Nurturing Creativity in the Classroom

Nurturing Creativity in the Classroom is a groundbreaking collection of essays by leading scholars, who examine and respond to the tension that many educators face in valuing student creativity but believing that they cannot support it given the curricular constraints of the classroom. Is it possible for teachers to nurture creative development and expression without drifting into curricular chaos? Do curricular constraints necessarily lead to choosing conformity over creativity? This book combines the perspectives of top educators and psychologists to generate practical advice for considering and addressing the challenges of supporting creativity within the classroom. It is unique in its balance of practical recommendations for nurturing creativity and thoughtful appreciation of curricular constraints. This approach helps ensure that the insights and advice found in this collection will take root in educators’ practice, rather than being construed as yet another demand placed on their overflowing plate of responsibilities.

Ronald A. Beghetto, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Education Studies at the University of Oregon. His scholarship focuses on promoting creativity in K-12 classrooms and the influence of past schooling experience on K-12 teacher development. His recent publications on creativity and teacher development appear in a wide variety of scholarly journals - including the Creativity Research Journal, the Journal of Creative Behavior, Creativity and Thinking Skills, Educational Psychologist, the Journal of Advanced Academics, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and the Journal of Educational Research - and edited volumes: Creativity and Reason in Cognitive Development, Creativity: From Potential to Realization, Creativity: A Handbook for Teachers, Critical Issues and Practices in Gifted Education, and Rethinking Gifted Education. He serves on the editorial boards of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts; the Journal of Creative Behavior; and the Journal of Educational Research and is an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Creativity and Problem Solving. He is the 2008 recipient of the Daniel E. Berlyne Award from the American Psychological Association's Division 10. He has also received awards for excellence in teaching, including the 2005–2006 Crystal Apple Ersted Award for Outstanding Teaching from the University of Oregon.

James C. Kaufman, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the California State University at San Bernardino, where he directs the Learning Research Institute. His research broadly focuses on nurturing and encouraging creativity. He is specifically interested in creativity's role in fairness, everyday creativity, increasing creativity in the classroom, and the structure and assessment of creativity. He is also interested in related topics such as intelligence, personality, motivation, and thinking styles. Kaufman is the author or editor of 16 books, either published or in press, including Creativity 101, Essentials of Creativity Assessment (with Jonathan Plucker and John Baer), the International Handbook of Creativity (with Robert Sternberg), and Applied Intelligence (with Robert Sternberg and Elena Grigorenko). His research has been featured and discussed in the articles or broadcasts of CNN, NPR, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New Yorker, and the BBC. Kaufman is a founding co-editor of the official journal for the APA's Division 10, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts and edits the International Journal for Creativity and Problem Solving. He is also the Associate Editor of Psychological Assessment and the Journal of Creative Behavior. He received the 2003 Daniel E. Berlyne Award from APA's Division 10, the 2008 E. Paul Torrance Award from the National Association of Gifted Children, and the 2009 Early Career Research Award from the Western Psychological Association.