Initiating Creative Thinking
Amber Kane, a seasoned art educator, described creativity like this on an episode of Art Ed Radio: "Creativity is an active process of making new and innovative connections that are relevant to a given problem." She continued to describe that to develop creative responses, students need to do 5 things:
Ask questions
Be curious
Be willing to imagine
Make guesses
Be open to the possibility of failure
Amber's definition, along with these five action steps, initiates the understanding of creativity. It's about being innovative in an automated world.
3 Ways Your Students Can Become Creative Thinkers
1. Acknowledge the creative thinking process
This is where creativity and critical thinking overlap. This clearly lays out the process of finding an idea, developing that idea, creating work around the idea, and finally sharing that work and reflecting on it. It teaches strategies to help kids navigate each stage of the process. The steps listed below also include critical thinking questions that motivate students to understand the "why" behind a lesson! A teacher should remember that you cannot expect students to easily become creative thinkers, because they’ve had years of receiving instruction.
2. Give Your Students Time to Play
When talking about creativity, you can’t escape the concept of play. Experimentation and curiosity are elements of both. This is why it’s so important to allow your students opportunities to play in the art room.
However, one must be careful when setting up these opportunities. Former high school art teacher and Art of Education University writer, Ian Sands states:
“Play is not an exercise. If the purpose of the lesson is for the student to discover a pre-determined result, the student is not truly playing. For example, it is not an authentic experiment if a student is given yellow and red paint and told to mix them to see what happens. Play works best when it is student-directed and when they are curious about the possible outcomes.”
Instead, teachers can provide students with various paint color and challenge them to invent and name their own unique color. Another lesson could be to supply students with jars of water, liquid watercolors, and digital cameras to capture some free-form color-mixing magic. While elementary students are happy to play with wild abandon, setting limits can help older students get into a playful mindset. Performing everyday tasks in unconventional ways is also a fun exercise to get creative juices flowing! Allowing students to take a break from the traditional classroom setting will place them in an environment of thinking and exploration.
3. Normalize Failure in the Classroom
When students are learning and "playing," there’s bound to be things that don’t work out. Cultivating a classroom culture where failure is tolerated, and even celebrated, is key to fostering creativity in students. In addition to providing students a way to explore materials, play helps students loosen up and fight the urge to make everything look “right” or “perfect.” If they aren’t trying to make something specific, the pressure is gone. They are left to explore the process.
In addition to building in time to play, another great way to teach your students to embrace failure is by helping them develop a growth mindset. One concrete idea you can use right now to get your students more invested in risk-taking is having them sign a “Making Manifesto.” This idea comes from author, Paula Briggs. Essentially, it means drawing up a contract in which you proclaim your art room is a safe space to make mistakes and then having students sign it. It can be a powerful way to get your students on board!