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Newsletter - Vol. 24, No. 8 - April 2008

Nurturing Creativity
-Steve Bizub, Oakland University

In my experiences as a middle school general music teacher, middle school band director, and teacher educator, I have found that when I invite students to create their own music, I empower them to explore their own musical thoughts. By valuing their musical creations, I value them as thinkers, as musicians, and as human beings. However, I continue to struggle with the idea of “teaching” creativity. I wonder if the idea of teaching someone to be creative needs to be reframed especially if you feel, as I do, that that all people are innately creative. But, if teachers cannot “teach” creativity, then what are we to do?

In his book Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art, Stephen Nachmanovitch (1990) writes:

How does one learn improvisation? The only answer is to ask another question: What is stopping us? Spontaneous creation comes from our deepest being and is immaculately and originally ourselves. What we have to express is already with us, is us, so the work of creativity is not a matter of making the material come, but of unblocking the obstacles to its natural flow. (p. 10)

What sorts of obstacles might middle school students face? One might be their growing sensitivity to the ways their creative products might be judged by others. As students yearn to belong to a group and to be respected by their peers, I have found that often their actions are mediated by the perceived expectations of others. What they express becomes increasingly influenced by what others might think about their ideas. Because of this, for students this age, personal expression can fall victim to the growing desire to belong. The pressure of conforming can stifle creativity because people are less likely to feel free to simply be themselves. Creating is something we do naturally in life and in art. It follows that instead of trying to teach students to be creative, perhaps teachers should focus on trying to nurture creativity by creating the space where it is most likely to blossom. I am using the term space here to describe not only the instructional environment but also the freedom one feels when engaged in an experience in which trust, respect, and sensitivity are present.

Nurturing Creativity Through Unconditional Positive Regard

Sometimes both students and teachers consider creating music a risk-taking venture. I wonder, though, if risk characterizes the way we want students to feel about creative experiences. What is the difference between an experience that feels like a risk and an experience in which we enjoy the simple pleasure of trying something new (like a two-year-old finger-painting for the first time)? Perhaps the answer is the implied consequences, whether real or imaginary. When we take risks, there is something to be feared. When we engage with our world like a two-year-old does with finger-paints, there is no danger. Is creating music something we want our students to fear? If not, how can we help them feel comfortable engaging in such experiences?

I feel one key is to create an environment where students feel comfortable trying out new musical ideas with other people. If we believe that everyone is capable of musical thinking, then we should agree that everyone has the right to feel valued for his or her musical thoughts. Educators should endeavor to cultivate a classroom environment in which there is “unconditional positive regard” (Rogers, 1951) for students’ musical thoughts, even if their thoughts “march to a different tune” from that of the teacher’s or the students’ peers. Students must feel free to explore new ideas, to branch out and walk along those paths that first appear shadowy and vague. In order to do so, there must be a certain level of trust among the student, his or her peers, and the teacher. True freedom is only possible when students know their musical thoughts will be valued.

When we listen to a student’s musical creation, we are entering into that student’s way of looking at the world. It is a moment that is both wonderful and fragile because when students open themselves in this way there is immense potential for transformation. This transformation, however, can be one that leads to more confidence in their music making abilities and a stronger musical identity or one that does exactly the opposite. One factor in the way students feel about sharing their musical creations is how their teacher and their peers respond. Is the teacher’s response one that celebrates what the student is able to do and does understand or is it one that shines the spotlight on what the student is not able to do and does not understand? Is the response from the student’s peers one that celebrates the uniqueness of the composition or criticizes it because it is different from everyone else’s?

Creating music can be a very personal, intimate experience for people. When we respond to students’ work, we must remember to do so in a way that honors the students’ intent (Wiggins, 2005). There needs to be a relationship of compassion between the teacher and the student––a type of “pedagogical thoughtfulness” (Van Manen, 1991). At every chance, through both subtle and sometimes overt ways, educators should communicate to their students, in the fullest sense of the word, that since they honor them as human beings, they honor them as musicians as well.

I encourage all music teachers to try creating space in your classrooms and curricula for students to engage in their own musical thinking by enabling them to engage in musical creating. As you do, it is important to keep in mind that the environment of the classroom community may be the most important factor in the success of the experience. Just as gardeners do not need to teach their plants how to grow but instead must attend to the space their plants need in order to grow, perhaps teachers would be wise to do the same for their students. Instead of focusing attention on how to “teach” students to be creative, teachers might better serve the needs of their students by focusing their attention on creating the space, both literally and figuratively, most conducive to creativity and free play.

REFERENCES

Nachmanovitch, S. (1990). Free play: Improvisation in life and art. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam.

Rogers, C. (1951). Client-centered therapy, its current practice, implications, and theory. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Wiggins, J. (2005). Fostering revision and extension in student composing. Music Educators Journal, 91(3), 35-42.

Van Manen, M. (1991). The tact of teaching: The meaning of pedagogical thoughtfulness. Albany: State University of New York Press.

*For a more thorough discussion of this topic, please see: Bizub, S. (2007). Creating the space for composing and improvising. Michigan Music Educator, 45(2), 4.

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Steve Bizub is a Special Lecturer and Ph.D. candidate in music education at Oakland University where he teaches courses in music education, music technology, and music theory. He can be reached at bizub@oakland.edu.

posted 4 April 2008 @ 13:45 by sruthmann » 0 Comments

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