Creativity: What Are We Talking About?

Milbrandt, M. & Milbrandt, L. (2011, January). Creativity: what are we talking about?. Art Education, 64(1), 8-13.

This article was written for the magazine Art Education, where that particular month the theme was centered on the meaning and purpose of creativity.

This article aims to define & clarify the term "creativity" in hopes to simplify this broad term. They discuss the fact that until we (teachers and students) fully understand the term creativity we cannot teach and learn creative thinking skills or discuss creativity it its proper sense. It pulls on many outside sources, and researchers to explain the main types of creativity, and what it means to use creativity.

The first breakdown of the term creativity is described as Domain-Changing Creativity. This is where a person's creativity (either idea, product or performance) can change world, culture, genre, subject matter. A second type of creativity is Self-Expression and Meaning making where connections to personal expierences affect meaning and product. As a last type of creativity they explain the idea of Classroom-Changing Creativity. This Classroom Creativity comes about where students can push what they learn about in their classroom with real world connections, and solve real life issues.

I found this article to still be very broad when defining creativity. It stays focused on trying to simplify the different meanings of creativity, but it also dicsuess important components to have in a teachers project/lesson such as real-world connections, personal expierence, and hands on expierence. This article was a it heavy, but it does provide some interesting topics to ponder about.

Relevant Qoutes/Concepts:

" Researchers and practitioners need to conceive of creativity as multidimensional with consideration of how cognitive, affective intensity, technical skills, and interest and motivation all play major roles" (p.394)

"...creativty is defined as "an act, idea, or product that changes an exsisting domain, or that transforms an exsisting domain into a new one"'(p.27)

"In the art classroom the most essential quality of self-expression and the construction of meaning is that students view their processes and/or products as a meaningfiul representation of their personal expierences."(p.8)