Abstract
This chapter introduces the concept of participatory creativity as a dynamic approach to invention and innovation that is particularly relevant to the field of education. Here, the focus of creativity studies shifts from individual ideation to interactions within complex sociohistorical systems. While acknowledging the roles played by those who successfully commit exceptional energy and resources to creative projects and new points of view, the participatory approach reframes those previously deemed as creative individuals as participants in larger narratives. These complex processes of change are described as the biographies of ideas. People play various roles as they contribute to these biographies over time. Such roles are social positions that are neither fixed nor uni-dimensional, but dynamic. After framing this position from a theoretical perspective, the authors offer two examples of participatory creativity in action. These examples show how moving the locus of creativity from individual ideation to social participation makes visible the many ways that young people can participate in the development of creative ideas, while also establishing their own unique “profile of participation” and encouraging creative agency—all while honoring students’ diverse knowledge, expertise, background experiences, and sociocultural perspectives. After discussing some of the limitations of this reframing of creativity as a participatory process, the authors conclude by suggesting implications for practice and future research.
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Notes
- 1.
“Worlds” are the patterns of meaning in which people participate. In other words: historically produced and contextually specific symbol systems through which people make meaning. This usage borrows from both Nelson Goodman’s (1978) views of constructionism and Rollo May’s (1974) analysis of the creative encounter between people and their worlds.
- 2.
Today, many theorists avoid the term role, analyzing instead social positions. That approach emphasizes the enacted and physical aspects of social interactions. While recognizing the legitimacy of these points, here, the authors have chosen a different strategy. Because creativity theory is so often applied in everyday settings with non-academic practitioners (e.g., students and teachers), we have chosen to use the more common term of role, while acknowledging the need to research the physical instantiation of roles. Another reason for this strategy is that participatory creativity includes analysis of material actors. In everyday speech, discussing the roles of technology and nature makes sense; whereas, discussing the social position of material actors stretches the meaning of terms beyond what we consider helpful.
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- 4.
Julie and her colleagues note that many accounts indicate that Henry Ford held racist and antisemetic beliefs, which further complicate him as an icon for aspiring young people of various racial and religious backgrounds.
- 5.
This is a tweaked application of the “Imagine If…” thinking routine designed by the Agency by Design research initiative at Project Zero. For more information about Agency by Design and the Imagine If… thinking routine, see: http://agencybydesign.org
- 6.
Gardner’s original suite of intelligences has been expanded to include as many as ten, or more, intelligences.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Ron Beghetto and Giovanni Emanuele Corazza for supporting this essay. We would like to further thank Raquel Jimenez for her early contributions to the ideas in this essay. We would like to especially thank educators Julie Rains, Jodie Ricci, Rick Tate, Nick DiGirogio, and Rennie Greenfield—and their students—for sharing their classroom work with us.
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Clapp, E.P., Hanchett Hanson, M. (2019). Participatory Creativity: Supporting Dynamic Roles and Perspectives in the Classroom. In: Beghetto, R.A., Corazza, G.E. (eds) Dynamic Perspectives on Creativity. Creativity Theory and Action in Education, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99163-4_3
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