Got it the wrong way round?

11/04/2011

I've been reading Jared Diamond's famous 1998 publication 'Guns, germs and steel.' In it he points out that inventions rarely happened the way we are told that they did. He discusses the fact that most inventions happen due to long processess of building on other people's ideas, and also that many landmark inventions were created without a purpose, and that a purpose was found for them later and the product was then refined for this. For example, James Watt was supposedly trying to come up with a better way of transporting goods than using horses. One day he watched the steam rise out of his kettle, and Eureka, he had the idea for the steam engine. Except it didn't work like that. His idea was a refinement of many steam engines and plans for steam engines before his - he instead created one that was more fit for a specific purpose than the others.

Considering that invention in a creative process, this thinking can be applied to all creative thinking.
That is - maybe creative thinking does not have to have a purpose. Maybe actually, creative thinking is not about problem solving, but instead about having orginal thoughts and contributing new perspectives for people tp build upon. Maybe your finished product will spark someone elses creativity.
I seem to have come full circle back to where I started - creative thinking for the sake of it. Purposeless, except to expand horizons.

Or maybe the ultimate purpose of creative thinking is new perspectives.
I have to admit, the previous theories I have read have seemed a bit eliteist to me. I think that any child can think creatively, even if what they deliver as a product from that is not a great leap forward in our collective thinking.

I think perhaps my new theory is this:

• Creative thinking is a process of using tools and prior knowledge to discover and create new perspectives on a topic.
• No one person has the knowledge or ability to come up with a desirable product on their own. Creating desirable products is a collective process.
• Expanding on others' ideas is crucial to the collective development of desirable creative products.

What does this mean for my teaching?

• It's ok to teach creative thinking processes without following them through to the end.
• I need to encourage kids to be creative together! Often people jelously guard their 'creative' and 'original' ideas, in case other's copy them. But if we cannot be usefully creatve without others' input, we need to learn to work together.

That's all for now!