Creativity in Critical Writing - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Creativity in Critical Writing

University of Connecticut First-Year Writing Program

November 17, 2016Slide2

Some Understandings of CreativityInspiration, Romantic genius (the artist in the garret)Progress, contribution, the advancement of knowledge, “normal science”

Disruption, innovation, entrepreneurship, “abnormal science”: the discourse of the creative economy, revolutionary discourse

Individualistic

(cognitive): creativity emerges from the individual.

Social

(sociocognitive): creativity emerges from the interactions of the individual and society (language, culture, discourse, etc.)

Materialist

(ecocognitive): creativity emerges from the interactions of the individual, society, and the material environment (economic, technological, and other constraints and affordances)Slide3

The Four Types of CreativityBig-Clittle-c

Everyday: minor problem-solving, e.g.Subjectively novel.

Eminent: Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Michel Foucault, Marie Curie.Objectively novel, usually “disruptive.”

Pro-C

mini-c

The almost imperceptible (to others) creative synthesis that a learner performs in the process of integrating insights into his or her preexisting frameworks of knowledge.

Subjectively novel.

Professional expertise: creativity within a limited domain.

Objectively novel, usually “contributory.”Slide4

What We Can Expect from StudentsRealistically, we should expect creativity that is either . . .subjectively novel but situated within a larger intellectual project—simulated Pro-C—or . . .

objectively novel and contributory.We shouldn’t let the expectations placed upon us as graduate students or phrases like “new knowledge” prevent us from recognizing the value of (a) for our undergraduate students.

Our job is to foster creative individuals, not generate novel ideas. (FYW isn’t a think tank.)Students will also experience mini-c: writing is epistemic.Don’t fall into the trap of a purely individualistic or social view of creativity! Students will exhibit greater creativity if they have meaningful access to material affordances and are relatively free from material constraints.How can we improve access to affordances for our students? How can we mitigate material constraints?Slide5

Can Creativity Be Taught?MotivationIQ (threshold theory: diminishing returns/no correlation at IQ of 120 or above)

Birth order and family historyPsychiatric disability

Prior knowledge of a domainVarious personality traits: openness, etc.Metacognition/self-awarenessWays of thinking: divergent/convergent thought

Degree of social embeddednessIdentity: race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status . . .Access to (and facility with) technological and other resourcesUse of heuristics

Some Predictors (and Other Aspects) of Creativity . . .Slide6

Creativity Can Be TaughtMotivationIQ (threshold theory: diminishing returns/no correlation at IQ of 120 or above)

Birth order and family historyPsychiatric disability

Prior knowledge of a domainVarious personality traits: openness, etc. (Habits of Mind!)Metacognition/self-awarenessWays of thinking: divergent/convergent thought

Degree of social embeddednessIdentity: race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status . . .Access to (and facility with) technological and other resourcesUse of heuristics

Some Predictors (and Other Aspects) of Creativity . . .Slide7

Heuristics/Special Topics: SCAMPERA mnemonic breakdown (. . . “I played bass for Mnemonic Breakdown”) of some of the moves involved in acts of creative synthesis.Substitute

CombineAdaptModify, Magnify, MinifyPut to another useEliminateReverse, Rearrange, Remediate (EJP’s addition)

Exercise: Create the beginnings of a writing project (preferably one relevant to your course) that employs one of the SCAMPER moves.Note that analysis (of the elements that one would substitute, combine, etc.) usually must precede SCAMPER.BONUS – example of a “special topic” (or a domain-specific heuristic): frame and case.Slide8

Metacognition, Reflection / Disciplinary Awareness, Disciplinary Knowledge“You have to know the rules before you break them”: not just a way of maintaining an oppressive status quo!

Domain (or disciplinary) knowledge facilitates creativity: think how rare contributory creativity would be without it.Penicillin: “The harder I practice, the luckier I get.”Awareness (of self, of how a domain will value or respond to a contribution, etc.) allows for self-evaluation of divergent thought.

Also increases the chances of high-quality transfer of learning, according to educational psychologists: systemic or interdisciplinary thought.Slide9

Intrinsic and Extrinsic MotivationIntrinsic“The pleasure the process of discovery or expression brings” —Gregory J. Feist

Flow: “a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity” (copied and pasted from Wikipedia, but the idea is from the work of Mihály Csíkszentmihályi)More consistently linked to creative “products” (output)

ExtrinsicRewards/penalties issued by othersExamples: grading/evaluation, corporate management[Theresa] “Amabile’s classic work on motivation and creativity has reported that extrinsic motivation (reward, surveillance, or recognition) can often have a detrimental effect on creative achievement.” —Feist

Not always negative. Plus, positively linked to productivity (itself positively linked to creativity)!Slide10

Write, Pair, ShareHow can your teaching . . .motivate students intrinsically and extrinsically?develop students’ disciplinary knowledge and disciplinary awareness?

incorporate reflection and metacognition?teach students how to use new resources (material affordances)?

ask students to draw on the resources already available to them (personal, cultural, transdisciplinary knowledge; other aspects of their unique subject positions; literacies, etc.)?Which of these does your teaching already accomplish to some extent—and how? Are there any that you can do better (and if so, how)?Slide11

Sendoff: Circulation, Reception, and CreativityCreativity: “not [. . .] a quality or product of exclusively intrapsychic processes [. . .] the transformation of a cultural system [. . .] the incorporation of novelty into the culture” (337).“The interaction of three components of a system: (a) the innovating person; (b) the symbolic domain that the individual absorbs, works with, and contributes to and (c) the social field of gatekeepers and practitioners who solicit, discourage, respond to, judge, and reward contributions” (337)

If HAMLET falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

What’s needed re: circulation . . .knowledge of/knowing aboutmetacognition about/knowing what you know aboutmeaningful access to and facility with the social and material affordances ofmotivation to take part in

Nakamura, Jeanne, and Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. “Catalytic Creativity.” American Psychologist, vol. 56, no. 4, 2001, pp. 337–41.