Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-8mjnm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-19T08:34:21.715Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

18 - How Early School Experiences Impact Creativity: An Ecological Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2010

Cynthia Paris
Affiliation:
Department of Individual and Family Studies, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
Nancy Edwards
Affiliation:
Individual and Family Studies Department, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
Ellyn Sheffield
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland
Maureen Mutinsky
Affiliation:
Arcola Elementary School, Leesburg, Virginia
Terri Olexa
Affiliation:
Ben Franklin Elementary School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Susan Reilly
Affiliation:
Slackwood School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
John Baer
Affiliation:
Rider University, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
California State University, San Bernardino
John Baer
Affiliation:
Rider University, New Jersey
Get access

Summary

“Play something for me.”

“What do you want me to play?”

“Anything you want! Just whatever comes into your head.”

“Uh … without music? I dunno!”

With encouragement, some children will take the tentative steps necessary to create a song. Younger children who have never taken lessons happily poke at keys, creating an atonal, arrhythmic stream that, by Western standards, would not be considered musically pleasing. Older children take a different tact. After looking rather uncomfortable and somewhat helpless, they play a song that they have been taught by a friend or sibling (such as “Chopsticks” or “100 bottles of beer on the wall”). When I ask for something more “creative,” they most often deny my request, stating that the very reason they have come for lessons is to be taught how to play and what did I expect?

The same task, the same setting, but the younger children are more likely to attack the creative challenge fearlessly. Unaware of harmonic rules, these children seem oblivious to tonality, allowing their creations to include atonal combinations. The older children give a safe, constrained response or ask for direction. Following instruction, the results are no more encouraging. Once taught that a C chord safely goes with a group of notes in C major and then asked to create music, children will play only what they think fits within the C chord structure.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, K. E., & Marotz, L. R. (2003). Developmental profiles: Pre-birth through twelve. Clifton, NY: Delmar Learning.Google Scholar
American Psychological Association. (1993). Violence and youth: Psychology's response. vol. 1: Summary report. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Baer, J. (1997). Creative teachers, creative students. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Bruner, J. (1973). Beyond the information given. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Connelly, E. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (1985). Personal practical knowledge and the modes of knowing. NSSE Yearbook, (84)2, 174–198.Google Scholar
Cuffaro, H. (1995). Experimenting with the world: John Dewey and the early childhood classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
DeVries, R., Zan, B., Hildebrant, C., Edmiaston, R., & Sales, C. (Eds.). (2002). Developing constructivist early childhood education. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Dewey, J. (1934/1958). Art as experience. New York: G. P. Putnam & Sons.Google Scholar
Edwards, C., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. (Eds.). (1998). The hundred languages of children. Greenwich, CT: Ablex.Google Scholar
Guilford, J. P. (1956). The structure of intellect. Psychological Bulletin, 53, 267–293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guilford, J. P. (1967). The nature of human intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Guilford, J. P., & Hoepfner, R. (1971). The analysis of intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Himley, M., & Carini, P. (2000). From another angle: Children's strengths and school standards: The Prospect Center's descriptive review of the child. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Kamii, C. (1985). Young children reinvent arithmetic. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Levin, E. E. (1998). Remote control childhood? Combating the hazards of media culture. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.Google Scholar
Perry, S. (1995). IF . . . Venice, CA: Children's Library Press.Google Scholar
Schon, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Torrance, E. P. (1966). The Torrance tests of creative thinking: Norms-technical manual. Lexington, MA: Personal Press.Google Scholar
Torrance, E. P. (1974). The Torrance tests of creative thinking: Norms-technical manual. Princeton, NJ: Personal Press.Google Scholar
Torrance, E. P. (1990). The Torrance tests of creative thinking: Norms-technical manual. Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing Service.Google Scholar
Torrance, E. P. (1998). The Torrance tests of creative thinking: Norms-technical manual. Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing Service.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×