A rich and playful resource for fostering creativity in the classroom The product of over three decades of teaching design studios and creativity seminars primarily at the University of Washington, Cultivating Creativity offers firsthand, on-the-ground accounts of encouraging creative expression in the classroom. In this lively book, course instructors will find a wealth of creativity-awakening exercises and strategies that can be adapted to suit a variety of disciplines. More than a practical guide, this book uses a combination of playful design, full-color illustrations, participant reflections, and pedagogical reflection to encourage innovation. Readers can turn to the “Who, What, Where, How, and Why” chapters for guidance on developing exercises of their own, or flip to any page for a dose of inspiration before their next creative project. Today’s world is filled with nations, businesses, venture capitalists, and institutions of higher education in hot pursuit of “innovation.” Cultivating Creativity offers up new strategies for finding it and invites each reader to continue their search in a way only they can.
How lessons from kindergarten can help everyone develop the creative thinking skills needed to thrive in today's society. In kindergartens these days, children spend more time with math worksheets and phonics flashcards than building blocks and finger paint. Kindergarten is becoming more like the rest of school. In Lifelong Kindergarten, learning expert Mitchel Resnick argues for exactly the opposite: the rest of school (even the rest of life) should be more like kindergarten. To thrive in today's fast-changing world, people of all ages must learn to think and act creatively—and the best way to do that is by focusing more on imagining, creating, playing, sharing, and reflecting, just as children do in traditional kindergartens. Drawing on experiences from more than thirty years at MIT's Media Lab, Resnick discusses new technologies and strategies for engaging young people in creative learning experiences. He tells stories of how children are programming their own games, stories, and inventions (for example, a diary security system, created by a twelve-year-old girl), and collaborating through remixing, crowdsourcing, and large-scale group projects (such as a Halloween-themed game called Night at Dreary Castle, produced by more than twenty kids scattered around the world). By providing young people with opportunities to work on projects, based on their passions, in collaboration with peers, in a playful spirit, we can help them prepare for a world where creative thinking is more important than ever before.
Exploring the journey children take in developing their creativity, the author demonstrates the framework that can promote creativity in babies and toddlers, proving the link between theory and practice.
Cultivating Your Creative Life: How to Find Balance, Beauty, and Success as an Artist is a multifaceted book where creativity and wonder intermingle to show how to live a creative and balanced life while moving toward your goals.
World renowned psychologist Robert Sternberg presents a fresh and compelling picture of the creative process from the inception of an idea to its ultimate success. With illuminating examples, Sternberg reveals the paths we all can take to become more creative and shows how institutions can learn to foster creativity. “What is creative is new and often brings about positive change. But what is new is also strange, and what is strange can be scary, even threatening—which is why ‘they’ don’t want to hear it. But they are unwise not to listen, for the creative person with original ideas is the one who, with support, will advance and improve the milieu to the benefit of all.” —from Defying the Crowd
Every great design has its beginnings in a great idea, whether your medium of choice is scenery, costume, lighting, sound, or projections. Unmasking Theatre Design shows you how to cultivate creative thinking skills through every step of theatre design - from the first play reading to the finished design presentation. This book reveals how creative designers think in order to create unique and appropriate works for individual productions, and will teach you how to comprehend the nature of the design task at hand, gather inspiration, generate potential ideas for a new design, and develop a finished look through renderings and models. The exercises presented in this book demystify the design process by providing you with specific actions that will help you get on track toward fully-formed designs. Revealing the inner workings of the design process, both theoretically and practically, Unmasking Theatre Design will jumpstart the creative processes of designers at all levels, from student to professionals, as you construct new production designs.
Creativity is a way of thinking, of looking at things, of experiencing, and operating. Although creativity may seem magical, a rare talent of a select few, creativity is, in fact, available to everyone. In Cultivating Creativity, you will learn how to unlock your creative potential and develop your creative expression. Through developing your creativity, you will become better at generating ideas and finding new perspectives. But, more importantly, with creativity, you will improve your capability to rise to the moment, to make the most of the potentials and demands of the present, and facilitate your ability to lead a full and rich life. In Cultivating Creativity, you will learn many ways to foster your creative process and expression, including: * Have Belief - When you think something is possible, it almost certainly is...especially good ideas. * Research - Explore and lay the groundwork and understanding in subject areas to provide a richer substrate for ideas to grow. * Flow - Let ideas come to you naturally around a specific topic or topics. The more you spark your creativity, the brighter it will burn. * Get out of your way - Learn how to let creativity happen. Be present, mindful, and creative. * Nurture Dreams - Using the right approach, let going to sleep and dreaming lead to a wealth of new ideas. * Be Flexible and Play - Learn to toy with and manipulate ideas and concepts, examining them from different angles and views, critical components of creative insight. * Have Conversations - Indulge in engaged and informed discussion and debate, as powerful sources of new ideas. * Relax - Let the mind generate ideas while you watch and guide the process. Or be mindless and let them come to you. * Change Things Up - If you're stuck in a rut, do something different! Recharge for new ideas. * Be Passionate - Find what most excites and motivates you about a topic or idea and see where this interest leads. * Have Internal Dialogue - If you love exciting, intellectual interplay with friends, family members, and co-workers, why not have one with yourself? * Adjust Your State of Mind - Let new thoughts and ideas emerge naturally by learning to change your consciousness, your perspective, and how you feel. Experience events in new ways. * Instigate Thought Experiments - Consciously explore new ways to look at and think about problems, concepts, and events, leading to new creative insights. * Act Ridiculous - Get out of your comfort zone and put the bounds of normalcy and convention aside to look at things in new ways. * Be Present - Being present helps fully appreciate and engage the moment and open yourself to creative possibility. Taken singly or in combination, switched or applied consistently, these approaches will help foster and develop your creativity, nurturing your ability to react to and generate many possible responses to the moment. And, with greater possibilities in each moment and more positive outcomes, comes the potential for greater rewards and a richer life. Choose creativity and begin creating!
Visioned as the guide and mentor that most creative women yearn for, but never find in their daily lives, The Rainbow Way explores the depths of the creative urge, from psychological, biological, spiritual and cultural perspectives. This positive, nurturing and practical book will help to empower you to unlock your creative potential within the constraints of your demanding life as a mother. Featuring the wisdom of over fifty creative mothers: artists, writers, film-makers, performers and crafters, including: Jennifer Louden (multiple best-selling author), Pam England (author, artist and founder Birthing From Within), Julie Daley (writer, photographer, dancer and creator of Unabashedly Female), Indigo Bacal (founder of WILDE Tribe). Foreword by Leonie Dawson (author, artist, entrepreneur and women’s business and creativity mentor). ,
This book presents a variety of narratives on key elements of academic work, from data analysis, writing practices and engagement with the field. The authors discuss how elements of academic work and life – usually edited out of traditional research papers – can elicit important analytical insight. The book reveals how the unplanned, accidental and even obstructive events that often occur in research life, the ‘detours’, can potentially glean important results. The authors introduce the process of ‘writing-sharing-reading-writing’ as a way to expand the playground of research and inspire a culture in which ‘accountable’ research methodologies involve adventurousness and an element of uncertainty. Written by scholars from a range of different fields, academic levels and geographic locations, this unique book will offer significant insight to those from a range of academic fields.
