More on creativity . . .

I don't go out of my way to find articles on creativity and China, but Daniel Pink shared this one on his blog. In the article we learn that creativity scores are going down in our country. It was good to see that schools are not necessarily being pointed at for the entire blame as TV, video, and other activities may be partially responsible for this change.


Kyung Hee Kim at the College of William & Mary discovered this in May, after analyzing almost 300,000 Torrance scores of children and adults. Kim found creativity scores had been steadily rising, just like IQ scores, until 1990. Since then, creativity scores have consistently inched downward. “It’s very clear, and the decrease is very significant,” Kim says. It is the scores of younger children in America—from kindergarten through sixth grade—for whom the decline is “most serious.”

From neuroscience we are learning a great deal about creativity and and the importance that both sides of the brain play in this process. And the good news is that it can be taught.

When you try to solve a problem, you begin by concentrating on obvious facts and familiar solutions, to see if the answer lies there. This is a mostly left-brain stage of attack. If the answer doesn’t come, the right and left hemispheres of the brain activate together. Neural networks on the right side scan remote memories that could be vaguely relevant. A wide range of distant information that is normally tuned out becomes available to the left hemisphere, which searches for unseen patterns, alternative meanings, and high-level abstractions.

There is much for us to learn from this information as we create Classroom 10 units that are designed to create project learning opportunities for young people. The importance of focusing on the state and district standards is critical as is the opportunity to work individually and collectively on a problem aligned with a district outcome and the thinking skills and habits of mind that support creative learning opportunities.

The Chinese connection comes from the work of Jonathan Plucker of Indiana University.

When faculty of a major Chinese university asked Plucker to identify trends in American education, he described our focus on standardized curriculum, rote memorization, and nationalized testing. “After my answer was translated, they just started laughing out loud,” Plucker says. “They said, ‘You’re racing toward our old model. But we’re racing toward your model, as fast as we can.’ ”

From an earlier post citing a Yong Zhao entry, I shared where the Chinese are moving in this direction, but still have a heavy reliance on traditional tests. The tests determine transitions through the grades and control potential college attendance options. Remember qiajian? This does not, however, take away from the movement in our country that is driven by the common core standard focus and the even newer movement to create common assessments aligned with these standards. What impact will this movement have on creativity in our country?