Creativity and problem-solving are two of the most desired qualities in many different disciplines and career paths. Creating an environment that encourages a sense of possibility and comfort for students can be a struggle, but I believe art and creativity are vehicles for achieving a positive and engaging classroom environment, as well as a helpful tool in building rapport with students. This belief was formed during my time teaching through major change in the Midwestern city of Madison, Wisconsin. Educators like myself shifted from Discipline-Based Art Education to approaches and practices to curriculum goals more reflective of combining science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM), project-based learning (PBL), and Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB). Moves like these place creativity and problem-solving at the forefront of an art education that aims to help prepare students for the problems they will encounter as they self-identify and navigate through a vast and evolving world.

 

Yet one does not have to look far to see reluctance and fear of embracing one’s own creative side, as well as feelings of inadequate abilities to explore creative potential and turn it into creative action. For example as a middle school art teacher, I saw that my students could critically analyze social issues and make real-world connections, developing their own place and responsibility in creating change. I loved this about them! Their sense of self was easily depicted in the artwork they produced, the ideas they grasped, and diligence they demonstrated through art making. Among the confident creators, however, were many students who fell short in brainstorming ideas and feeling successful in the art room. In fact, several of these students worked hard to convince me they could not draw or creatively express their ideas, or even find a place to start in staring at a blank canvas in front of them. Such gaps in creative confidence continue beyond middle school, and I believe this problem has a profound influence on K-12 education, through the creative confidence of generalist teachers. The types of preservice training generalist teachers receive, along with their own beliefs and values, greatly affect how and if educators choose to implement creativity and the arts into their future classrooms.

 

In many school districts, art educators are still fighting for their spot. They are constantly evaluated in terms of student progress with Common Core standards, and questioned if classes that teach about creativity are really as important as classes that teach literacy, mathematics, and science. This question is one of many that drives discussion in the class I now teach for prospective teachers: Multicultural Art and Visual Learning in Elementary Education (MAVL) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Each section of this class is full of generalist preservice teachers, trying to navigate an understanding of the art world and how it can enhance and be integrated into their future classroom. MAVL is a requirement at UWM for certification in early childhood through middle school education and also meets a general education requirement. UWM offers three to four sections of the course each semester, with each section including approximately 20 to 24 students, often including students from majors across the university. At least two additional sections of MAVL are offered over winter and summer sessions, thus enrolling close to 160 preservice students each year. As expressed in each instructors’ syllabus, the goal of the class is to help students feel comfortable with the work of culturally diverse artists and art forms in order to be able to nurture creativity and support visual expressiveness in their future classrooms. The purpose is to help students see that art is a path by which teachers and students can come to understand and make meaning in the world. With an urban focus and social justice mission, classes look especially at contemporary artists of color and examine the multiple ways they explore identity and other relevant themes. Instructors assure students that regardless of their past experiences in art, they can succeed in this class.

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I am constantly echoing this message from the syllabus to students during class time. I am not there to transform them into artists, but rather broaden their views and ability to include contemporary art as a way to start conversations with students that reflect the social, political, and economical issues of our past and present world. In my section of the course, we discuss creative confidence throughout the semester, especially as a motivator in own hands-on studio projects students experience as part of the course. Creative confidence is not only feeling confident in your own creative abilities, but is also about believing in your responsibility to create change in the world around you. It is also about discovering a sense of accomplishment in solving problems and achieving what you set out to do.

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As MAVL students approach their first hands-on art projects at the beginning of the semester, I overhear conversations including, “I’m not an artist” and “is it okay to draw stick figures?” as well as “this isn’t my thing.” I approach these conversations with a positive, open-minded perspective, reminding myself that these students have not chosen to be art majors for a reason. Most of them have chosen to teach, and I have a responsibility to provide a comfortable and creative environment in which they can explore the skills they may not realize they have. I am there to help them rediscover the creativity they may have lost and shine a light on all the possibilities and opportunities it creates for their futures in education.

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Robinson (2016) suggests curiosity and creativity are "educated out of us" by giving rationality a higher status. Stanford D. School innovator and K-12 educator Laura McBain agrees by claiming “everyone is creative…but at some point it gets fostered out of us” (2018). Many people are likely to hold on to what they are comfortable doing, hesitant to step out of the box and explore new possibilities. Though when stepped outside the box, people tend to discover opportunity and success after taking that first step. As Bayles and Orland remind us, "tolerance for uncertainty is the prerequisite to succeeding" (1993, p. 21).  

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Karwowski and Beghetto argue the human individual lives far within their own perceived limits, never reaching far outside their comfort zone (2018). How does one, then, turn creative potential into creative achievement? How do people begin to feel successful in something they know is outside of their comfortable limits? “In order for someone to transform their creative potential into creative action, they need to have confidence in their ability to act creatively and believe that there is value in doing so” (Karwowski & Beghetto, 2018, p.12). If awareness of one’s own creative potential helps people sustain effort in the face of setbacks, then it becomes a matter of both personally identifying with creativity and viewing as a worthwhile pursuit.

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My research aims to bridge a gap between disciplines, reminding those who have lost their willingness to embrace their inner artist to find connections and discover meaning through the arts. If students are going to embrace their creative confidence, they have to believe in their own ability to make change. They have to believe their skills and capabilities are not set in stone. To borrow from Tom and David Kelly (2013) “If you currently feel that you are not a creative person—if you think, I’m not good at that kind of thing—you have to let go of that believe before you can move on…you have to believe that learning and growth are possible” (p. 30).

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This perspective is not lost on preservice generalist teachers but may just need an encouraging push towards embracing the power of creative confidence and all of its potential. This problem has led me to my research questions: 1. What are the preconceived notions and beliefs of preservice generalist teachers toward creativity? 2. What aspects of art education preservice training contribute to generalist teachers’ levels of creative confidence? 3. How can preservice art education training nurture creative confidence in generalist teachers? 4. How do art experiences in preservice training change generalists’ preconceived notions and beliefs about creativity?

 

The purpose of this study is to explore the most useful types of training for preservice generalist teachers to nurture creative confidence in their own leadership. My research aims to analyze what tools, resources and types of instruction will be most influential for implementation in their future classrooms. This research aims to gain understanding of where the uncertainty and reluctance comes from, as well as how to identify and build the knowledge and skills students feel they are lacking. This is essential for both students and teachers when encouraging and developing both a creative and growth mindset in art and generalist classrooms.

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