Teaching for creativity: Domains and divergent thinking, intrinsic motivation, and evaluation

Abstract

There is not yet consensus among creativity researchers about how domain-specific creativity may be, but domain specificity has huge implications for activities designed to nurture divergent thinking. I will explain why assuming domain generality poses large risks that creativity training may be ineffective if domain generality is wrong, whereas assuming domain specificity poses no such risks even if domain specificity were completely mistaken. I will also suggest ways to avoid some of the negative effects of evaluation on intrinsic motivation and creativity and describe ways to balance teaching for skills and content knowledge with teaching for creativity.