Creativity: It's Personal

Students just finished working on an iMovie project in Media Collage.  They started by writing a story, which they read and edited in small groups.  The story did not need to revolve around some major event, but could tell about a much more prosaic moment--something that could happen anytime, any day.  Now we are watching each other’s movies, and they are about what one would expect, given that many of the students are 1st time iMovie makers.  The narration can be hard to hear, the cropping can seem a little off or questionable, the images can be a bit pixelated.  Still, the students’ comments to each other have been very positive.  After viewing a half dozen of these, I asked them to reflect on whether these are really all that important.  By and large, students saw quite a bit of meaning in what their classmates constructed.  

For example, one student decided to tell the story of the first time he went out with friends.  According to this student, he was the stereotypical gamer: his social life revolved around playing video games in his basement.  The story he wrote and iMovie he created documents a "moment of crisis" when he realized that he had to be missing out on some pretty fun and important stuff by voluntarily locking himself away.  Without sounding unduly harsh, the video and storytelling have some moments that could probably be handled better: there is some overly-descriptive, over-wrought phrasing and questionable imagery that does not help push the story forward.  But what mattered to this student’s classmates is that he created something that “documents this important moment in his life.”  Whether any of us or anybody else ever views it again is insignificant compared to the fact that he now has this work that preserves this moment.  The meaning is personal, which might just be the case for all creativity, whether done by pros or amateurs.  In any creative pursuit, the meaning must always be personal.  From a teacher’s point of view, the truly great part of this whole experience is that many of them have arrived at this exact conclusion.

The entire process, including our conversation, reinforced points made by David Gauntlett in his book Making is Connecting.  He has articulated these ideas in an interview Henry Jenkins as well as in a presentation available on YouTube.  Here’s a great statement:

acts of everyday creativity are extremely important. You can cast them as just ‘a nice thing’ for individuals, and normally they are a nice thing for individuals, but they are much more than that. Every time someone decides to make something themselves, rather than buying or consuming something already made by someone else, they are making a distinct choice, to be an active participant in the world rather than an observer or a shopper in the world. And through the process of making, they get to enjoy, as I’ve said, that sense of purpose and connection, and satisfaction.

Key within this explanation is Gauntlett’s point about being an active producer instead of a passive consumer.  Earlier in this same interview, Gauntlett criticizes the definition of creativity that specifies that it must be purposeful within a particular field.  Obviously, this kind of creativity is crucial for advancement in any field.  But Gauntlett’s point is that creativity is not solely the purview of professionals working with a prescribed field.  It is existentially important to all people, whether it is pursued on or off line.

As our discussion about our iMovies became a more general conversation about how the internet and digital tools is fueling amateur creativity, a number of the students argued that this is where schools could play a vital role.  The term “digital native” has come under some fire for its accuracy.  Still, there is a tendency on the part of adults, including teachers, to see students as skilled navigators when it comes to the internet and their devices.  My Media Collage students could not agree.  In my conversations with them I have found that most feel as overwhelmed as me.  Sure, in certain digital settings and with certain tools, they are powerful communicators and actors.  But their point to me is that they are as desperate as most adults to understand how to carve out a personally significant vantage point in the midst of the overwhelming digital landscape.  As one student explained, “Schools need to take a more active role in helping people to navigate the internet.  I want to understand how to access different levels of creativity online and within myself.”  As a teacher, I can not think of a much loftier and necessary goal.  Of course, as a teacher, I also realize that this lofty goal invariably runs up against all of the other “goals” that I must achieve: from the curriculum I must get through to the local, state, and federal mandates of which I must be cognizant.  Perhaps this is the biggest reason to have a class dedicated solely to this student’s stated need.  The curriculum is the landscape itself and how to navigate it and feel that the tools and technology empower an individual’s creativity.