The Promotion of Creativity Through Play

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The promotion of creativity through play

What do we mean when we speak of creativity? Can creativity be promoted, developed and expanded through play?  Are some ways of playing more creative than others?  Throughout this assignment I will be focusing on these three questions.  I will begin by exploring theory and educators’ perceptions and understanding of creative play.  As an assessor and tutor of students in the field of early years and through countless visits to many settings, I have found that this area of learning is often misunderstood, confused and under valued.  Edgington (1998); and Duffy (1998) would agree, suggesting that this area of development is often misconstrued, and takes up much of the adult’s time in order to produce a chain of replica cardboard effigies that have little educational value, least of all a creative one.  This has prompted me to become an advocate for this area of play and has inspired me to share my own knowledge and experience with others.

Many authors and researchers agree that creativity is problematic to define.

Underpinning theory and research must be looked at in depth, as must the context of the society we live in.  Throughout this assignment a western orientation of today’s times is emphasised.  However, in Hinduism creativity is seen as a “spiritual expression” (Starko 2001 p.5) and other eastern cultures look on creativity as “a process of individual growth”.  Lubart 1999; Sternberg 1990 in: Starko 2001 endorse this when saying,  

“Just as intelligence is viewed differently in different cultures, so the vehicles and focus of creativity vary from culture to culture and across time.” (p6)

As I unfold the theory behind creativity, it is apparent that some would suggest it implies greatness, a gift innate within a chosen few. This view is imbedded in research focused on psychological determinants from the 1950s and even today some educationalists still take this view.  Craft (2003) is recognised for her many publishing’s in the field of creativity and describes this as “big C creativity”.  

Freud suggested creativity was driven by the personal identity and viewed fantasy and creative writings as a result of unfulfilled wishes, a continuation of childhood play (Starko 2001 p.35).  

Rhyammar and Brolin (1999) in Craft, Jeffrey & Leibling, (2001) suggests that throughout the 1980s and 1990s research into creativity, “became rooted in a social psychological framework in which it is recognised that social structures affect individual creativity.” (p1)  Vygotsky (1930) actively, categorises in three major stages.  Here play plays a significant part in the development of creativity. In symbolic play children use an object to represent something else, expanding the imagination, using existing knowledge and ideas in new a novel ways.  Although Vygotsky believed play in childhood to be an important part in the development of creativity, he emphasises that the creativity is at an immature state and creatively mature adults need to support and expand the play in order to accelerate it.

Thus, it is widely accepted today that anyone can be creative.  Creativity is about having original thoughts and ideas, being flexible with these and about solving and finding problems. Craft (2003) describes this as “ little c creativity”, and advises,

“Little c creativity is not necessarily tied to a product – outcome, for it involves exercising imaginativeness.  It involves having some grasp of the domain of application, and thus of the appropriateness of the ideas.  It involves the use of the imagination, intelligence and self-expression.” (p.148)

Craft et al (2001) believes that creativity is a state of mind, not intelligence, however she does agree in many ways with Gardner (1983) and advocates, that understanding multiple intelligence theory is a fundamental principle of creativity.  This is reflected in her definition,

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Creativity is a state of mind of which all of our intelligences are working together.  It involves seeing, thinking and innovating.  Although it is often found in the creative arts, creativity can be demonstrated in any subject at school or in any aspect of life.  (Craft et al 2001 p.38)

Cropley (2001) takes an intellectual view of creativity, and quiet rightly suggests that this has to be a factor when considering creative attainment and achievement.  His approach seems to be mechanistic in answering the question, how does creativity work?  However, the underpinning theme of differing academic ability in ...

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