Fueling Creativity in Education

How can teachers prepare students for the innovative future of work? In this episode of Fueling Creativity, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with world-renowned author and Professor of Engineering Innovation, Dr. David Cropley, about the psychology and ethics of creativity and innovation in the context of technology, engineering, and design. Listen in to learn how educators can prepare students to be better equipped to work with machine learning and AI in creative and problem-solving environments.   “The big issue with creativity right now revolves around the future of work and the growing role of AI, so artificial intelligence and automation and related technologies, that are impacting the work place.”                                                                                 - Dr. David Cropley   David explains the difference between domain general and domain specific creativity, why it’s more challenging to feel creative as a teacher in the sciences or humanities, and the unique role of malevolent creativity in education and business. He also speaks on how rigorous, objective creativity testing can be made accessible to schools. Plus, David shares his thoughts on the relationship between and prioritization of aesthetics, novelty, and functionality in any design process.   David’s Tips for Teachers: Creativity is a multifaceted competency. Don’t think about creativity as a 21st century skill, it’s better to think about it as a general competency or capability. Creativity is about how we think and personal qualities, like openness to new experiences, willingness to take risks, tolerance for uncertainty, etc. It’s also a matter of the environment. You have the opportunity to demonstrate aspects of creativity in the classroom. Try and be very concrete about making creativity happen. Shift towards asking more open-ended questions and prompting students to solve open-ended problems.     Resources Mentioned: Books by Dr. David Cropley   Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?  Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.   What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?  Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!   You can also find The Fueling Creativity Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!   About Dr. David Cropley: David Cropley is the Professor of Engineering Innovation at the University of South Australia. He specialises in helping people and organisations become better, more effective, problem solvers.   Dr Cropley joined the School of Engineering at the South Australian Institute of Technology (SAIT) in 1990, after serving for four years in the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, including deployments to the Caribbean and Middle East. Following the establishment of the University in 1991, he completed a PhD in Measurement Systems Engineering in 1997, and a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education in 2002.   Dr Cropley is author/co-author of nine books including Creativity and Crime: A Psychological Analysis (Cambridge University Press, 2013); The Psychology of Innovation in Organizations (Cambridge University Press, 2015), and Femina Problematis Solvendis – Problem-Solving Woman: A History of the Creativity of Women (Springer, 2020).   Books by Dr. David Cropley Connect with him on LinkedIn Follow him on Twitter

In this short episode, Drs. Cyndi Burnett and Matthew Worwood discuss the community they are building on Linkedin, as well as upcoming guests for the third season of the Fueling Creativity podcast. Join the Linkedin Community!   Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?  Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.   What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?  Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!   You can also find The Fueling Creativity Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!

What were the biggest lessons learned during the last five episodes in Season Two of the Fueling Creativity podcast? In this final debrief, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood sit down and reflect on episodes that discussed Serendipity, Student Engagement, Excellence Gaps, and Wonder.   Listen in as Cyndi and Matthew break down the following insights.   Major Takeaways from Season Two, Episodes 6-10:   Check for parent bias.  We can't always control where our children might excel. We also can't direct the career paths where they express interest. However, we can monitor our biases and do our very best to support them in whatever direction they pursue.    Embrace incidents of serendipity. When things go wrong, or we experience disruptions on our journey, we can benefit by hitting the pause button and opening ourselves up to what we think, feel, and notice in the experience.    Resources Mentioned:   Listen to the episode with Wendy Ross Listen to the episode with Heather Lyon Listen to the episode with Jonathan Plucker Listen to the episode with Jeffery Davis Listen to the episode with Ron Beghetto   Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?  Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.   What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?  Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!   You can also find The Fueling Creativity Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!

It’s easy to have a negative view of testing, but testing does have value in terms of content knowledge acquisition. In part two of this two-part interview, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with researcher and creativity expert, Dr. Jonathan Plucker, about the relationship between gifted education and creativity. Jonathan also speaks on why he believes every school should have a Chief Creativity Officer and what that would look like.   Tune in to learn Jonathan’s approach to testing students, assessing for gifted education programs, and how to identify students who are talented or gifted. He sheds light on why it’s a huge mistake to drive advanced learning and creativity out of our schools. Plus, he shares his thoughts on why educators should be focusing on students with true potential who are underperforming and turning that potential into advanced performance.   “If a student’s performing at advanced levels, I encourage people not to overthink that. Just accept it. Great, they’re working at advanced levels. That’s the goal. How much further can I push this student?... But we have so many students who are not performing at those advanced levels who have the potential to get there and that’s what I’m really concerned about is we tend to look right past those students.” - Dr. Jonathan Plucker   Jonathan’s Tips for Teachers, Administrators, and Parents: The best way to use teacher involvement is to focus on what they are trained to do: to help students, especially those who aren’t being noticed. If you’re going to be identifying for a talent, don’t use teachers as gatekeepers. Collect all your data and then use teachers as the safety net to catch those whom the administrators missed. Modeling is incredibly important for creativity. If you run into a problem, have your students/children work with you to solve it.  Creative Articulation: Professional, long-term creators are very good at convincing people that their work is creative. They are also masterful at incorporating feedback and using it to improve their work. Help your students/children learn how to share their creativity and persuade others that their perspective is valuable… at ALL ages.   About Dr. Jonathan Plucker: Jonathan Plucker is a prominent education policy and talent development scholar, and the inaugural Julian C. Stanley Professor of Talent Development at Johns Hopkins University. He holds a joint appointment at the Center for Talented Youth and School of Education.   His work focuses on education policy and talent development and has been supported by over $40 million in external grants and contracts. Jonathan has published over 300 articles, chapters, and reports. He recently became editor for the Psychological Perspectives on Contemporary Educational Issues series at IAP. His work defining and studying excellence gaps (http://cepa.uconn.edu/mindthegap) is part of a larger effort to reorient policymakers’ and educators’ thinking about how best to promote success and high achievement for all children.   Visit Jonathan’s website Follow him on Twitter Book & Publications by Dr. Jonathan Plucker Resources Mentioned: Book & Publications by Dr. Jonathan PluckerListen to the episode with Scott Barry Kaufman Listen to the episode with Sally Reis   Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?  Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.   What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?  Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!   You can also find The Fueling Creativity Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!  

Our last guest of the season features a double expresso with President of the National Association for Gifted and Talented, Dr. Jonathan Plucker.  In part one of this two-part interview, Jonathan shares his thoughts on problems with achievement gaps and excellence gaps in education.    “I’m actually fully convinced that in the next 10-15 years, if we prioritize this, we can actually go a long way to solving this problem… and I could not have said that five or six years ago.” - Dr. Jonathan Plucker   Listen in to gain insight into the connection between academic excellence and creativity later in life, and why there’s never a blank canvas to work with when being creative. Jonathan also shares his candid thoughts on creativity in imaginative play, as well as how we can diminish the harmful impact of poverty on children’s ability to develop imagination.    “The more that students learn, the more information, the more ‘stuff’… that they have at their mental fingertips, the better off they will be as they try to be creative, especially as they move into their careers later in life.” - Dr. Jonathan Plucker   About Dr. Jonathan Plucker: Jonathan Plucker is a prominent education policy and talent development scholar, and the inaugural Julian C. Stanley Professor of Talent Development at Johns Hopkins University. He holds a joint appointment at the Center for Talented Youth and School of Education.   His work focuses on education policy and talent development and has been supported by over $40 million in external grants and contracts. Jonathan has published over 300 articles, chapters, and reports. He recently became editor for the Psychological Perspectives on Contemporary Educational Issues series at IAP. His work defining and studying excellence gaps (http://cepa.uconn.edu/mindthegap) is part of a larger effort to reorient policymakers’ and educators’ thinking about how best to promote success and high achievement for all children.   Visit Jonathan’s website Follow him on Twitter Book & Publications by Dr. Jonathan Plucker Resources Mentioned: Book & Publications by Dr. Jonathan PluckerListen to the episode with Scott Barry Kaufman Listen to the episode with Sally Reis   Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?  Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.   What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?  Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!   Follow Cyndi and Matt on Linkedin.   You can also find The Fueling Creativity Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!  

How is creativity connected to engagement in an educational environment? In this episode of Fueling Creativity, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with Dr. Heather Lyon, author of Engagement is not a Unicorn (It’s a Narwhal) and The BIG Book of Engagement Strategies.   Listen in to learn Heather’s unique formula for engagement, the differences between student engagement and adult engagement, and engagement impacts our ability to be successful learners. She details her 4 Levels of Engagement and what causes someone to shift from one level to another, as well as the manifestations of each of these engagement levels.   “Compliance is not engagement”- Heather Lyon   Heather’s Tips for Teachers and Parents: Teachers are models for students. Students do what they see, so teachers who are engaged and creative have students that are also engaged and creative. Be willing to celebrate both the progress and the struggle. Compliance is not engagement. Stop being okay with students who are simply doing what they’re told. Creativity is the fuel for engagement. The more a person has choice, voice, input, and control over what they are doing, the more likely they are to be at least interested, if not absorbed, in the learning.   About Heather Lyon: Heather Lyon is author of Engagement is not a Unicorn (It’s a Narwhal) and The BIG Book of Engagement Strategies.  Heather is a former English teacher and has a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and an Ed.M. in Reading from the University at Buffalo. She is an Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology for Lewiston-Porter Central School District in Western New York. Heather has been a staff developer and held various administrative titles, but the professional title she likes best is learner. She is also a proud wife and mother who struggles with but values the importance of boundaries and balance—which are so critical for all of us. Heather lives with her husband and three children, who make her smile and teach her the importance of kindness, respect, and patience.   Visit Heather’s website Follow her on Twitter Connect with her on LinkedIn     Resources Mentioned: Listen to the episodes with Ron Beghetto Listen to the episode with Dr. James Kaufman Listen to the episode with Sally Reis   Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?  Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.   What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?  Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!     You can also find The Fueling Creativity Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!

How can toys help develop a child’s imagination and foster design thinking? Can apps and videogames promote creativity? In this episode of the Fueling Creativity podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with Azhelle Wade, a toy designer and Founder of The Toy Coach. Through her online Toy Creators Academy course, Azhelle uses her industry knowledge to teach aspiring toy inventors and entrepreneurs how to develop, pitch, and sell their toy ideas. Tune in to hear Azhelle’s thoughts on why toy design and design thinking should be in school curriculums, her process for teaching toy design, and opportunities for the toy industry to be more creative and innovative.  You’ll also learn how games and apps can promote creative thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as the potential impact iPads and other devices can have on imagination, play, and creativity. Plus, Azhelle shares how to do a toy challenge at home as well as her top 3 recommended toys and games for parents to gift to their kids this year. “Even inventors that come to me now, I have to bring them back to what you’re teaching your students. Who are you making this for? Why are you making this for them? Why do they need this? ” - Azhelle Wade   Azhelle’s Tips for Teachers and Parents: Know your market. Build a community in which you can discuss what you like/don’t like and what you wish you had regarding your kids’ toys. Get comfortable with foam core and cardboard. Anytime your students/kids have an idea, build mockups. That’s the first step to making something real. Toy challenges are great for getting kids excited about being creative and innovative.   About Azhelle Wade: Azhelle created thetoycoach.com and the podcast, Making It in The Toy Industry, to help inventors and entrepreneurs develop, pitch, and sell their toy ideas. Her deeply intellectual curiosity coupled with a passion and dedication to making the world a more toyetic place guides her followers to unlock their best ideas yet. Azhelle’s inspirational mantras and industry insights will be your guiding light into the fun, crazy, world of toys.     Resources Mentioned: Pixicade  Marmals  Animoodles  People of Play Week- Young Inventor Challenge   Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?  Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.   What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?  Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!   You can also find The Fueling Creativity Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!  

How do you support your children's creativity, and make meaning and connections this holiday season? What gifts should you get your children this year that will help nurture their creativity? We have some ideas! In this special holiday episode of the Fueling Creativity podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood share activities and traditions to promote creative thinking as a family during the holidays. Plus, they share lots of affordable gift ideas that promote creative thinking in children of all ages.    “It’s not about the gifts, it’s about those memories that we want to make with our children and our students.” - Dr. Cyndi Burnett   What holiday memories would you like to make with your kids or students this year?   Low-Cost Creative Gift Ideas for Kids in 2021: Bug box  Foam Tiles  ZOOB Builderz  Magna-Tiles  Outschool classes  Guess Who Game?  Make your own Guess Who Game.   Mid-Range Cost Creative Gift Ideas for Kids in 2021:  Boxer robot  Shattered Glass Ceiling Necklace    Higher-End Creative Gift Ideas for Kids in 2021: Mindstorms Dash and Dot  Toybox 3D Printer  Telescope    Resources Mentioned: How to combine two puzzles together. Tips for Making Holiday Cards on DadsforCreativity.com Family Game Night Make Your Own Rules Video! Listen to the episode with Sally Reis Listen to the episode with Natalie Nixon Listen to the episode with Scott Barry Kaufman Listen to the episode with Bryan Alexander  Listen to the episode with Jonathan Nalder    Please note: After we recorded the episode, a colleague recommended we insert affiliate links to help fund the production of the Fueling Creativity podcast.  Therefore, if you click on the links and make a purchase, you are also helping to support our podcast production!   Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?  Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.   What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?  Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!  

How are creativity and wonder connected? What happens when we infuse wonder into education? In this episode of Fueling Creativity, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with Jeffrey Davis, an author, team culture consultant and educator, and CEO of Tracking Wonder Consultancy. For over 25 years, he’s inspired thousands of changemakers, leaders, and creatives to unlock their best ideas through the pursuit of curiosity, innovation, and wonder.  Listen in as Jeffrey shares his thoughts on the connection between wonder and creativity as well as how educators and parents can create a culture of wonder in the classroom and at home. He offers insightful advice for burnt out teachers and parents on how to use wonder to reignite their sense of purpose and passion for teaching. Plus, you’ll gain insight into the power of tracking your wonder for professional growth and learning, along with valuable lessons learned from Jeffrey’s book, Tracking Wonder, about the six facets of wonder, like curiosity and bewilderment.  “Wonder is a heightened state of awareness that’s brought on by something unexpected that can delight us or disorient us or both.” - Jeffrey Davis   Jeffrey’s Tips for Teachers and Parents: Bring your innate wonder back to the motor of human learning.  Daily recognize the genius in every learner, including yourself and your colleagues. Champion pragmatic idealism over default cynicism.    Resources Mentioned: Tracking Wonder by Jeffrey Davis.  Listen to the episode with Ron Beghetto.   About Jeffrey Davis: Jeffrey Davis equips creatives, entrepreneurs, and business leaders to leverage their ideas into expanding their influence with integrity. His work and research with creative innovators, scientists, and social psychologists offers him leading insights on how creatives flourish in times of challenge and change. He has taught at and is a highly sought after speaker for numerous conferences, universities, and centers. He’s author of the book The Journey from the Center to the Page (Penguin; Monkfish Publishing) the poetry collections City Reservoir (BarnBurner Press) and Coat Thief (Saint Julian Press), and other books. He also writes on the science of creativity as a regular contributor to Psychology Today and The Creativity Post. Davis heads up a renegade team of creatives, as a branding consultant, at the Tracking Wonder Consultancy.   Connect with Jeffrey: Visit his website: www.trackingwonder.com  Connect with him on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-davis-875b264    Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?  Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.   What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?  Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!   You can also find The Fueling Creativity Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!  

How does serendipity affect creativity? In this episode of the Fueling Creativity podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with Dr. Wendy Ross, a cognitive scientist, senior lecturer in psychology, and Chair of the Serendipity Society. Wendy’s research looks at the role of serendipity in creativity, using everything from experimental methods to ethnographic work. Listen in as Wendy shares her research findings on the relationship between serendipity and creativity, why serendipity is a disruptive force in learning, and the importance of students building a tolerance to failure and adversity. She also gives powerful advice for educators on implementing this knowledge around serendipity in the classroom. They also discuss the current debates on whether the pandemic has increased or decreased feelings of serendipity, as well as what teachers can do foster a norm of working through discomfort and mistakes.  “That’s what makes serendipity a powerful tool, is that it relies on the prepared mind and it relies on this idea of scarcity of wisdom, of using the accidents that come to you and taking advantage of them.” - Dr. Wendy Ross Wendy’s Tips for Teachers: Encourage your students to get comfortable with discomfort and failure. Generate interesting environments with many different moments of inspiration and pathways of creativity. Most serendipity comes from interactions with people, not with things. Resources Mentioned: Listen to the episode with Vlad Glaveanu.  Listen to the episode with Ron Beghetto.    Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?  Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.   What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?  Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!   About Dr. Wendy Ross: Wendy’s main topic of research is the role of material serendipity in higher cognitive processes such as insight problem solving and creativity. She draws on a range of methods from eye-tracking and experimental psychology to focused cognitive ethnography. She is currently co-editing two collections on serendipity: The Art of Serendipity (Palgrave) and Serendipity Science (Springer). She is Co-Chair of the Serendipity Society and Vice President of the Possibility Studies Network. In 2021, she was awarded the Frank  Barron prize by Division 10 of the APA. Connect with Wendy: Connect with her on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-ross-670487191    You can also find The Fueling Creativity Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!