The Creative Imperative: School Librarians and Teachers Cultivating Curiosity Together

261 Pages·2013·2.187 MB·English

by  Jami Biles Jones, Lori J. Flint

THE CREATIVE IMPERATIVE
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THE CREATIVE IMPERATIVE
School Librarians and Teachers
Cultivating Curiosity Together
JAMI BILES JONES AND
LORI J. FLINT, EDITORS
Copyright 2013 by ABC-CLIO, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief
quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The creative imperative : school librarians and teachers cultivating curiosity together / Jami
Biles Jones and Lori J. Flint, editors
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-61069-307-3 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-1-61069-308-0 (ebook)
1. Creative thinking—Study and teaching—United States. 2. Creative thinking in
children—United States. 3. Creative ability—Study and teaching—United States.
4. Creative ability in children—United States. 5. Problem solving—Study and
teaching—United States. 6. School librarian participation in curriculum planning.
I. Jones, Jami Biles. II. Flint, Lori J.
LB1590.5.C65 2013
370.15'7—dc23 2013018364
ISBN: 978-1-61069-307-3
EISBN: 978-1-61069-308-0
17 16 15 14 13 1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook.
Visit www.abc-clio.com for details.
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This book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
We dedicate this book to those among us and
those past who have devoted their lives to doing everything
possible to make the world a more creative place, and
not just sitting and thinking about it.
Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious,
and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try
to do things. You simply must do things.
— Ray Bradbury
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CONTENTS
Foreword ix
Vera John-Steiner
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv
Jami Biles Jones and Lori J. Flint
SECTION I UNDERSTANDING THE
COMPLEXITY OF CREATIVITY
1 Looking and Leaping: An Introduction to Creativity Research 3
Sarah E. Sumners and Garrett J. Jaeger
2 Creativity Theory and Educational Practice: Why All the Fuss? 19
Michael Hanchett Hanson
3 The Dark Side of Creativity in the Classroom: The Paradox
of Classroom Teaching 39
Arthur Cropley and David Cropley
4 The Creativity Crisis, Possible Causes, and What
Schools Can Do 53
Kyung Hee Kim and Stephen V. Coxon
SECTION II THE COMPONENTS OF CREATIVITY
5 I nside-the-Box: An Expertise-Based Approach to Creativity
in Education 71
Robert W. Weisberg and Michael Hanchett Hanson
viii CONTENTS
6 Motivation Is Everything 85
Beth A. Hennessey
7 The Creative Tapestry: Collaborative Partnerships 97
Gail Bush
8 Encouraging Creative Achievement: How to Develop
the Habits of Mind Necessary for Creative Production 109
Lori J. Flint
9 Acting on Curiosity: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t,
and What Educators Can Do 121
Marilyn P. Arnone and Ruth V. Small
SECTION III CREATIVITY IN THE CLASSROOM
AND THE SCHOOL LIBRARY OF CURIOUS DELIGHT
10 Creativity in the Classroom: Teachers and Librarians Together 139
Alane Jordan Starko
11 The Application of Common Core State Standards to
Foster Creativity and Curiosity 151
Carolyn Coil
12 The Potential of Technology to Foster Creativity 165
Brian C. Housand
13 Fostering Creativity through Inquiry 175
Jami Biles Jones
14 The Role of the School Librarian in Developing
Creativity through Future Problem Solving 189
Bonnie L. Cramond and Suehyeon Paek
15 Bibliocreativity: How Books and Stories Develop Creativity 203
Brian Sturm
Appendix A: Creative Solution and Diagnosis Scale (CSDS) 215
Appendix B: Future Problem Solving International Topic Lists 219
Resources 221
Index 229
About the Editors and Contributors 237
FOREWORD
Vera John-Steiner
No accurate cognition of reality is possible without a certain element of imagi-
nation, a certain fl ight from the immediate, concrete, solitary impressions in
which this reality is presented. . . .
—Vygotsky (1987, p. 349)
The challenges and pleasures of creative education are carefully explored in this
book. The authors recognize the roles of parents, teachers, librarians, peers,
and people representing the community in the construction of stimulating and
adventure-fi lled classrooms. They recognize the complexity of creativity, and
how it is rooted in play and exploration. It is fueled by children’s powerful
attraction to a particular domain of their choice and possibly predisposition,
amplifi ed by the cultural practices of those who surround them, guided by their
teachers, and enriched by the many new resources available for their creative
projects. This book overcomes the false dichotomies between the arts and the
sciences, engagement and inspiration, and teacher-centered and child-centered
learning environments.
The authors draw upon the more than half-century–long exploration of psycho-
logical and educational studies of creativity. We have been learning from creativity
researchers about the fortuitous combinations of novelty and usefulness through
case studies (Gardner, 1993; John-Steiner, 1985); personality studies (Barron &
Harrington, 1981); psychometric inventories (Torrance, 1975); experimen-
tal studies (Amabile, 1983); ethnographic studies of classrooms (Sawyer, 1997;
St. John, 2010); theoretical analyses (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Sternberg, 1999;
Gardner, 1993; John-Steiner & Moran, 2003) to name but a few sources. The
chapters which follow examine this rapidly growing literature and propose a variety
of ways to enrich classrooms. This is particularly urgent at a time when teachers are
penalized for students’ low grades on standardized tests and have limited time to
stimulate creative activities in their classrooms.