---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dewayne Hendricks Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Teachers Don't Like Creative Students To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <[email protected]>
Teachers Don't Like Creative Students by Alex Tabarrok December 12, 2011 <http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/12/teachers-dont-like -creative-students.html> One of the most consistent findings in educational studies of creativity has been that teachers dislike personality traits associated with creativity. Research has indicated that teachers prefer traits that seem to run counter to creativity, such as conformity and unquestioning acceptance of authority (e.g., Bachtold, 1974; Cropley, 1992; Dettmer, 1981; Getzels & Jackson, 1962; Torrance, 1963). The reason for teachers' preferences is quite clear creative people tend to have traits that some have referred to as obnoxious (Torrance, 1963). Torrance (1963) described creative people as not having the time to be courteous, as refusing to take no for an answer, and as being negativistic and critical of others. Other characteristics, although not deserving the label obnoxious, nonetheless may not be those most highly valued in the classroom. ..Research has suggested that traits associated with creativity may not only be neglected, but actively punished (Myers & Torrance, 1961; Stone, 1980). Stone (1980) found that second graders who scored highest on tests of creativity were also those identified by their peers as engaging in the most misbehavior (e.g., "getting in trouble the most"). Given that research and theory (e.g., Harrington, Block, & Block, 1987) suggest that a supportive environment is important to the fostering of creativity, it is quite possible that teachers are (perhaps unwittingly) extinguishing creative behaviors. >From Creativity: Asset or Burden in the Classroom?, a good review paper. What the paper shows is that the characteristics that teachers use to describe their favorite student correlate negatively with the characteristics associated with creativity. In addition, although teachers say that they like creative students, teachers also say creative students are "sincere, responsible, good-natured and reliable." In other words, the teachers don't know what creative students are actually like. (FYI, the research design would have been stronger if the researchers had actually tested the students for creativity.) As a result, schooling has a negative effect on creativity. [snip] Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress> Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/125975-1ee5912c> | Modify <https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=125975&id_secret=125975-23791a65> Your Subscription | Unsubscribe <https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=125975&id_secret=125975-8f27 1c78&post_id=20111213203553:F53FD18E-25F3-11E1-B7FA-A5233E34F0C5> Now <http://www.listbox.com> !DSPAM:2676,4ee7fec0217011660657168!
_______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
