It's a Friday in the final week of the MOOC "5 Habits of Highly Creative Teachers" and I'm sitting at a coffee shop determined to get through all of the forum/community posts and settle into writing this blog post, reflecting on my experience. After perusing the posts I inadvertently (ok, not so inadvertently) meander into designing fabric patterns and upload them onto spoonflower.com (a recent obsession I've not let myself do too much of until I get my 'homework' done). I'm finally letting myself get sidetracked and I feel I have a really, really good excuse. After five weeks of facilitating and participating in an online course on creativity, if there's one take away it should be this: indulge in creative pursuits. It's not a hobby thing, not a side-thing. It's a core trait and way of being that is imperative to our well being and flourishing. | The modern-day imperative: Indulge in creative pursuits |
1,131 people registered for the course. In less than a week, we'll be passing out completion certificates for 113, which incidentally is exactly the retention rate for MOOCs. The way I see it, these 113 people are catalysts. These people committed themselves to practicing creativity, followed through with it, and are on a trajectory to infuse their classrooms with their creative selves. It's exceedingly apparent that they all realize that this was a personal commitment - practicing creativity and being creative starts with yourself. It has to matter to you first and the best way to spread it is virally, through your own personal creative character. And THAT doesn't just happen. It takes practice. And practice, they did!
What did they have to do?
Be willing. They had to realize they are already creative and give way to it - they were willing participants. They made up their minds to show up and stick to it. This is harder than it might seem (hence the 10% retention rate of MOOCs -- you have to want it and recognize personal value in order to follow through with it).
Be curious. Participants did a series of personal investigations regarding their own sense of curiosity, facing up to what it means to them personally and where they are at with it. The exercises were designed to take stock and set up a personal practice of curiosity moving forward.
Be remixers. They practiced pursuing themes of personal interest and recasting them from their own perspective, and then sharing them as a way to build up a remix culture of ongoing interpretive perspectives. The exercises were designed to help participants insert their own creative expression into what is going on around them in the digital realm.
Be tribal. Participants explored how what makes themselves tick fits into groups who want to invest in the same thing. They practiced tribe building around their values by showcasing their values online and interacting around those values.
Be reachers. I made this word up just now, but it's an apt way to describe the week of practicing failing and thriving. Using failure as a development tool is profound and exciting ... if you decide to embrace failure and use it to your advantage! Participants went out of their comfort zones, did things that were doomed from the start and challenged their beliefs about what's "supposed" to happen and what their own limits might be. Some of it was really silly, some of it was deep and serious. They practiced being bodacious and resilient.
Be reflective practitioners. Participants practiced different modes of listening to themselves and their environment through a series of exercises designed to heighten awareness of their own center, their own voice, and their own perspective. They practiced being authentic and putting themselves out there.
Have a growth mindset. All of the habits these participants practiced are based on the fact that we are always changing and evolving. Being creative requires a mentality of ongoing change. It's not a skill to accomplish and check off a list, it's an ongoing journey. So we have to practice thinking about it in that way and behaving in that way. The exercises in each week, regardless of the theme that week, were designed to help people experience, work with and practice the transient flow of creativity.
Be curious. Participants did a series of personal investigations regarding their own sense of curiosity, facing up to what it means to them personally and where they are at with it. The exercises were designed to take stock and set up a personal practice of curiosity moving forward.
Be remixers. They practiced pursuing themes of personal interest and recasting them from their own perspective, and then sharing them as a way to build up a remix culture of ongoing interpretive perspectives. The exercises were designed to help participants insert their own creative expression into what is going on around them in the digital realm.
Be tribal. Participants explored how what makes themselves tick fits into groups who want to invest in the same thing. They practiced tribe building around their values by showcasing their values online and interacting around those values.
Be reachers. I made this word up just now, but it's an apt way to describe the week of practicing failing and thriving. Using failure as a development tool is profound and exciting ... if you decide to embrace failure and use it to your advantage! Participants went out of their comfort zones, did things that were doomed from the start and challenged their beliefs about what's "supposed" to happen and what their own limits might be. Some of it was really silly, some of it was deep and serious. They practiced being bodacious and resilient.
Be reflective practitioners. Participants practiced different modes of listening to themselves and their environment through a series of exercises designed to heighten awareness of their own center, their own voice, and their own perspective. They practiced being authentic and putting themselves out there.
Have a growth mindset. All of the habits these participants practiced are based on the fact that we are always changing and evolving. Being creative requires a mentality of ongoing change. It's not a skill to accomplish and check off a list, it's an ongoing journey. So we have to practice thinking about it in that way and behaving in that way. The exercises in each week, regardless of the theme that week, were designed to help people experience, work with and practice the transient flow of creativity.