Abstract
Creativity is often discussed as having transformational potential. In contrast to the lay meaning of transformation equaling disruption, we define transformational creativity as directed toward the attainment of a common good (Sternberg, Philosophies, 6(3), 75, 2021). The chapter discusses how transformational creativity can be built in education in four sections. First, we apply the ecological systems model to examine development of transformational creativity across contexts (Bronfenbrenner, The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press, 1979; Ecological models of human development. In T. Husen & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 1643–1647). Pergamon Press and Elsevier Science, 1994). The next two sections illustrate development of transformational creativity using examples of specific programs aimed at students (inspirED) and teachers (makeSPACE). We describe the nature of these programs, the rationale of their design, the ecological contexts in which they operate, and the effects they may have on those who are directly enrolled in them (i.e., students or teachers), but also on others (e.g., school communities). In the final section, we discuss key questions for future directions in research and programming toward transformational creativity in education.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Visit www.makespaceproject.org for more background information about the professional development program.
References
Aldridge, J. M., & McChesney, K. (2018). The relationships between school climate and adolescent mental health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Educational Research, 88, 121–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2018.01.012
Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context: Update to the social psychology of creativity. Westview Press.
Amabile, T. M., & Pratt, M. G. (2016). The dynamic componential model of creativity and innovation in organizations: Making progress, making meaning. Research in Organizational Behavior, 36, 157–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2016.10.001
Anderson, R. C. (2020). Creative development. In V. P. Glaveanu (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the possible. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00700641
Anderson, R. C., & Haney, M. (2021). Reflection in the creative process of early adolescents: The mediating roles of creative metacognition, self-efficacy, and self-concept. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 15(4), 612–626.
Anderson, R. C., Bousselot, T., Katz-Buoincontro, J., & Todd, J. (2021). Generating buoyancy in a sea of uncertainty: Teachers creativity and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.614774
Anderson, R. C., Katz-buonincontro, J., Bousselot, T., Mattson, D., Beard, N., Land, J., & Livie, M. (2022a). How am I a creative teacher? Beliefs, values, and affect for integrating creativity in the classroom. Teaching and Teacher Education, 110, 103583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103583
Anderson, R. C., Katz-Buonincontro, J., Livie, M., Land, J., Beard, N., Bousselot, T., & Schuhe, G. (2022b). Reinvigorating the desire to teach: Teacher professional development for creativity, agency, stress reduction, and wellbeing. Frontiers in Education, 7, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.848005
Anderson, R. C., Katz-Buonincontro, J., Bousselot, T., Land, J., Livie, M., & Beard, N. (2022c). Space that was safe to explore and learn: Stretching the affordances for networked professional learning in creativity for educators. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 38(4), 55–75. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.7879
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A. (2018). Toward a psychology of human agency: Pathways and reflections. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 130–136. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617699280
Bassok, D., Latham, S., & Rorem, A. (2016). Is kindergarten the new first grade? AERA Open, 1(4), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858415616358
Bear, G. G., Gaskins, C., Blank, J., & Chen, F. F. (2011). Delaware School Climate Survey-Student: Its factor structure, concurrent validity, and reliability. Journal of School Psychology, 49, 157–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2011.01.001
Beghetto, R. A. (2019). Structured uncertainty: How creativity thrives under constraints and uncertainty. In C. A. Mullen (Ed.), Creativity under duress in education? (pp. 27–40). Springer.
Beghetto, R. A., & Karwowski, M. (2017). Toward untangling creative self-beliefs. In M. Karwowski & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The creative self: Effect of beliefs, self-efficacy, mindset, and identity (pp. 3–22). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809790-8.00001-7
Bereczki, E. O., & Kárpáti, A. (2018). Teachers’ beliefs about creativity and its nurture: A systematic review of the recent research literature. Educational Research Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2017.10.003
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. In T. Husen & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (Vol. 3, 2nd ed., pp. 1643–1647). Pergamon Press and Elsevier Science.
Brown, V. R., & Paulus, P. B. (2002). Making group brainstorming more effective: Recommendations from an associative memory perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(6), 208–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00202
Carré, A., Stefaniak, N., D’Ambrosio, F., Bensalah, L., & Besche-Richard, C. (2013). The basic empathy scale in adults (BES-A): Factor structure of a revised form. Psychological Assessment, 25(3), 679–691. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032297
Chandler, D. E., Kram, K. E., & Yip, J. (2011). An ecological systems perspective on mentoring at work: A review and future prospects. The Academy of Management Annals, 5(1), 519–570. https://doi.org/10.1080/19416520.2011.576087
Daker, R. J., Cortes, R. A., Lyons, I. M., & Green, A. E. (2019). Creativity anxiety: Evidence for anxiety that is specific to creative thinking, from STEM to the arts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Day, J. K., Perez-Brumer, A., & Russell, S. T. (2018). Safe schools? Transgender youth’s school experiences and perceptions of school climate. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47, 1731–1742. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0866-x
Dee, T., & Jacob, B. (2010). Evaluating NCLB: Accountability has produced substantial gains in math skills but not in reading. Education Next, 10(3), 54–62.
Fish, J., & Syed, M. (2018). Native Americans in higher education: An ecological systems perspective. Journal of College Student Development, 59(4), 387–403. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2018.0038
Forgeard, M. (2022). Prosocial motivation and creativity in the arts and sciences: Qualitative and quantitative evidence. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000435
Gralewski, J., & Karwowski, M. (2012). Creativity and school grades: A case from Poland. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 7(3), 198–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2012.03.002
Haderlein, S. K., Saavedra, A. R., Polikoff, M. S., Silver, D., Rapaport, A., & Garland, M. (2021). Disparities in educational access in the time of COVID: Evidence from a nationally representative panel of American families. AERA Open, 7.
Haerpfer, C., Inglehart, R., Moreno, A., Welzel, C., Kizilova, K., Diez-Medrano, J., Lagos, M., Norris, P., Ponarin, E., Puranen, B., et al. (2020). World Values Survey: Round seven—Country-Pooled Datafile. JD Systems Institute & WVSA Secretariat. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.14281/18241.1
Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain. Corwin.
Harrington, D. M., Block, J. H., & Block, J. (1987). Testing aspects of Carl Rogers’s theory of creative environments: Child-rearing antecedents of creative potential in young adolescents. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 851–856. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.52.4.851
Hart, D. (2005). The development of moral identity. In C. G. Edwards (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation: Moral development through the lifespan: Theory, research, and application (pp. 165–196). University of Nebraska Press.
Hoffmann, J. D., & De France, K. (2022). Disparities in school experience for minoritized students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2062106/v1
Hoffmann, J. D., De France, K., & McGarry, J. (2022). Creativity and connection: The impact of inspirED with secondary school students. Journal of Intelligence, 11, 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11010008
Hoffmann, J. D., Ivcevic, Z., & Maliakkal, N. (2021). Enhancing creativity skills of children enrolled in an emotion rich art-based course. Empirical Studies in the Arts, 39(2), 123–148. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276237420907864
Hoffmann, J. D., Ivcevic, Z., Zamora, G., Bazhydai, M., & Brackett, M. (2016). Intended persistence: Comparing academic and creative challenges in high school. Social Psychology of Education, 19(4), 793–816. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-016-9362-x
Hong, J. S., & Espelage, D. L. (2012). A review of research on bullying and peer victimization in school: An ecological system analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(4), 311–322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2012.03.003
Ivcevic, Z., Ebert, M., Hoffmann, J., & Brackett, M. (2017). Creativity in the domain of emotions. In J. C. Kaufman, J. Baer, & V. Glaveanu (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of creativity across different domains (pp. 525–549). Cambridge University Press.
Ivcevic, Z., & Hoffmann, J. D. (2019). Emotions and creativity: From process to person and product. In J. C. Kaufman & R. S. Sternberg (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 273–295). Cambridge University Press.
Ivcevic, Z., Hoffmann, J. D., & McGarry, J. A. (2022). Scaffolding positive creativity in secondary school students. Education Sciences, 12, 239. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12040239
Jeffrey, B., & Craft, A. (2004). Teaching creatively and teaching for creativity: Distinctions and relationships. Educational Studies, 30(1), 77–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305569032000159750
Jia, X., Li, W., & Cao, L. (2019). The role of metacognitive components in creative thinking. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02404
Jónsdóttir, S. R. (2017). Narratives of creativity: How eight teachers on four school levels integrate creativity into teaching and learning. Thinking Skills and Creativity. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2017.02.008
Karwowski, M., & Beghetto, R. A. (2018). Creative behavior as agentic action. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 13(4), 402–415. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000190
Katz-Buonincontro, J., & Anderson, R. C. (2018). How do we get from good to great? The need for better observation studies of creativity in education. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02342
Kaufman, J. C. (2018). Finding meaning with creativity in the past, present, and future. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(6), 734–749. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691618771981
Kaufman, J. C., & Beghetto, R. A. (2009). Beyond big and little: The Four C Model of Creativity. Review of General Psychology, 13, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013688
Kaufman, J. C., & Beghetto, R. A. (2013). In praise of Clark Kent: Creative metacognition and the importance of teaching kids when (not) to be creative. Roeper Review, 35(3), 155–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783193.2013.799413
Kettler, T., Lamb, K. N., Willerson, A., & Mullet, D. R. (2018). Teachers’ perceptions of creativity in the classroom. Creativity Research Journal, 30(2), 164–171. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2018.1446503
Konold, T., Cornell, D., Jia, Y., & Malone, M. (2018). School climate, student engagement, and academic achievement: A latent variable, multilevel multi-informant examination. Aera Open, 4(4), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584188156
Korman, A. K. (1970). Toward an hypothesis of work behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 54(1, Pt.1), 31–41. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0028656
Kwaśniewska, J. M., Gralewski, J., Witkowska, E. M., Kostrzewska, M., & Lebuda, I. (2018). Mothers’ personality traits and the climate for creativity they build with their children. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 27, 13–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2017.11.002
Kwaśniewska, J. M., & Lebuda, I. (2017). Balancing between roles and duties–the creativity of mothers. Creativity. Theories–Research-Applications, 4(1), 137–158. https://doi.org/10.1515/ctra-2017-0007
Lee, E. A., & Seo, H. A. (2006). Understanding of creativity by Korean elementary teachers in gifted education. Creativity Research Journal, 18(2), 237–242. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1802_9
Lerner, R. M. (2002). Concepts and theories of human development. Erlbaum.
Lewin, K. (1951). Field theory in social science—Selected theoretical papers by Kurt Lewin. Harper & Row.
Lubart, T., Zenasni, F., & Barbot, B. (2013). Creative potential and its measurement. International Journal for Talent Development and Creativity, 1(2), 41–50.
Madjar, N., Oldham, G. R., & Pratt, M. G. (2002). There’s no place like home? The contributions of work and nonwork creativity support to employees’ creative performance. Academy of Management Journal, 45(4), 757–767. https://doi.org/10.2307/3069309
Menken, K. (2006). Teaching to the test: How No Child Left Behind impacts language policy, curriculum, and instruction for English language learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 30(2), 521–546. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2006.10162888
Mullet, D. R., Willerson, A., Lamb, N., & Kettler, T. (2016). Examining teacher perceptions of creativity: A systematic review of the literature. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2016.05.001
Ollier-Malaterre, A., Sarkisian, N., Stawiski, S., & Hannum, K. M. (2013). Work–life balance and performance across countries: Cultural and institutional approaches. In D. A. Major & R. J. Burke (Eds.), Handbook of work–life integration among professionals (pp. 357–380). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781781009291.00030
Orr, A. M., & Kukner, J. M. (2015). Fostering a creativity mindset in content area pre-service teachers through their use of literacy strategies. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 16, 69–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2015.02.003
Parcerisa, L., Fontdevila, C., & Verger, A. (2020). Understanding the PISA influence on national education policies: A focus on policy transfer mechanisms. In S. Jornitz & A. Wilmers (Eds.), International perspectives on school settings, education policy and digital strategies. A transatlantic discourse in education research (pp. 185–198). Barbara Budrig Verlag.
Parolin, Z., & Lee, E. K. (2021). Large socio-economic, geographic and demographic disparities exist in exposure to school closures. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(4), 522–528. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01087-8
Plath, S. (1975). Letters home: Correspondence 1950–1963. Harper Collins Publishers.
Pons, X. (2017). Fifteen years of research on PISA effects on education governance. European Journal of Education, 52(2), 131–144. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26609362
Reiter-Palmon, R. (2017). The role of problem construction in creative production. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 51(4), 323–326. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.202
Rinne, T., Steel, G. D., & Fairweather, J. (2013). The role of Hofstede’s individualism in national-level creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 25(1), 129–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2013.752293
Rubenstein, L. D., McCoach, D. B., & Siegle, D. (2013). Teaching for Creativity Scales: An instrument to examine teachers’ perceptions of factors that allow for the teaching of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 25(3), 324–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2013.813807
Ruiz-del-Pino, B., Fernández-Martín, F. D., & Arco-Tirado, J. L. (2022). Creativity training programs in primary education: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 46, 101172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2022.101172
Runco, M. A., & Jaeger, G. J. (2012). The standard definition of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 24(1), 92–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2012.650092
Said-Metwaly, S., Fernández-Castilla, B., Kyndt, E., Van den Noortgate, W., & Barbot, B. (2021). Does the fourth-grade slump in creativity actually exist? A meta-analysis of the development of divergent thinking in school-age children and adolescents. Educational Psychology Review, 33, 275–298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09547-9
Scott, G., Leritz, L. E., & Mumford, M. D. (2004). The Effectiveness of creativity training: A quantitative review. Creativity Research Journal, 16(4), 361–388. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1604_1
Seibyl, J., Hoffmann, J. D., Baumsteiger, R., & McGarry, J. A. (2020, August). What our high schools need: A content analysis of student-led school climate improvement projects. Poster presentation at the American Psychological Association annual meeting [Virtual due to COVID-19].
Snyder, S. E., & Duchschere, J. E. (2022). Revisiting ecological systems theory: Practice implications for juvenile justice youth. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 8(2), 234–245. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000324
Sternberg, R. J. (2021). Transformational creativity: The link between creativity, wisdom, and the solution of global problems. Philosophies, 6(3), 75. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies6030075
Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. I. (1991). An investment theory of creativity and its development. Human Development, 34(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1159/000277029
Tang, Y., Huang, X., & Wang, Y. (2017). Good marriage at home, creativity at work: Family–work enrichment effect on workplace creativity. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(5), 749–766. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2175
Thapa, A., Cohen, J., Guffey, S., & Higgins-D’Alessandro, A. (2013). A review of school climate research. Review of Educational Research, 83, 357–385. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654313483907
Voight, A., Hanson, T., O’Malley, M., & Adekanye, L. (2015). The racial school climate gap: Within-school disparities in students’ experiences of safety, support, and connectedness. American Journal of Community Psychology, 56(3), 252–267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9751-x
Walter, M. C., & Lippard, C. N. (2017). Head start teachers across a decade: Beliefs, characteristics, and time spent on academics. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(5), 693–702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0804-z
Wang, C., Berry, B., & Swearer, S. M. (2013). The critical role of school climate in effective bullying prevention. Theory Into Practice, 52(4), 296–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2013.829735
Wernick, L. J., Kulick, A., & Chin, M. (2017). Gender identity disparities in bathroom safety and wellbeing among high school students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46, 917–930. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0652-1
White, J. (2006). Arias of learning: Creativity and performativity in Australian teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 36(3), 435–453. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057640600866049
Zullig, K. J., Koopman, T. M., Patton, J. M., & Ubbes, V. A. (2010). School climate: Historical review, instrument development, and school assessment. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 28(2), 139–152. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282909344205
Acknowledgments
Work of Zorana Ivcevic on this chapter was made possible with the support by the Fundacion Botin (Emotions, Creativity and the Arts grant).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ivcevic, Z., Anderson, R.C., Hoffmann, J.D. (2024). Transformational Creativity in Education. In: Sternberg, R.J., Karami, S. (eds) Transformational Creativity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51590-3_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51590-3_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-51589-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-51590-3
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)