I just finished reading a stimulating article by Laura Seargeant Richardson, The Kaleidoscope Mind: Some Easy Ways to Teach Creativity, published in The Atlantic magazine. Richardson’s article was a breath of fresh air, focusing on the ability to train the mind to view the world not just in a different way, but in many different ways. She writes
The term kaleidoscope is Greek and is loosely interpreted as “an observer of beautiful forms.” So what, then, is a kaleidoscope mind? The Hans family would say it’s “a type of mind that is agile, flexible, self-aware, and informed by a diversity of experiences.” It’s a mind that is “able to perceive any given situation from a multitude of perspectives at will — selecting from a rich repertoire of lenses or frameworks.” They would say that a kaleidoscope mind is playful, and it must be able to “see patterns, connections, and relationships that more rigid minds miss.” And they would say that a kaleidoscope mind can be taught. I would agree.
I agree as well. I have coached an Odyssey of the Mind team for five years now, and I’ve seen evidence that creativity is definitely a skill that can (and should) be taught. In fact, in a post about the benefits of Odyssey, I said just that. I confessed that I didn’t always think so . . .
Originally, I thought kids either “had it” or didn’t when this type of thinking was involved. Yet, in almost 5 years of coaching Odyssey of the Mind, I’ve seen that this type of thinking can indeed be developed.
So how is it done? Like strengthening any muscle, you must exercise it – stretch it – challenge it. Here are a couple of the exercises I have used with my team of elementary kids:
What is it?
Take an ordinary, everyday object, such as a CD, and pass it around. As of that moment, it is no longer a CD. What is it? A mirror? A headlight or wheel on a cardboard car? The sequins on a huge disco ball? A Frisbee? A skating rink for ants? The rotor on a gyroscope? Sir Ken Robinson explored this a bit in his RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms. He says: How many uses can you think of for a paper clip? Most people might come with 10 or 15. People who are good at this might come with 200. And they do so by saying things like, “Well, could the paper clip be 200 feet tall and be made of foam rubber?”
Things that _____.
In this exercise, you provide a word, and students brainstorm for different ways to use the word. For example, you might ask them to think of things that run. The creative mind will think outside the box and come up with answers such as politicians, water, or refrigerators. They’ll think that you can run your mouth, or get a run in your pantyhose. Then there’s a musical’s run on Broadway, a trait that runs in your family. You can run errands, run a fever, or run out of time…
Richardson wraps up her article with this wonderful quote by biochemist Szent Gyorgyi:
“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”
A creative, kaleidoscope mind is one that innovates – invents – inspires. It takes what it knows and turns it upside-down, inside-out, and backwards to see what new possibilities and patterns emerge. It will be able to view a problem from many perspectives, and find a solution/design more rigid minds could not.
Have you noticed that these are natural instincts for a child? Hand them a rope and suddenly it becomes a fire hose, a belt, a necklace, a lasso, a shoelace for a giant. Somehow we stifle and restrain their brains, when we should be freeing them to design the future and solve the problems of a 21st century world our black and white brains can’t even imagine.
Image courtesy of Renjith Krishnan, under terms of freedigitalphotos.net
Patti Grayson
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“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”
and then the most important thing
take inspire action or even better massive inspired action then you really are being creative.
Great piece
Creativity is based on things we know: things we’ve been taught. What you’ve illustrated in this post is that you’re a great teacher who teachers your kids lots of great things and then they can be creative with them.
The CD-thing you mention is almost identical to the Torrance test for creativity that I sometimes use with kids. There’s a danger in some exercises – it gives administrators the chance to test for creativity, to grade for it – and the very act will squash it out.
By giving your children exercises, yes you are giving them time to practice creativity, but you are not teaching them any new creativity (and at worst you may be merely testing them), because it is not something that can be taught – it is too broad for that, involving reflection, co-construction, flexibility, resilience and above all knowledge. Just as you say – a creative mind takes what it knows, turns it upside down, etc… essentially making links with other stuff it knows.
Please don’t make teachers teach creativity – just make sure administrators don’t squash it.
Thanks, Steve –
I have seen many students who seem mentally “constrained” initially, but with examples and exercises, they learn to free their minds a bit, and start thinking out of the box… Is this teaching creativity? I don’t know if I would call it that, but I have definitely seen it develop with practice! It’s great to see that sparkle in their eyes… 🙂
Oh Patti, I used to coach Odyssey teams and your post made me miss that fun. We used to do these exercises using the SCAMPER protocol and the kind of extemporaneous brainstorming is wonderful. There are so many kids that thrive once they figure out how to utilize those free associating building tools.
Yet I think there are an equal number who find this kind of work very intimidating and never quite feel comfortable with it.
All of which makes me wonder this……are we all equipped (temperament-wise) to be creative in this way? Are there some students who really are more suited for other areas of strength?
I guess what I’m saying is things like OM are wonderful and certainly everyone benefits (even if it’s hard and they hate it)….but I would love to see us have learning environments that offer options. You’d have to try everything but then you could go back to the things that stoke your intellectual fire. It seems that No Child Left Behind has really stripped us of learning like this and it’s almost seen as a waste of time because there isn’t a testable improvement we can measure from partaking.
Marsha –
Thanks for pushing my thinking on this. I do believe that any “stretching” or improvement in this area is beneficial, but like many other skills or areas, some may have a more natural tendency or aptitude for them, and others may not.
I certainly agree that they should be exposed to it, but then have those options you speak of. I think this is true in so many areas. I knew where my passions and interests lay, yet was forced to continue with advanced math courses that I was not suited for, and was forced to take a test on these advanced math skills in order to get into a college where I would never use them, and have never used them.
Don’t get me wrong – I am grateful that I have strong “number sense” and good problem solving skills. The math exposure and foundation was critical – But beyond that, I wish I had been able to forego the advanced courses and explore options within the areas that “stoked those intellectual fires”…