I think this chapter allows for a good discussion on inspiration.
The world is a bit inspiration-obsessed right now : from pinterest to facebook and design blogs and beyond, we spend a lot of time looking at things and thinking about how great they are, and never acting on those inspirations. Lehrer talks about David Byrne gathering inspiration in New York, and actually acting upon those inspirations:
"For Byrne, the metropolis is like a sonic blender; every street is a mix tape. Cities expand the imagination by exposing us to unexpected things, to funky Latin beats and jangly Nigerian bass lines and abstract works of art. And then, then we;re in the studio, we can't help but weave those ideas into our own work, so that punk rock is melded with pop paintings, Afro-Cuban rhythms, and symbolist choreography. This is why Byrne describes cities as a kind of 'energy source', and why he always bikes with a dictaphone in his pocket" (p. 178).
The message in chapter seven makes a case for thriving cultural centers, and I wonder how schools can take on that role, or be part of the phenomenon. What is the role of a school, a preschool perhaps, in a community? I think about the "unexpected strength of weak ties" also (p. 204). The more people in your circle, people who maybe you have simply made contact with, the better. I don't think we can dismiss the power of close relationships, of course, but casting a wide net can provide more resources, more ideas, and more excitement.
So, what do you think about the power of urban environments and their ability to inspire? Do you prefer strong ties or weak ties? How does your work as a teacher fit into all of this?
Showing posts with label jonah lehrer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jonah lehrer. Show all posts
28 August 2012
23 August 2012
Imagine, Chapter 6 : The Power of Q
Chapter Five, The Outsider, dealt with the perspective of the seemingly "non-expert" attempting to solve a problem rather than someone who is deeply immersed in that work everyday. The "Q" that Lehrer talks about layers perfectly on top of that idea:
"...the biggest problems we need to solve now require the expertise of people from different backgrounds who bridge the gap between disciplines. Unless we learn to share our ideas with others, we will be stuck with a world of seemingly impossible problems. We can either work together or fail alone. But how should we work together? What's the ideal strategy for group creativity?" (p. 140).
I think this is a wonderful topic to discuss as educators. What are some examples of the way that the make-up of adults in your setting has enhanced or hindered creativity? Do you believe in the the power of Q?
Another wonderful point from this chapter was about space. I couldn't help but think of the piazza concept used in the schools of Reggio Emilia as an example of a gathering space, not unlike the one described at Pixar studios. We so often keep ourselves isolated as teachers, in our room all day without interacting with other teachers (or at least that is the traditional way); and the children are often restricted to their small classroom community. How can we create a meeting space for teachers or children? And can they be the same space? Do you have any experience with this?
Something worth exploring, in my opinion, is the idea of Third Place. Lehrer cites this in Chapter 6, but there seems to be a spark of an idea there about how the right kind of space could become that third place for children, families, and educators.
We'll discuss the final two chapters next week! I hope we'll see a few more people chime in...don't be shy! Even if you have not read the book, we'd love to have you join the conversation.
Also, please let me know in the comments if you would be interested in a Google+ Hangout next week or in early September on the topic of creativity!
"...the biggest problems we need to solve now require the expertise of people from different backgrounds who bridge the gap between disciplines. Unless we learn to share our ideas with others, we will be stuck with a world of seemingly impossible problems. We can either work together or fail alone. But how should we work together? What's the ideal strategy for group creativity?" (p. 140).
I think this is a wonderful topic to discuss as educators. What are some examples of the way that the make-up of adults in your setting has enhanced or hindered creativity? Do you believe in the the power of Q?
Another wonderful point from this chapter was about space. I couldn't help but think of the piazza concept used in the schools of Reggio Emilia as an example of a gathering space, not unlike the one described at Pixar studios. We so often keep ourselves isolated as teachers, in our room all day without interacting with other teachers (or at least that is the traditional way); and the children are often restricted to their small classroom community. How can we create a meeting space for teachers or children? And can they be the same space? Do you have any experience with this?
Something worth exploring, in my opinion, is the idea of Third Place. Lehrer cites this in Chapter 6, but there seems to be a spark of an idea there about how the right kind of space could become that third place for children, families, and educators.
We'll discuss the final two chapters next week! I hope we'll see a few more people chime in...don't be shy! Even if you have not read the book, we'd love to have you join the conversation.
Also, please let me know in the comments if you would be interested in a Google+ Hangout next week or in early September on the topic of creativity!
20 August 2012
Imagine, Chapter 5 : The Outsider
People often talk about the "innocence" of children. It is assumed that most children are blind to the negative things about the world, and how everything fits into the big picture.
In Chapter 5 of Imagine, Jonah Lehrer explores "the outsider", and he likens children's uninhibited creative endeavors to their inexperience with rejection and judgement. He shares the thoughts of UC-Davis psychologist Dean Simonton, writing that "youth benefit from their outsider status - they're innocent and ignorant, which makes them more willing to embrace radical new ideas" (p. 124).
We have all seen and heard young children's "radical new ideas". Young children solve their problems so differently than we would. For example, this summer, we were playing a game of wolf and chicken at camp. The game is exactly like sharks and minnows, with the animal names altered to reflect more of a farm and garden theme. One little boy was very upset at being tagged and needing to be a wolf during the next round, so he created the role of "magic chicken" - a chicken who cannot be turned into a wolf. There was one designated magic chicken each round. I even got a turn, designated by the boy who made up the rule. It was accepted easily by the group. Adults would not accept such an illogical idea, but children are, by nature, more accepting, more open, and less judgmental. This is something that we cherish, and for those of us who follow a child-centered persuasion in the classroom, it is incredibly valuable and necessary for teaching and learning.
A little more food for thought: Lehrer muses a bit on insiders versus outsiders in our society:
Although we live in a world that worships insiders, it turns out that gaining such experience takes a toll on creativity. To struggle at anything is to become too familiar with it, memorizing details and internalizing flaws. It doesn't matter whether you're designing a city park or a shoot-'em-up video game, whether you're choreographing a bellet or a business conference: you must constantly try to forget what you already know" (p. 132).
This strikes me as incredibly relevant to the teaching process. The idea of planning, in my mind, is quite different than before. I can't fill out a teacher's plan book, although I've tried. We have to try and be outsiders a bit, looking at the classroom, the centers, the materials, and more through a new lens - or else each year looks exactly like the one before, regardless of what the children want, need, or care about. We owe it to children to be creative, and think about the experiences we want to foster with open minds. I couldn't help but think about this in terms of Reggio Emilia, where an artist, not a teacher, runs the atelier, or studio. For those of you that are familiar with Reggio Emilia, does this strike you as true? That there is a benefit of having an outsider, on the inside?
I hope you'll share your thoughts - please feel free to share your thoughts on anything...no restriction to what I've proposed!
In Chapter 5 of Imagine, Jonah Lehrer explores "the outsider", and he likens children's uninhibited creative endeavors to their inexperience with rejection and judgement. He shares the thoughts of UC-Davis psychologist Dean Simonton, writing that "youth benefit from their outsider status - they're innocent and ignorant, which makes them more willing to embrace radical new ideas" (p. 124).
We have all seen and heard young children's "radical new ideas". Young children solve their problems so differently than we would. For example, this summer, we were playing a game of wolf and chicken at camp. The game is exactly like sharks and minnows, with the animal names altered to reflect more of a farm and garden theme. One little boy was very upset at being tagged and needing to be a wolf during the next round, so he created the role of "magic chicken" - a chicken who cannot be turned into a wolf. There was one designated magic chicken each round. I even got a turn, designated by the boy who made up the rule. It was accepted easily by the group. Adults would not accept such an illogical idea, but children are, by nature, more accepting, more open, and less judgmental. This is something that we cherish, and for those of us who follow a child-centered persuasion in the classroom, it is incredibly valuable and necessary for teaching and learning.
A little more food for thought: Lehrer muses a bit on insiders versus outsiders in our society:
Although we live in a world that worships insiders, it turns out that gaining such experience takes a toll on creativity. To struggle at anything is to become too familiar with it, memorizing details and internalizing flaws. It doesn't matter whether you're designing a city park or a shoot-'em-up video game, whether you're choreographing a bellet or a business conference: you must constantly try to forget what you already know" (p. 132).
This strikes me as incredibly relevant to the teaching process. The idea of planning, in my mind, is quite different than before. I can't fill out a teacher's plan book, although I've tried. We have to try and be outsiders a bit, looking at the classroom, the centers, the materials, and more through a new lens - or else each year looks exactly like the one before, regardless of what the children want, need, or care about. We owe it to children to be creative, and think about the experiences we want to foster with open minds. I couldn't help but think about this in terms of Reggio Emilia, where an artist, not a teacher, runs the atelier, or studio. For those of you that are familiar with Reggio Emilia, does this strike you as true? That there is a benefit of having an outsider, on the inside?
I hope you'll share your thoughts - please feel free to share your thoughts on anything...no restriction to what I've proposed!
We'll be discussing Chapter 6 on Thursday, so keep reading!
13 August 2012
Daydreaming and Sweat : Imagine, Chapters Two and Three
Chapters Two and Three of Imagine continue to focus on the creativity we can have as individuals; especially innovation and problem solving. With these chapters, we learn about mind wandering, divergent and convergent thinking (and the parts of the brain responsible), conceptual blending, and the myth of the "creative type".
Lehrer suggests that humans are "an absent-minded species, constantly disappearing down mental rabbit holes" (p. 45). We daydream, we let our minds wander. And Lehrer is trying to share that this is a good thing: by letting our minds wander, we are allowing "the brain [to] blend together concepts that are normally filed away in different areas. The result is an ability to notice new connections, to see the overlaps that we normally overlook" (p. 46).
The implications for play, I think, are hard to miss here. Fostering a creative environment that not only engages children visually, but also mentally, might promote mind wandering. When I think of children's play, though, I'm not sure we need to find ways to allow them to do it, because they are often playing out fantasies and scenes that require quite a bit of imagination without much help from us. Perhaps I'm trying to share that daydreaming is much like open-ended fantasy play. What do you think?
To touch upon Chapter Three, I found myself thinking more about the teaching process as I read about "unconcealing". This is a far cry from those "aha!" moments, those moments of insight, that we read about in the first chapter. Unconcealing is not an easy process. We think and try and concentrate: "this kind of creativity consists mostly of sweat, sadness, and failure" (p. 83).
With the teaching and planning process, especially with inquiry based work and long term projects (as opposed to short lived themes), we, as teachers, are constantly needing to dive back in after that anthropologist phase of observation, think and plan and create, and come back out for yet again another anthropologist phase. We throw away a lot of ideas along the way, and there are moments when we feel that it is helpless, and that we should guide the children towards a different topic! We look longingly at other people's classrooms and projects and scrutinize out own work.
But we can feel ourselves getting warmer, and "this ability to calculate progress is an important part of the creative process" (p. 82). You know what it feels like when you get closer to a solution, and all those photos and notes start to make sense.
We want to foster creativity, and we need to be creative in our own work as well. How does Lehrer suggest we might do that?
I'm looking forward to our discussion! Please feel free to break from what I've shared above...I'm sure there are many more ideas than the ones I've proposed above.
We are reading Imagine : How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer this month. For more information on the read-along, you can see the discussion schedule here.
Lehrer suggests that humans are "an absent-minded species, constantly disappearing down mental rabbit holes" (p. 45). We daydream, we let our minds wander. And Lehrer is trying to share that this is a good thing: by letting our minds wander, we are allowing "the brain [to] blend together concepts that are normally filed away in different areas. The result is an ability to notice new connections, to see the overlaps that we normally overlook" (p. 46).
The implications for play, I think, are hard to miss here. Fostering a creative environment that not only engages children visually, but also mentally, might promote mind wandering. When I think of children's play, though, I'm not sure we need to find ways to allow them to do it, because they are often playing out fantasies and scenes that require quite a bit of imagination without much help from us. Perhaps I'm trying to share that daydreaming is much like open-ended fantasy play. What do you think?
To touch upon Chapter Three, I found myself thinking more about the teaching process as I read about "unconcealing". This is a far cry from those "aha!" moments, those moments of insight, that we read about in the first chapter. Unconcealing is not an easy process. We think and try and concentrate: "this kind of creativity consists mostly of sweat, sadness, and failure" (p. 83).
With the teaching and planning process, especially with inquiry based work and long term projects (as opposed to short lived themes), we, as teachers, are constantly needing to dive back in after that anthropologist phase of observation, think and plan and create, and come back out for yet again another anthropologist phase. We throw away a lot of ideas along the way, and there are moments when we feel that it is helpless, and that we should guide the children towards a different topic! We look longingly at other people's classrooms and projects and scrutinize out own work.
But we can feel ourselves getting warmer, and "this ability to calculate progress is an important part of the creative process" (p. 82). You know what it feels like when you get closer to a solution, and all those photos and notes start to make sense.
We want to foster creativity, and we need to be creative in our own work as well. How does Lehrer suggest we might do that?
I'm looking forward to our discussion! Please feel free to break from what I've shared above...I'm sure there are many more ideas than the ones I've proposed above.
We are reading Imagine : How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer this month. For more information on the read-along, you can see the discussion schedule here.
06 August 2012
Imagine : Chapter One
In the first chapter of the "Alone" portion of Imagine, Jonah Lehrer explores "the stumped phase of creativity". Its not difficult to relate to the idea of trying to solve a problem, being incredibly frustrated, and then a solution popping out of thin air. Lehrer says,
"...these negative feelings are actually an essential part of the process because they signal that it's time to try a new search strategy. Instead of relying on the literal associations of the left hemisphere, the brain needs to shift activity to the other side, to explore a more unexpected set of associations. It is the struggle that forces us to try something new." (p. 17).
What do these ideas mean for us as educators? Is it important for us to create prompts and situations to solve problems, and encourage children to think outside of the box? An "aha!" moment cannot be staged, it must come naturally...right?
As teachers, there are moments when we struggle to think outside of the box, for example, having a bit of a "planning rut", where you can't seem to think of anything new.
What are your thoughts on the first chapter, either related to the ideas above or not? What jumped out at you?
Please share! Please use the comments section as a way to discuss; feel free to bring some new thoughts about chapter one to the table!
We are reading Imagine : How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer this month. For more information on the read-along, you can see the discussion schedule here.
"...these negative feelings are actually an essential part of the process because they signal that it's time to try a new search strategy. Instead of relying on the literal associations of the left hemisphere, the brain needs to shift activity to the other side, to explore a more unexpected set of associations. It is the struggle that forces us to try something new." (p. 17).
What do these ideas mean for us as educators? Is it important for us to create prompts and situations to solve problems, and encourage children to think outside of the box? An "aha!" moment cannot be staged, it must come naturally...right?
As teachers, there are moments when we struggle to think outside of the box, for example, having a bit of a "planning rut", where you can't seem to think of anything new.
What are your thoughts on the first chapter, either related to the ideas above or not? What jumped out at you?
Please share! Please use the comments section as a way to discuss; feel free to bring some new thoughts about chapter one to the table!
We are reading Imagine : How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer this month. For more information on the read-along, you can see the discussion schedule here.
01 August 2012
Jonah Lehrer's Imagine : Educator's Read-Along
This August, I'll be hosting a read-along and discussion of Imagine
by Jonah Lehrer for educators. A handful of people have expressed interest in joining in, and I hope we'll hear everyone's thoughts and ideas in this space as the month goes along! The schedule for the discussion is at the bottom of this post.
by Jonah Lehrer for educators. A handful of people have expressed interest in joining in, and I hope we'll hear everyone's thoughts and ideas in this space as the month goes along! The schedule for the discussion is at the bottom of this post.
Lehrer's book is about creativity, which is not exactly a science. But his examples and vignettes are about creative minds and creative institutions. As teachers, we know that our students will benefit from creative, open-ended experiences that challenge them to solve problems and think outside of the box: those are traits that come from experience and have more real-world application than many academic subjects. We cannot deny that academics are important, but embedding creativity into educational experiences, in my mind, is something that can promote innovation in some of those age-old subjects. Innovation not only in the way that they are learned, but also in the way that they are taught.
Another reason why the subject of creativity feels important for teachers to explore is for our own creativity and innovation. If we expect people that we teach to be creative, don't we need to explore our own creativity? Instead of sitting down in front of last year's planning book and copying old ideas, don't we need to innovate lessons and educational experiences? If we think that we need to give children a variety of modes to express their understanding to respect multiple intelligences, don't we need to accept and explore our own intelligences?
As teachers, we spend a lot of time thinking about what can make education, from individual classrooms to public policy, better. Reading about creativity is about practicing what we preach. I really hope you'll read along!
Discussion Schedule
The post with a discussion prompt for the chapter listed will be posted on the day listed. Please plan to have read that chapter and join in as soon as it is posted! You can subscribe to the blog by email on the righthand side of the page.
Monday, August 6 : Chapter 1, Bob Dylan's Brain
Thursday, August 9 : Chapter 2, Alpha Waves (Condition Blue)
Monday, August 13 : Chapter 3, The Unconcealing
Thursday, August 16 : Chapter 4, The Letting Go
Monday, August 20 : Chapter 5, The Outsider
Thursday, August 23 : Chapter 6, The Power of Q
Monday, August 27 : Chapter 7, Urban Friction
Thursday, August 30 : Chapter 8, The Shakespeare Paradox + Wrap Up Discussion
We have a few days to read each chapter, so if you have an opportunity to read slowly and keep notes on what you're thinking in relation to education, it will be easier to share and discuss. The prompts will be open ended, and I encourage you to ask your own questions in the discussion as well!
Sharing your thoughts is key to the discussion aspect, so please join in the conversation in the comments! Feel free to start conversation about the introduction in the comments section of this post if you're ready to begin.
Happy Reading!
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