CREATIVITY
What is creativity?
I see creative thinking in music as focusing on output. The output may be a composition, performance, new technique, etc.
I believe that a successful exercise in musical creativity is built upon the student’s knowledge of musical concepts. The exercise should push the limits the student’s abilities in use of these concepts providing a certain degree of unknown. If I refer to Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development the student needs be near the upper boarder of this zone. A student must be taxed, but not to the point of frustration. Likewise, if the exercise is below the student’s abilities the student will become bored and trivialize the exercise. Being on this upper end of the zone will provide the student with novel ideas and sense of discovery.
How can we measure it?
Internal evaluation is the most important aspect of measuring creativity. The creator needs to be aware of his/her own personal standards and evaluate their work with respect to these standards. The student must learn to articulate their own personal evaluation.
Students evaluating work that is situated in the upper end of the zone of proximal development will be able to do so based on novel thought and discovery as well as aesthetic value.
An external evaluation of the student’s work can be based upon a combination of the student’s own evaluation and criteria set down by the teacher. Setting down these criteria can be difficult and subjective.
Online vs. Offline?
Compare a student that is web-enabled versus a student that is not web-enabled. Is there a difference in their ability to be creative? The student that is web-enabled does have more access to novel concepts/content/ideas. The student that is not web-enable has access only to concepts/content/ideas found in their surroundings and non-internet-based media. Can this make the web-enabled student more creative? Can a person’s exposure to novel ideas make them more likely to create novel ideas?
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Creativity - What is it?
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5 comments:
I'm still not clear on what is creativity-especially in a context of teaching music.
some quetions to clarify?
How is it different from imitation?
How is it different from innovation?
If you argue that "musical creativity is built upon the student’s knowledge of musical concepts"
does that then imply that if a student can recite all the symphonies of a particular composer that he or she is creative?
You claim:
"The exercise should push the limits the student’s abilities in use of these concepts providing a certain degree of unknown."
Does creativity have to involve knowledge and ability or is it something more than or separate from these?
You relate creativity to the notion of ability.
How important is that in music-can you be creative in music without being knowledgeable or without real ability?
You claim “creativity is built upon the student’s knowledge of musical concepts” so does that mean that someone who does not have knowledge of musical concepts can’t be creative.? Are there not incredible musicians who are creative who don’t know about musical concepts and have never formally studied music?
I don’t understand this:
“Being on this upper end of the zone will provide the student with novel ideas and sense of discovery.” You seem to be equating ability with creativity. Are you sure they are the same? I.E. is it possible to be in your zone of proximal development and still not be creative? Is it possible to know all the concepts and have all the knowledge and still be creative?
What does creativity look like?
e.g. How would you know/judge if a student is being creative?
What behaviours would be associated with creativity?
Is ashley's video an example of creativity? why?
Hello,
You said, "How is it different from imitation?" and "If you argue that "musical creativity is built upon the student’s knowledge of musical concepts" does that then imply that if a student can recite all the symphonies of a particular composer that he or she is creative?"
In order for a student to build something new they need to have a foundation of knowledge in that area. Sure a person can be creative in a subject area in which they have no knowledge, but it will not be very compelling nor will it sustain any interest or relevance for the student. As they gain new knowledge in a subject area they are able to be creative based upon this new knowledge. This also feeds the student's need for exploration and novel ideas.
The possession of knowledge in a field of study can contribute to creative thought and find its way into piece of creative work much like the way a brick can be used by a mason. But possessing musical knowledge is not synonymous with being creative. The goals is to use this new musical knowledge in a creative way. For example, a student who can recite a Beethoven symphony can use the musical concepts of that symphony to create a new musical work. That would be the application of the musical knowledge in creative thought.
- more to come.
Some quick thoughts:
You asked about imitation and its relation to creativity in music. I believe that imitation is important in the creative process. A student must first have a good understanding of a topic before they can begin to be creative with that topic
Relevant content would inspire deeper connections to the students lives.
When working with content that is relevant the student swill be more prone to create more meaningful artistic connections to their lives.
The student will be more passionate about content that is relevant to their own lives.
Let us consider the relationship between relevant content and novel ideas. A novel idea which is relevant to a student can illicit a powerful curiosity and a desire to explore. This can be very motivational to a student.
A teacher needs to be familiar enough with the content as to be able to introduce new and relevant ideas to motivate the student.
Students need to work in an environment that allows them to explore the relevant content to expose novel ideas for themselves.
Let us consider the internal and external evaluation of creativity. The student’s own internal evaluation of their creativity is the more important of the two. Internal evaluation of creativity can be very freeing for the students. They can evaluate themselves based only on their own goals as artists and not on external factors such as peer pressure, pop culture, teacher expectations, etc.
A teacher wishing to accurately evaluate a student’s creativity must have an intimate knowledge of content which is the focus of the creativity as well as a familiarity with the student and a clear understanding of the student’s artistic goals. Communication between teacher and student is critical for this to take place.
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