"Teaching" Creativity: Some Background

I have followed the literature on creativity and innovation in education, science and technology, and business for years because it fascinates me, but lately I've been immersing myself more than usual because I see a movement growing. Earlier this year, I wrote in Links & Threads (a newsletter about arts education) about a poll of likely voters by Lake Research Partners that has led to a movement called "the imagine nation." Briefly:

• 73% of voters agreed that building capacities of the imagination is just as important as the “so called” basics for all students in public schools.


• 82% of voters want to build imagination and creative skills in schools.


• 91% of voters indicated that arts are essential to building capacities of the imagination.

The imagine nation Web site cites statements by education and business leaders supporting this poll and highlights creativity initiatives in Ohio, Dallas Texas, and Oklahoma. Ohio's initiative is led by the Committee for Arts and Innovative Thinking (CAIT), a group of leaders from education and cultural organizations led by the Ohio Department of Education. Oklahoma's initiative to brand itself as the State of Creativity has lots of support from business and young people in creative professions. The Dallas Arts Learning Initiative is a partnership among the Dallas Schools and its arts partners that is striving to "make imagination a part of everyday learning."

The Lake poll, along with books like Tough Choices Or Tough Times (a report from the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce), Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat, and Dan Pink's A Whole New Mind, suggest that educators will soon be expected to "teach" creativity. The conversation about this emerging idea will be fascinating. I hope it will mean new opportunities for arts education rather than another round of "Our nation is at risk and it's all the fault of schools." (Why didn't they teach creativity while they were preparing students for mind-numbing standardized tests and fearing punishment for not hitting arbitrary targets?)

I have ventured into a discussion on Classroom 2.0 about this and started a group on ArtSnacks hoping to get a sense of what is happening.