Key Concepts and Essential Questions on Creativity

When considering how to discuss creativity with our high school students, our team of art educators developed a list of “key concepts” and “essential questions” that we would use. The department wanted to use a common language when engaging students in our separate disciplines.

 Photography AP Portfolio Entry, 2010

Although, we are continuingly challenging this list, here is what we have so far:

Key Concepts
1. Creativity is an essential aspect of what it means to be human.
2. Creativity is when an artist reframes ideas and experiences in order to generate new ideas (Czikszentmihalyi)
3. Creativity occurs when an individual is faced with a problem that is ambiguous and proposes alternatives (Dewey)
4. Artists have many ways by which they organize and form their work.
5. Creativity allows our internal thinking to be made visible and communicate to others. Creation is a dialogue, not a monologue (Eisner).
6. Creativity requires judgment, reflection and editing.

Essential Questions:
1. Where do artists get their ideas?  What can I make art about?
2. Does something have to be original to be art?
3. What is creative thinking?
4. What personality traits exist among creative people?
5. What limits creativity?
6. Are the arts an activity that you do, or an activity that you think about- or both?
7. What does it mean to be an artist?

One way that we introduce creativity as a topic is to show students a video clip of artists or designers working. A list of guiding questions for students enables them to listen and watch closely. In graphic design, we have used an ABC Nightline Deep Dive video on the IDEO industrial design firm. For 3-D art, we have used Sylvia Hyman: Eternal Wonder. And, of course, the Art 21 is excellent for 2-D art classes.  What do you use to introduce the topic in your classroom?

-Laura Milas