Creativity and Improvised Educations

Examining the improvised relationships among lifelong learning, formal education, and creativity, this volume provides detailed case studies of the creative work of people from a wide variety of fields. Each profile allows readers to explore how real people's distinctive points of view, senses of purpose, and ultimate contributions developed through participation in complex worlds. By looking at creativity as a distributed and participatory process, these cases deconstruct the myth of solitary creative genius, while exploring applications of complexity theory to creative work and raising new questions for creativity research. Providing a framework for thinking about education, agency, and change, this book is valuable for both students and researchers seeking concrete ways to broaden their understanding of creativity in practice.

Michael Hanchett Hanson is a developmental psychologist; Director of the Masters Concentration in Creativity and Cognition at Teachers College, Columbia University; a founding member and Secretary of the International Society for the Study of Creativity and Innovation (ISSCI); and President of Contexts R+D, a research and consulting practice.

Introduction: Uncertain Times 1. Participating through Theater 2. Participating through Neurology 3. Participating through Cuisine 4. Participating through Knitting 5. Participating through Revolution: Mao 6. Participating through Revolution: Dewantara Conclusion: Creative Work, Improvisation, and Participation