Fueling Creativity in Education
Episodes
Tuesday Jun 11, 2024
Tuesday Jun 11, 2024
In this special episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, hosts Dr. Matthew Worwood, Dr. Cyndi Burnett, guests Dr. James Kaufman, and musical theater composer Dana Rowe delve deep into the intersection of theater, creativity, and education. Matthew opens up about his personal journey and how embracing his true self has enhanced his ability to foster creativity in others. Dana shares invaluable tips for educators to rekindle the spark of creativity within their classrooms, including creating a safe environment for emotional exploration and integrating musical theater exercises to help students experiment with various identities. The hosts also emphasize the collaborative essence of theater, exemplified by stories of on-stage mishaps and improvisational adaptability, which not only entertain but also underscore the importance of skills like active listening and quick thinking.
James shares his wide-ranging insights on creativity, touching on how theater intersects with domains such as music, storytelling, science, and technology. Dana and James discuss their collaborative effort on a book that draws inspiration from musical theater characters. The hosts and guests share personal anecdotes about the profound impact of theater on their own lives, careers, and family experiences. This heartwarming episode fosters a deeper understanding of how creativity and collaboration in theater can enrich educational experiences, empowering educators to unlock their students' unique gifts and strengths.
Lessons in Creativity from Musical Theatre Characters book
Teacher Round Table Documentary
About Our Guests:
Dr. James Kaufman is a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. He is one of the leading researchers in the field of creativity, authoring, and editing over 50 books. He has published more than 300 papers, and three well-known theories of creativity, including the Four-C Model of Creativity. He has co-authored several books for educators including Teaching for Creativity in the Common Core Classroom, Nurturing Creativity in the Classroom, and Being Creative Inside and Outside of the Classroom. Recently he published the book lessons in creativity from musical theatre characters with Dana Rowe.
Dana P. Rowe is a New York-based American composer and musical director whose works have been performed in NYC, the West End and around the world. His off-Broadway musical, Zombie Prom, has reached cult status and was filmed starring RuPaul and Katy Mixon. There have been more than 3,500 different productions around the world. Dana is also a certified professional development coach who specializes in working with creative professionals!
Eager to bring more creativity into your school district?
Check out our sponsor Curiosity2Create.org and CreativeThinkingNetwork.com
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school? Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to understand how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
Tuesday Oct 31, 2023
Tuesday Oct 31, 2023
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, Dr. Matthew Worwood and Dr. Cyndi Burnett interview Eric Booth, a thought leader in teaching artistry. He shares his experience as a teaching artist, highlighting the crucial role they play in activating learners' artistry and helping them express themselves in various artistic disciplines. Eric also discusses the need to support the artistry of educators and create a classroom culture that encourages creativity. He proposes practical strategies for incorporating regular creative activities and fostering intrinsic motivation in students.
He shares his insights on activating our creative capacity as a continuous process, similar to exercising a muscle. Eric also discusses the challenges of replicating discussions in different sections of his teaching, recognizing the need to be flexible and open to new approaches.
Overall, this thought-provoking episode explores the intersection of creativity and education, emphasizing the importance of fostering artistry in learners and educators alike. Join us as we dive into the practical strategies, personal experiences, and insightful perspectives shared by Eric Booth.
Eager to bring more creativity into your school district?Check out our sponsor Curiosity2Create.org and CreativeThinkingNetwork.comWhat to learn more about Design Thinking in Education? Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school? Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to understand how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, hosts Cyndi Burnett and Matthew Worwood welcome Izzy Gesell, an organizational alchemist and expert in humor, creativity, improv, and education. Izzy shares his insights on the connections and differences between improvisation, creativity, and humor. He explains that humor is a mindset that creates joy, while improv is a process that fosters creativity through restrictions. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing and addressing personal blocks and fears in order to cultivate playfulness and humor in the classroom.Matthew and Cyndi discuss the role of constraints in the classroom environment and how improvisation can help teachers embrace and navigate these constraints with laughter and flexibility. They also touch on the fear and resistance that some teachers may have towards incorporating humor and improvisation in their teaching. Izzy offers recommendations for teachers, including practicing improv, recognizing personal blocks, and understanding that humor is about creating a positive environment rather than telling jokes.The episode highlights the parallels between teaching and performing arts, both requiring energy, movement, and storytelling skills. The hosts and guest discuss the power of storytelling in engaging students and making curriculum more relevant. Overall, this episode offers practical insights and strategies for infusing humor, creativity, and improvisation into the classroom, giving teachers the tools and confidence to create a more playful and enjoyable learning environment.
Eager to bring more creativity into your school district?
Check out our sponsor Curiosity2Create.org and CreativeThinkingNetwork.com
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school? Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to understand how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
About Izzy Gesell:
Izzy Gesell is an “organizational alchemist” He was a special education teacher in NYC before becoming a standup comedian and improvisor and then a professional speaker and facilitator. Through keynotes, breakouts, coaching and facilitated sessions, Izzy offers imaginative, intuitive and immediately useful insights and programs. He delivers meaningful material in an enjoyable way. Among the first to use Improv Theater concepts as tools for personal and organizational learning, he is the author of Playing Along: Group Learning Activities Borrowed From Improvisation Theater & Instructional Moments: Facilitating with Applied Improv. His video course for LinkedIn Learning, “Leading With Applied Improv,” was their first on the topic . His other LinkedIn courses “Humor in the Workplace” and “Building Your Team.” He has a BA in Psychology, an MS in Education and a P… that’s 1/3 of a PhD and now lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Twitter: @improvizzy FB: Humorology LinkedIN: IzzyGesell
Tuesday Feb 21, 2023
Tuesday Feb 21, 2023
How can educators make learning more fun, engaging, and empowering? Today’s guest has lots of tips and tricks! In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Samantha Olschan, an award-winning transmedia artist and educator who works across animation, art, and design for films, brands, and experiential media. Her creative practice investigates how storytelling, motion design, and experimental narrative can serve underrepresented and/or underserved communities.
Listen in to learn how Samantha combines collaborative, game-based, and project-based learning in the classroom with digital media as a learning aid. You’ll gain insight into how you can use gamification, play, special projects, and “artist dates” to engage students in learning through creativity both in the classroom and out in their community.
“Through experimentation and play, we can open ourselves up to learning more.”
– Samantha Olschan
Samantha describes how creativity is separate from art and design, the importance of teaching students to work with ambiguity, and how to get your students/kids to trust their ideas and feel confident in their creativity. She emphasizes the value of organizing class time to enable students to explore their interests, produce quality outcomes, and avoid burnout.
“My approach to teaching creativity is through reconnecting the student to empathy and trust. They have to trust their ideas.” – Samantha Olschan
Samantha’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Practice empathy. Think about your students and what they would be excited by, and even your younger self and what you would be excited by.
Give yourself permission to try new things.
Ask lots of questions to the people around you.
Find a mentor or be a mentor. There are lots of people in your community that can support you and engage with your students in fun ways.
Look to your community for funding for creative materials and resources.
Creativity is about experimentation, exploration, and engagement - not tools, objects, and outcomes.
Recommended Resources:
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Listen to the episode with Liz Radday
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school? Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
About Samantha Olschan:
Samantha Olschan is an award-winning transmedia artist & educator who works across animation, art, and design for films, brands, and experiential media. Her creative practice investigates how storytelling, motion design, & experimental narrative can be of service to underrepresented and/or underserved communities. As an educator, she combines collaborative, game-based & project-based learning in the classroom with digital media as a learning aid.
Recent exhibitions and screenings include the Black Maria Film & Video Festival, P.O.V. Series (PBS), The ShortList (PBS), Hollywood North Film Awards, Womenwhodraw.com, FrackFest, Visionfest, Tribeca Cinemas, Bumbershoot, New Haven International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Boston Cinema Census, Boston Underground Film Festival, Conversations at the Edge, The Gene Siskel Film Center, Marblehead Film Festival & the Skopelos Foundation for the Arts in Greece.
Teaching appointments in animation, media, and design include the University of Connecticut, Pratt Institute, Wesleyan University, Quinnipiac University, Columbia College, New York Film Academy & The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. M.F.A. in Film, Video & New Media: Animation from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. B.F.A in Fine Arts: Electronic & Time-Based Media from Carnegie Mellon University.
Visit Samantha’s website
Follow her on Instagram
Follow her on Twitter
Tuesday Jan 31, 2023
Tuesday Jan 31, 2023
How do we facilitate learning that invites inquiry and makes learning purposeful? In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Dr. Penny Hay, an artist, educator, and researcher in the field of culture and creativity. Penny’s doctoral research focused on children’s learning identities as artists.
Tune in to learn Penny’s approach to engaging children in learning through the arts and across the curriculum, what she’s discovered in her research about children’s learning identities as artists, and how you can start teaching art creatively in your classroom.
“What art does is manifest and make visible creativity daily. So, it’s a lovely approach to inviting possibility and a really creative approach to teaching art and design in the primary curriculum.” – Dr. Penny Hay
Penny details the important role of the adult in children’s learning, how to reimagine education with an inquiry-based approach, and the power of learning as a shared experience where you are your children’s learning companion.
“Imagine a world where our children are engaged in serious creative play, where their environments are full of space and light, where adults are companions in the children’s inquiries about the world. Creative adults who show a deep respect for children’s ideas, theories, and fascinations.” – Dr. Penny Hay
Penny’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Invite possibility and openness to create an ethos that makes creativity visible.
Go with the flow so that you genuinely follow children’s fascinations.
Recommended Resources:
House of Imagination
Forest of Imagination
Teaching Art Creatively by Dr. Penny Hay
Children are Artists: Supporting Children’s Learning Identity as Artists by Dr. Penny Hay
Schools Without Walls UK
Listen to S1 Episode 6 with Ron Beghetto
Listen to S2 Episode 7 with Ron Beghetto
Follow Bath Spa University on Instagram
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school? Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
About Dr. Penny Hay:
Dr. Penny Hay is an artist, educator and researcher, Reader in Creative Teaching and Learning, Senior Lecturer in Arts Education, School of Education; Research Fellow, Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries; Bath Spa University and Director of Research, House of Imagination. Signature projects include School Without Walls and Forest of Imagination. Penny’s doctoral research focused on children’s learning identity as artists.
Penny is the strand leader for Creative Pedagogy in the Policy, Pedagogy and Practice Research Centre, Associate Director of TRACE at Bath Spa University and co-chair of the eARTh research group focusing on education, arts and the environment. She is co-investigator on an Erasmus+ project ‘Interstice’ in Europe researching the space between art, children and educators.
Penny is also a visiting Lecturer at Plymouth College of Art, National Teaching Fellow and Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, with awards from Action for Children’s Arts and Creative Bath.
Visit Penny’s website
Follow her on Twitter
Tuesday Nov 08, 2022
Tuesday Nov 08, 2022
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Dr. Jonathan Fineberg, an art historian, critic of contemporary art, and the program director of the PhD in Creativity program at University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
Listen in to learn Jonathan’s perspective on the relationship between creativity and the arts, how art encourages us to see things in different ways and give things new meaning, and the process he uses to enable his PhD students to apply creativity to their specific discipline.
“If you want to get great abs, you do a lot of sit ups. If you want to try and be a creative thinker, you need to exercise the capacity to build the new connections in the brain for solving problems and in particular, problems that can’t be solved.” – Jonathan Fineberg
He also speaks on the beneficial role of critique in the creative process and why non-linear thinking is a critical part of The PhD in Creativity program while being frowned upon in other PhD fields.
Plus, Jonathan details how you can translate these PhD-level creativity strategies to your K-12 classroom.
“What you really want to do is understand where kids are coming from and what they’re interested in and how to enable them to do what they want to do better.” – Jonathan Fineberg
Jonathan’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Be a really open listener. Understand your students and what they need from you.
Develop a trust-based mentor relationship with each student. If students trust you, they will leap into something they don’t understand just because you told them to try it.
Have an open mind.
Recommended Resources:
Get your FREE download of Art Since 1940: Strategies of Being by Jonathan David Fineberg
The PhD in Creativity at University of the Arts
The Ignorant Schoolmaster: Five Lessons in Intellectual Emancipation by Jacques Rancière
Feeling & Knowing: Making Minds Conscious Hardcover by Antonio Damasio
A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebeca Solnit
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school? Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
About Jonathan Fineberg:
Jonathan Fineberg is an art historian, a critic of contemporary art, and the program director of the PhD in Creativity program at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. The particular art theory that has evolved in his writing over a 50-year career is a social history of art grounded in psychoanalysis and the close reading of objects. This derives from his efforts to understand the dynamics of creativity and how societies use and interact with works of art.
He is the author of "Art Since 1940: Strategies of Being," the most widely read survey of postwar art, and co-creator (with John Carlin) of "Imagining America: Icons of 20th Century American Art," the award-winning PBS television documentary of 2005. Fineberg is also the author of some 30 books and catalogs on modern art.
Learn more about The PhD in Creativity at University of the Arts
Follow University of the Arts on Instagram
Tuesday Aug 30, 2022
Tuesday Aug 30, 2022
What does a design thinking program for children look like? Let’s find out!
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Zviko Kanyoka, a Project Manager for placemaking programs at Play Africa. Zviko is currently preparing to scale Play Africa's Design Thinking with Children programs across Sub-Saharan Africa, empowering children with creative skills by encouraging active citizenship within their communities.
Listen in to learn how Zviko’s background in architecture inspires her curriculum design and her work with children in the classroom. She sheds light on how children can actively participate in designing their learning environment along with the opportunity educators have to create workshops for learning creative skills, communication skills, spatial awareness and connectivity, problem-solving, and much more!
Zviko talks about methods of teaching kids about climate change and environmental conservation, the most important part of engaging children in your community, and the importance of having the freedom to play as a child, especially within African communities.
“To value play is to value our imagination, to value our creativity, and continually entertaining the idea that we always have an option to create new models of being.” – Zviko Kanyoka
Plus, you’ll learn how Play Africa’s Design Thinking with Children program is making a direct impact on their communities and her strategy for scaling and expanding the program.
“We’re centering children’s varied experiences, feelings, and needs and we’re helping learn how to identify social challenges and creative problem solve through ideating, prototyping, and testing possible solutions for safer and more playful communities.” – Zviko Kanyoka
Zviko’s Design Thinking with Children Workshop Framework:
Transfer your workshop from the school to a communal workspace in your community, like a library. Familiarize your students to the environment and have them think of ways they would transform the space.
Get your students to ideate, draw, and visualize ideas for transformation they want to see in those spaces.
Encourage them to gather materials, then have a session for prototyping their transformations.
Recommended Resources:
Listen to the episode with Tamara Doleman
Listen to the episode with Dr. Vlad Glaveanu
Play Africa Toolkit
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school? Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
About Zviko Kanyoka:
Zviko Kanyoka is a Project Manager for placemaking programmes at Play Africa with a background in architecture. Her work is driven by her passion for supporting children’s creative expression and right to the city through participatory development. She's currently preparing to scale Play Africa's Design Thinking with Children programme across Sub-Saharan Africa, empowering children with creative skills through encouraging their active citizenship within their communities.
Follow Zviko on Instagram
Tuesday Jun 28, 2022
Tuesday Jun 28, 2022
Should social media content creation be part of K-12 education? Yes, but the answer is more complex than that…
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with Carrington Faulk, a high school marketing teacher, Google for Education Certified Trainer, and Founder of ‘skilltivity.’, an online education platform that seeks to advance your creative thinking skills. Carrington enjoys educating learners of all ages on how to master subjects in the realm of creativity, technology, leadership, marketing, and innovation.
Tune in to learn why video is such a popular medium for creative expression and how YouTube and TikTok play a powerful role in educating students and connecting them with the world. You’ll also learn the benefits and concerns of integrating video production and social media content creation in the classroom.
“I’ve never seen this many students want to be YouTubers in my life than they do right now. But the big thing that I try to tell them is it’s not what the popular platform [is] now, I tell them to think about what’s going to be popular later and what’s up and coming.” – Carrington Faulk
Carrington shares the tech tools and activities he uses to spark creativity in the classroom along with the real-life opportunities (and dangers) of encouraging kids to use social media to express their creativity. He also sheds light on the importance of teaching students about modern marketing, future trends, the metaverse, and creative leadership.
Plus… Carrington breaks down his strategy for facilitating the “question-asking” and critical thinking/reflection parts of the creative process, as well as how his personal creativity in music inspires his students’ creativity in the classroom.
“If we aren’t being creative leaders in the classroom, then we will get left behind as educators.” – Carrington Faulk
Carrington’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Everyone needs to ask more questions.
We are in the 4th Industrial Revolution, a workforce where AI and automation is changing the landscape of work every single day. So, students need to understand that the jobs and opportunities they see today may not be the ones they see in the future.
Each district should have a Chief Creative Officer.
Resources Mentioned:
Subscribe to the skilltivity. YouTube channel
Listen to the episode with Jonathan Plucker
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school? Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
About Carrington Faulk:
Carrington Faulk is a high school marketing teacher and Google for Education Certified Trainer who enjoys educating learners of all ages on how to master subjects in the realm of creativity, technology, leadership, marketing, and innovation. He is the founder of ‘skilltivity.’, an online education platform that seeks to advance your creative skills. In his time away from education, Carrington is a musician (carringtonfaulk.com), owner of ‘MICAH3 - a video branding agency’ (micah3.com), and husband & father to his wife and 4 kids.
Connect with Carrington Faulk on LinkedInFollow him on Twitter