Realabilities

Children with disabilities are two to three times more likely to be victimized by bullying than their typical peers (Carter & Spencer, 2006). Since half of all preschool children with disabilities are now in mainstream classrooms (Diamond & Hong, 2010), it's imperative to reduce bullying and to enhance sensitivity to peers with disabilities. Since children tend to exercise more effort when they have higher expectations of their peers (Rosenthal, 1989), it's critical to showcase the competencies of children with disabilities (Siperstein et al., 2007). The following research assesses the impact of Realabilities, an animated TV show and comic book series, which emphasizes the strengths of five characters with disabilities (Autism, ADHD, Visual, Hearing and Physical Impairment) who harness their strengths and innate creativity to save their school from bullies. This chapter will present findings from five, creative Realabilities interventions using Morgan's (1996) Shared Activities Questionnaire and Siperstein and Bak's (1977) Adjective Checklist and will highlight future directions.

Revisiting the Relationships between Turkish Prospective Teachers' Thinking Styles and Behaviors Fostering Creativity

This chapter aims to reexamine the relationship between Turkish prospective teachers' thinking styles and creativity fostering behaviors. In the study, 182 Turkish prospective teachers were participated. The Thinking Styles Inventory (TSI) and Creativity Fostering Teacher Index Scale (CFTIS) were administered to participants. An exploratory factor analysis, zero order and partial correlation, linear and quadratic trend analysis were conducted on the data. The results indicated that Type I thinking styles are a more powerful predictor for creativity fostering behaviors than Type II thinking styles. Prospective teachers' implicit opinions about creativity negatively predicted to CFTIS. Relationship between Type I and Type II thinking styles, and creativity fostering behaviors were positively significant in the results of quadratic trend analysis; however, the relationship between implicit opinions about creativity and creativity fostering behaviors were negatively significant in the analysis. The results obtained from the study were discussed based on previous studies.

Creativity in the Emerging Adult

Before one can reflect upon the presence of creativity in the Emerging Adult, it is necessary to better understand and explore what it means to be an Emerging Adult. Reviewing the developmental theories of Jeffery Arnett, Erik Erikson, James Marcia, Jean Piaget, and Sigmund Freud is necessary in order to better understand the Emerging Adult and how creativity can optimally be stimulated during this time frame of development. Emerging Adulthood integrates a variety of developmental milestones, including the development of identity and intimacy and the transition of an adolescent from parental dependence to independence in college, relationships and work. This chapter will cover and discuss creativity in the context of group identity, personal identity, family, relationships, cognition, college education, and the workplace.

Hey Inner Four-Year-Old, Wanna Play?

Though the spontaneous creativity of children narrows naturally in development, the rigid structures of our culture further suppress these necessary abilities. Enhanced by the ubiquity and interactivity of emerging technologies, media provides a unique method of encouraging creativity in a manner children are growing ever more familiar with. The authors discuss the role of creativity in children's media from multiple angles: the importance of creativity in children's play and development, how creativity is cultivated through effective media, and the creativity involved in producing media content. Relevant scientific research is explored throughout the chapter. Extensive interviews with two prominent creative producers in children's media, Tone Thyne and J.J. Johnson, contribute expert perspectives and provide detailed insight into the creative process behind children's media.

The Benefit of Imitation for Creativity in Art and Design

Many artists and designers borrow, cite, or seek inspiration in external source materials in their daily creative practice. The aim of this chapter is to show that imitation of external source material offers creative professionals the opportunity to introduce an element of surprise to the creative act, which may explain why a creative product with very little or no originality whatsoever can nevertheless gain reputation as being creative. The literature on imitation in psychology and the humanities will be reviewed in parallel to a recent suggestion in creativity research to give more prominence to the criterion of surprise in the study of creativity. The potential benefit of imitation for creativity in art and design will be illustrated with a description of the working practices of the prominent painter Gerhard Richter and the famous car designer J Mays – two contemporary creative professionals renowned for usage of external source material in their own creative work.

Creativity and Giftedness

During the last decades there is a growing interest in theory and research on creativity and giftedness. Creativity and giftedness are two distinct, but intercorrelated terms. They can be combined into a new distinct type of giftedness, the creative giftedness. Creative giftedness is associated with originality and inventiveness in highly cognitively demanding scientific and/or artistic fields. In this chapter, there will be a presentation in the form of a brief historical overview of the research on the topic of creativity and giftedness. This chapter also includes a review concerning data from neuropsychological research coming from children, adolescents and adults, who are both creatively and intellectually gifted, and data from a Greek research for the general population's attitudes toward individuals who are characterized as both intellectually and creatively gifted. Finally, some questions that need clarification through future research and a discussion concerning new methodological paradigms will be presented.

A Living Case Study

Living Case Studies (LCSs) in the discipline of business provide a bridge from knowledge acquisition to knowledge practice in a real world context. They offer the facilitator a knowledge to application methodology and the student a learning by doing experience, which are oftentimes lacking in business courses. The Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT) offers a Diploma of Business leading to either the University of Adelaide or University of South Australia's degree programs in business-related fields. From 2010-2013, EIBT introduced a simulated LCS in its Diploma of Business program to extend collaborative methods and understanding of how different business courses can work together to achieve heightened student engagement. This chapter provides an overview of the journey from planning to implementation, approaches adapted in different courses, reflections on what was learned, and future recommendations if the LCS were to be re-implemented at EIBT.

Creative Aging

This chapter introduces the Developmental and Intelligence Theories of middle and late adulthood and relates them to the complex construct of creativity. Analyses of these theories in regard to middle adulthood assess why an individual may be the most immersed in creativity during this period of life. This is followed by a conclusive examination of ways in which to stimulate creativity in the later years, primarily through looking at the relation between developmental theories and the impact of a cognitively rich environment. These two periods of the lifespan encompass a majority of the average adult's existence in this world, and as such provide a framework upon which the necessity of stimulating creativity must be examined.

Creativity

The chapter examines the relationship between creativity and human development from birth to eighteen years of age. The chapter begins by describing several fundamental developmental theories, including Sigmund Freud's psychosexual stages of development, Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, Urie Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems theory, and Jean Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development. Lev Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development Theory is also explored. The use of creativity in these theories and the relationship between these theories and creativity is also explored. After these theories are discussed, the importance of creativity will be highlighted by examining how creativity is developed, impacts cognitive, and social-emotional development in childhood. Creativity development is linked to pretend play, and it is important for parents to help nurture their child in an appropriate manner. Finally, this chapter explores how stimulating a child's divergent thinking in early life will have a host of benefits in later life.

Creativity in the Schools

J.P. Guilford in 1950 inquired as to why American schools were not producing more creative people. However, this is not just an American issue. There is increasing interest and work in this area internationally. In fact, Craft (2005) pointed out that policy makers, educators and researchers globally see the teaching of creativity is important in education. This chapter presents a review of past and current research and practice here and abroad on developing creative thinkers in our schools from the primary through secondary grades. Relationships will be described between creativity and learning, motivation, personality, insight, metacognition, and academic achievement. Techniques for developing creative thinking will be emphasized and elucidated. Study of the development of creative thinking in our schools is important because it will help educators determine how to improve P-12 students' skills and dispositions to become the innovators and entrepreneurs of the future. The chapter will end with a discussion of implications for future research and practice.