Fostering a Creative Learning Environment

Some recent thoughts from my last round of training on Creativity Tools in Project Work @ Teachers Network (5 March 08).

1)Fostering a Creative Climate versus teaching about Creativity: We started by differentiating fostering a creative environment from teaching about creativity. It was good that Britta and I made the distinction right from the start, and setting the workshop expectations clear.

a) Groups start by listing what they thought were Ekvall's 10 creative climate dimensions of a creative climate. ie. Challenge, Freedom, Idea-Support, Trust, Dynamism, Playfulness, Debate, Conflict, Risk Taking, Idea Time. I felt little disappointed as only one group scored a 4/10 (not sure if this is an accurate indicator of how teachers perceive creative learning environment??) Through this activity, it was easy then to explain about Press (based on Rhodes 4Ps of Creativity- Person, Process, Product and Press) The good thing was that teachers became more aware that the press/ environment was more of a conglomerate of attitude, perception and feelings coming together. Most teachers initially identified the physical components, which though has an impact (especially with regard to the design of the learning spaces) needs to also consider the psychological components- push and pull issue (energy, human and dynamics) and also in terms of physical, mental and emotional resistance. Press may be one of the important considerations for creativity to occur, the working environment often affects how people to perform. “But truly creative people like Marie Curie (Innovative creative style) transcend physical discomfort and inconvenience to pursue their goals and visions. For years she endured a freezing and dilapidated lab in Paris to pursue the work she felt was impt. She believed that perseverance and self-confidence were needed to attend goals. Through education, we can provide an environment that allows people to experiment and “find” themselves

b) Games: Get people to loosen up, man (check out some of the videos I posted on http://yeojohn75.multiply.com/) Particularly enjoyed seeing how groups start to experience the rules of Divergent Thinking through the game "I have a Special Gift for you". *
How to play? Stand in small group of 5-8 folks (Warning: don't attempt to do this with more than 50- which ended up quite disastrous with Woogrove Sec workshop cos all the teachers were in "pain" after 10min)

i. Start with statement: "(name),I have a special gift for you...this is a ....**(think of somethings extremely wacky and impossible eg. tuff of my grandmother's white hair before she died)" T

ii. The receiver next receives ONLY with the statement : "YES, and I can use it for .... " * Some questions or issues to consider- - Why did I emphasize that participants use the exact words, especially with "YES, AND I can..." (No, you CANNOT be polite to thank the person..why?)

- Check: was it easy for participants to diverge with a illogical 'gift'?
- Check: What was the group dynamics and how did the individual react?
- Check: What is the implication to teaching a class of students with diverse learning styles?
- Check: Why was it important for the givers to shout out their thoughts and for receives to build on their ideas?
[**Consider participants' response in terms of fluency (idea generation), originality, flexibility (shifting mental gears)]

2) Beginning with digging into your own Mindset/ Mental model: A- Adaptable mind, B- Brains-on, C- need to Clarify.
To illustrate fact that it was not easy to "live out" the ABCs, we did another activity. The challenge was to get people really thinking about thinking. Sounds easy?? No way. Each group received a colour hat (based on Edward de Bono's 6 thinking hats)
White hat – pure facts, figures and information [Neutral, objective]
Red hat- 2 levels: emotions and feelings; hunch and intuition [feeling mode]
Black hat- devil’s advocate, negative judgment, why it will not work [Negative assessmt]
Yellow hat – sunshine, brightness and optimism, positive, constructive, opportunity [Positive assessmt]
Green hat- fertile, creative, plants springing from seeds, movement, provocation [Creative thinking]
Blue hat- cool and control, orchestra conductor, thinking about thinking [controlled and organized]

Then comes the challenge: 'URA is planning to modernise Chinatown into a futuristic theme park.What do you think? What are your ideas?' Each group then discussed using only the assigned colored frame of mind. After a round of sharing, I can't help but asked "May I have your permission to be really honest about what I just heard?" and I threw the question back to them- "Don't they all sound very similar- somewhat based on the emotional component???" I guessed this activity was useful to illustrate the fact that people generally are quick to judge and evaluate new ideas, whereby killing them even before we learn to see the value in all new ideas. It is somewhat like trying to simultaneously driving with one foot on the acceleration and the other on the brake at the same time. Lots of noise, but no moving much. http://www.slideshare.net/thecroaker/brainstorming-for-fund-and-profit/

I further explained by illustrating using Green hat's challenge and suggested perhaps to think about "what does the words-ie. chinatown/ future / modernise/ theme park, mean to you?" By breaking each what down, could we generate new ideas for each of them, without losing the novelty behind the ideas? I guess this workshop is only but a start. BUt I sure am looking forward to design the next workshop on making the Creativity Tools COme Alive in Project Work. If God allows, I would then conclude with designing my final workshop on Creative Problem Solving Thinking Model and do action research with teachers- who are keen to make a difference with Creativity!

"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons, but in seeing with new eyes." Marcel Proust