In their article "The Bias Against Creativity," Mueller et. al (2012) outline the paradoxical ways in which conditions in which creativity flourishes and is recognized, as well as discussing some barriers for its appreciation. Specifically, it was interesting to contrast the results of their study with previous research: Mueller et. al (2012) noted that the literature suggested that times of uncertainty seemed to foster creativity, even though their findings were that uncertainty complicates the ability to recognize creativity. To extend this, in unprecedented times, people may cling to the familiar. Additionally, Mueller et. al (2012) noted that one of the barriers to creativity are time constraints and efficiency, in the sense that people are less motivated to accept new, novel ideas when the existing framework and pedagogies work just fine.
I don't know about you, but I hear this all the time: Why reinvent the wheel? To this, I like to say, But why not change the tires?
I understand. There are so many constraints to changing the status quo (Watkins & Ostenson, 2015), whether it is parent pushback or lack of support from other teachers, whether it is a lack of time or lack of resources. Watkins and Ostenson (2015) surveyed high school English teachers and came up with a myriad of detailed barriers to changing up the novels they teach. In this case, even playing around with primary texts has its obstacles. But when they bring up the idea of time, that's when I think about the common question, "Why reinvent the wheel?"
I would like to believe that the frequency with which this phrase is uttered is simply a reflection on limited time; that it does not reflect a resistance to employing creative new ideas, and piloting innovative projects in the classroom.
I am an idealistic young teacher, and I don't have much of a social life unless it is winter/ spring/ summer break. I know, if I am to survive this job long term, I need to be more efficient with my time and recognize when not to reinvent the wheel.
But for now, I want to keep changing the tires, playing with the material, changing the textures, the colours, the shapes.
References
Mueller, J.S., Melwai, S., & Goncalo, J.A. (2012). The bias against creativity: Why people desire but reject creative ideas. Psychological Science, 23(1), 13–17. doi: 10.1177/0956797611421018
Watkins, N., & Ostenson, J. (2015). Navigating the text selection gauntlet: Exploring factors that influence English teachers’ choices. English Education, 47(3), 245-275. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24570935
Hi Kaitlin,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and agree that being hesitant to reinventing the wheel has a lot to do with time constraints over other factors. This has certainly been the case in my own practice, especially when there are so many things to cover.
I hope that you are enjoying changing the tires and also able to find more time for yourself and your social life - if that is what serves you best!
Jeevan
Hi Kaitlin,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your post. I completely agree with you that being cautious about reinventing the wheel has so much to do with time constraints. Educators are so busy and there is limited time to create new resources and lesson plans and therefore we often do not try and reinvent the wheel, which in turn is taking away from the development of innovative resources. However, unless we want to use up all of our free time, we are not able to do this. It becomes hard because then we are maintaining the status quo. I have never heard of the changing of the tires, and I love this approach to the question! I appreciate the different perspectives that you brought with this post. Thank you so much for sharing, I look forward to following along with more!
Amy