Teaching Outside the Lines

 

Teaching Outside the Lines (Johnson 2015) outlines what creativity looks like in education, and why it is so necessary. The author begins by debunking seven frequently voiced delusions about creativity, then introduces many ways we can encourage creativity in education.  

The AASL (2207) standards demand student "demonstrate creativity by using multiple resources and formats" and "use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning." This suggests that we should be looking for creativity as a valuable skill students will need to be successful in education, their careers and in life.  If creativity is one way to empower students by allowing them to solve any problem they encounter, and be able to change their lives for the better; then creativity is a necessary skill to be fostered in school. 

But what exactly is creativity and how can it be taught?  In this book many definitions are given: independence, curiosity, self-confidence, growth mindset, risk tolerance, grit and playfulness are a few.  The easiest for me to engage with was that of Big -C and little -c (Csikszentmihalyi 1997).  The Big-C creativity is what we identify with innovative scientists, artists and folks who influence their entire world.  If this was the only form of creativity possible, then children could not be considered creative.  The little-c of creativity is the everyday problem solving that we are all involved in on a personal level.  We might call it improvisation, adjusting, or being flexible, and just as we might employ it unconsciously, it can also be something we ask students to practice.  The opportunity to think of creative solutions to a problem might be more useful to a learner than the traditional projects and formal assignments. 

There is another Creative C, the Middle -C (Morelock & Feldman, 1999), which is more intentional than the little-c, but has less impact than the big-C.  This definition of creativity is what occurs in schools.  We try new things, revise outdated ideas, make connections and modify technology to suit our needs. Furthermore, students do not experience this when working towards formal summative tests.  There is a need for open ended project work that has the potential of releasing a creative spark.  

One of the 7 delusions at the beginning of the book:  Technology use automatically demands creativity.  Where it might be true that new technology might be motivational,  it may actually discourage innovation with its mindless programs that require no talent.  Projects that allow creativity use technology in productive ways.  And projects that allow the teacher to become a colearner in the classroom, also lead to greater creativity.   It is vital that teachers are designing assignments that help teach not just content, but learning processes as well. 

In choosing technologies that encourage creativity, it is important to make sure the tool is being used for the right purpose; either for research, production, or for communication. 

The author asks whether, as educators, we fear working with creativity because we cannot objectively measure it.  He quotes Grant Wiggins (2013a) who warns that poor assessments can work against innovative thinking.  But does creativity need to be measured or assessed?  The answer is yes, if creativity is important it should play a part in assessment.  The rubric may need to be modified to allow "exceeds expectation".  There should not be a checklist or examples of "exemplary" results, neither should there be limiting factors in the rubric.  Instead of assessing students' work as right or wrong, we could decide that the method was either effective or ineffective.  

If we use this way of assessing students' creativity, we need to ask the student:  "Did your new approach work and why or why not?"  However, the teacher must also design assignments where students are asked to use innovation in their solution, not merely imitating a portion of content.  And we cannot ask if a child is creative, but how that child is creative.

Creative Project by student

About the Author
Doug Johnson is the Director of Technology for the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage (MN) Public Schools and has served as an adjunct faculty member of Minnesota State University. His teaching experience has included work in grades K-12 both here and in Saudi Arabia. He is the author of nine books including Learning Right From Wrong in the Digital Age; Machines are the Easy Part; People are the Hard Part; and The Classroom Teacher′s Technology Survival Guide. His columns appear in ASCD’s Educational Leadership and in Library Media Connection. Doug’s Blue Skunk Blog averages over 50,000 visits a month, and his articles have appeared in over forty books and periodicals. Doug has conducted workshops and given presentations for over 200 organizations throughout the United States and internationally and has held a variety of leadership positions in state and national organizations, including ISTE and AASL.

Johnson, D. (2015). Teaching outside the lines. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin

I read the Kindle version which I rented from Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Outside-Lines-Developing-Creativity-ebook/dp/B07C66DD9B

References:

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention.  New York, NY: Harper.

Morelock, M. J., & Feldman, D. H. (1999) Prodigies. In M. Runco & S, Orutzjer (Eds.), Encyclopedia of creativity (pp. 1303-1310).  San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Wigging, G. (2o13a). How to create a rubric that does what you want it to.  Te@chThought. Retrieved from https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/how-to-create-a-rubric-that-does-what-you-want-it-to/

Graphics from https://pages.stolaf.edu/. St. Olaf College,  Northfield, MN