Copyblogger has a very nice list of the 11 traits of highly creative people (paraphrased). I am not going to elaborate on them here, but here is the list:
Creative people have COURAGE, use INTUITION, like to PLAY, are EXPRESSIVE, can find ORDER in confusion, are MOTIVATED by a task, find SOLUTIONS, CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS, make CONNECTIONS between the old and the new, PUSH THE ENVELOPE, and TEST new ideas.
As I read through this list, I realized I exhibit many of these traits. That isn’t a statement to say, “Hey! Look at me! I’m creative!” Oh no, not me.
Rather, I look at this list and begin to realize why I am often misunderstood at work. In education, we say we want creative people, but in practice we really want the status quo far more often. We want teachers to be creative in their classrooms, but we have pretty strict and rigid rules for things beyond those walls and doors. If we carry our creativity too far, we open ourselves to ridicule, attack, or just being misunderstood.
But this goes further than misunderstanding teachers. Teachers often don’t want creative students either. After all, we spent hours, sometimes days and weeks, perfecting this lesson plan, this PowerPoint, this exam. We don’t want to be challenged on any part of it. That is insubordination. But is it?
I can’t do anything about what other teachers think about me when I try to exercise my creativity in the workplace. I can’t do anything about what my assistant principals, principal, secondary supervisor, or even the district superintendent think about it. It is an inherent part of my total being. To cease to be creative is to cease to exist. I can’t do it.
But I can change the way I respond to my students. I can accept them more and disregard them less. I can feed off their energy rather than squash it to maintain “order” in my room.
What about you? What will you do when you are faced with a student who exhibits these personality traits? Will you encourage? Mentor? Emulate? Build up? Or will you maintain order above all.