It’s always energizing to be in the company of fellow educators who are passionate about the cultivation of creative thinking skills in the classroom, it’s doubly exciting when most of them are parent’s as well.
On Friday I presented at the New England Association of Gifted and Talented annual conference, on the subject of creative thinking within project-based learning. The title of my presentation was called Project-Based Learning: The Role of the Creative Thinking Advocate, and followed an article I wrote on the blog Keep Learning. Most of the conversations centered on Creativity and how we can cultivate these skills in education. As many of the attendees were parents, the conversations naturally expanded to ways we can develop these skills at home as well, and more importantly the need to share our understanding of Creative Thinking skills. Inspired I updated the page ‘What is Creativity? A Parent’s Guide, and shared it on Facebook. What is Creativity? A Parent’s Guide.
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4 comments
Hi Matthew! Gordon here. I was in the audience for your presentation. I greatly enjoyed it and the ensuing conversation. Nurturing creativity is important to me as a dad and as a teacher. On Friday I wanted to make another comment but I had to leave. I offer it here. It is easy to discount giving kids (our own children and students) guidance and even some restrictions.
One of the most stimulating lessons I saw an art teacher give was called “Black, White, and Another Color.” Kids were given a black crayon, a white crayon, and then any other color crayon they wanted. The assignment was to draw something on a piece of construction paper – also a color they chose.
It opened my eyes just watching it. The children bristled a bit at the restrictions but with some patient reassurance and encouragement they were soon lost in their own creations.
It is easy to forget that creativity sometimes needs something to push against. It is kind of like swimming. You can get somewhere from a floating start but it is much easier to get somewhere with some speed if you dive or push off of something.
Anyway, just a thought. I’m off to read some more of this blog!
Hello Gordon, I’m happy you enjoyed my presentation and I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts on DadsforCreativity. My old boss used to say ‘Creativity loves Constraint’. I always think about this statement – so much of working life contains constraints. Limited budget, resources, etc. The challenge is to still be creative within this boundaries, and I think this is where the ability to think creatively comes into play as you being to navigate through the problems. Stacy in touch and if you fancy writing an article or two on our blog let me know!
All things coednserid, this is a first class post
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