Session Information
13 SES 02, Long Paper Session
Long Paper Session
Contribution
What are our images of creativity? How do these images relate to ways of conceptualizing creative education? I here address these questions while drawing on three philosophical discourses that metaphorize creativity as “expression,” “production,” and “reconstruction.”
Philosophical discourses on creativity—old and new—demonstrate that creativity is hardly a new way of portraying the dynamics of knowledge and learning. Creativity is by no means a new way of metaphorizing the dynamics of knowledge and learning. Rather, what is new is the current situation, a new phase of the global knowledge economy labeled as for example a “wave of creativity and innovations”, “a creative economy”, a new “ecology of ideas”, or “an age of innovation”. Taking the new ways of the world, it is therefore pertinent to explore ways in which, and to what extent, traditional metaphors of creativity may shape our ways of thinking about the acts of creating something new.
Since the current economization of knowledge and ideas has contributed to a common call for a “creative ethos” within knowledge intensive societies it is pertinent to explore how different metaphors of creativity mirror and shape our ways of seeing the dynamics of knowledge and learning. It should be emphasized, however, that all three metaphors move beyond the current hype within business circles, in which creativity is paralleled with effectiveness and seen as economic imperative. Rather, this paper throws some light on this hype, since I here reveal how different ways of metaphorizing creativity offer distinct images, theoretical representations, or models of thought that not only mirror but also provide openings and limitations for our ways of thinking about people’s capacity for curiosity, experimentation and creative innovation.
The three philosophical discourses all see creativity as the act of creating something new. Moreover, the three metaphors —“expression,” “production,” and “reconstruction”— should be seen as ideal types, not mirroring any ongoing “epistemic war” or “historic progress,” as their different ways of picturing creativity seems to be equally recognized and are used somewhat overlapping within the current literature. But they offer different and somewhat contrasting perspectives on educative experiences, creative acts, and epistemic ruptures. By implication, they also help to conceptualize creative education differently.
Taking a bird’s-eye-view of these discourses, I here reveal their distinct images, theoretical representations, and models of thought. My ambition is to provide a better understanding of the contours of creativity in relation to education in knowledge intensive societies. To what degree do the philosophical discourses on creativity offer openings or limitations of unlocking the creative and critical potential of the young?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
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