Creativity today is seen as one of the most important traits of a successful person. It is responsible for such crucial activities as problem-solving, decision making, critical approach, inventions and discoveries, unconventional solutions. Creativity is required in almost any profession. Besides, it is a feature that makes people’s everyday life easier and much more interesting. The origins, development, and growth factors of creativity have been studied by multiple experts in the field of psychology. There are various approached towards the definition of creativity and the aspects of human life it is mostly used in. The scientists agree that creativity starts to develop in early childhood and continues to grow during the teenage, and there are circumstances that help its growth or slow it down.
The scholars distinguish between two different types of thinking. First one is called convergent thinking; it represents a person’s ability to form solutions and solve problems relying on logic, experience, and knowledge. The other one is divergent thinking; it is responsible for innovations, alternative approach, and unusual decisions (Feldman, 2011). Creativity is often associated with divergent thinking. This kind of thinking starts to develop in early childhood. Individuals demonstrate higher and lower abilities of divergent thinking. In adult life, creativity and divergent thinking can also be developed and stimulated. The desire to create something that has not been produced before starts with the desire to explore, learn, and gain knowledge empirically (Feinstein, 2006).
This means that the development of creativity in childhood happens when the children’s desire to explore the world around is satisfied. One more very important factor that stimulated the development of creativity is the application of critical thinking, search for solutions. For example, when a child is asking questions this signals about their interest towards the outer world, and in such situations, it is best to stimulate the thinking process, let the child build hypotheses and try to answer their question, or answer it using demonstration. Teaching a child to accept whatever is said blindly is a way to reduce their creativity and ability for critical thinking (Torrance, 2013). It is recommended or the educators to teach the children to see connections and be able to apply the knowledge they gained in the classroom in life outside of school. The process of learning should not be locked in the four walls of the classroom or be isolated from the outer world. It has to reach far and in various directions (Torrance, 2013).
My example of a very creative person is a well known British artist, sculptor, and photographer Andy Goldsworthy. His works are considered to belong to the modern stream of art called “land art.” Andy Goldsworthy produces installations and sculptures in various landscapes using only natural materials such as tree leaves, flower petals, branches, bark, ice and snow, water, and stones. His works often are unstable and rarely last for long. This way, the artist emphasizes the beauty of the moment and the inevitability of the cycles of life in nature. Every artwork made by Andy Goldsworthy has the stages of growth, blossom, and decay. The artist likes to walk in the meadows, forests, plains, and hills, look at nature, the landscapes. His works are so unusual and striking because he always applies divergent thinking and uses natural materials in the ways they have never been used before.
To my mind, it is important to note that Andy Goldsworthy spent most of his teenage working at a farm. His first encounter with farming happened when he was thirteen. Ever since that time Andy Goldsworthy has been interested in nature. Hard work at the farm helped the adolescent boy develop decision making and problem-solving skills because most of the time, he had to manage work on his own, without advice or help. This created the necessary circumstances for the development of analytical skills required for problem identification. Goldsworthy started to see patterns and even hear the rhythms of farm life and work. He also got used to being and working outside, observing, and learning. The boost of the artist’s creativity happened during his teens when his natural curiosity about the world around was fulfilled by the tasks he had to accomplish at the farm. The child energy directed at exploration and learning was used to the fullest and resulted in a massive increase of divergent thinking and creativity. Besides, young Goldsworthy went through a process of learning that left a lot of space for the boy to make his guesses, test them, gain personal experience, and form hypotheses. All of these activities are necessary for the proper stimulation of critical thinking and creative approach.
The critical factors that help the development of creativity in a child or an adolescent are the possibilities of exploration, curiosity, and critical thinking. To help the child learn to be creative, education needs to let them reach out for the knowledge, pursue it, and test it.
Reference List
Feinstein, J. (2006). The Nature of Creative Development. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
Feldman, R. S. (2011). Understanding Psychology. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Torrance, P. E. (2013). Scientific Views of Creativity and Factors Affecting Its Growth. Daedalus 94(3), 663-681.