe that environment is important
not only to learning but also to
creativity and it is important to create
environments that allow students the
freedom to express themselves
Resources
• Book Review
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http://cispom.boisestate.edu/murli/cps/bookre
vs/sternberg.html
• Sternberg Homepage
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http://www.yale.edu/rjsternberg/
• Practical Intelligence for School
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http://www.pz.harvard.edu/Research/PIFS.htm