Your Creative Child
Part One – An Overview
Dr. Susan Daniels – September 5, 2011
At the Summit Center, we value and specialize in the development of creative potential in children, adolescents and adults. The purpose of this series of short articles on creativity is to help parents better understand the creative potential of their children and how best to nurture and develop this potential with proactive approaches and through positive outlets. In this first installment, definitions, descriptions, levels and types of creativity will be discussed as background for recognizing creativity and creative potential in children and adolescents.
Creativity Defined
The following is the most often utilized definition in education and psychology today:
Creativity… is defined as “the interaction among aptitude, process and environment by which an individual or group produces a perceptible product that is both novel and useful as defined within a social context”
(Plucker, Beghetto and Dow, 2004)
and it is quite a complex notion. So, first off in considering your creative child, it is helpful to look at the component parts of the definition.
According to this definition, creativity includes: (1) aptitude – such as cognitive abilities and personal characteristics or traits, (2) processes – including fluent, flexible, elaborative, and imaginative thought or skills, (3) environment – spaces that facilitate creativity and innovation such as labs or studios or play spaces or classrooms designed as such, (4) novelty – originality or uniqueness, and (5) usefulness as related to a social context – in other words, the novelty associated with creativity is not simply unusual (or bizarre) but serves a purpose.
Creativity Described
Similarly, over the years, writers on creativity have described the “4 Ps” of creativity: (1) person, (2) process, (3) product, and (4) press – which refers to environmental press. The Directors of the Summit Center have given a number of presentations on “Nurturing Creativity in Your Child,” and we have begun by discussing the “4 Ps.”
The 4 Ps elaborated are as follows:
1. Person – Unique characteristics that contribute to creative outlook and creative personality.
2. Process/es – Thinking skills, cognitive abilities, methods, strategies, techniques, or activities that contribute to creative development and creative activity.
3. Products – The ideas, performances, or tangibles that are produced as both novel and purposeful.
4. Press – The nature of the environment and how it supports, shapes, or suppresses creative activity.
Levels of Creativity
One of the commonly held notions about creativity is that it is associated with creative eminence such as that found in the work of, for instance: Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Georgia O’Keefe or Twyla Tharp. More recently, creativity researchers and educators have embraced the 4C Model of Creativity. (I know, I know: First it’s 4 Ps, now it’s 4Cs!!! Please, though, hang in here. This WILL all come together – really!)
The 4C Model of creativity includes: Mini-c, Little-C, Pro-C, and BIG-C types of creativity. Mini-c creativity includes everyday acts of personal creativity: changing a recipe, imaginative play, building a new Lego vehicle (without directions), and designing a card for a friend or family member. Little-C creativity includes deliberate creative activity that is perceived as creative by others, such as: writing a story, making a garden, choreographing a dance, or restoring a vintage car. Pro-C creativity refers to earning a living or spending a majority of one’s time in creative pursuits such as writing as a career, architectural or graphic design, and/or as a patent inventor. BIG-C creativity is the type of creative productivity associated with creative eminence. This is creativity at the level that changes the field or discipline with lasting impact over time such as the creative works of those exemplars discussed above – Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Georgia O’Keefe or Twyla Tharp.
Stay Tuned
In the next installment, Your Creative Child – Part Two, the characteristics of creative children will be described along with the assets and challenges associated with those characteristics. Further, specific parenting approaches, activities and strategies for nurturing positive creative development in children and adolescents will be provided.
