Fueling Creativity in Education

How School Boards Can Influence Creativity with AJ Crabill

We all know the greatest change is often made from the top down… So, do you want to learn how to create change starting at your school board? Want to shift your school system to focus more on creativity and student outcomes? We have an incredible change maker to share his tips and strategies with you. In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome AJ Crabill, a school board coach and conservator at DeSoto Independent School District.
 
Listen in as AJ talks about his role as a school district conservator, detailing his approach for translating what the community wants for their school system into a vision the school board can support and implement. He notes the role of creativity, creative thinking, and creative problem-solving in the school board’s decision-making process and ultimately, student outcomes.
 
“That’s a large part of what my team and I are constantly up against is accelerating a shift from an adult inputs focus – the budgets, the books, the buses, all those things – to a student outcomes focus.” – AJ Crabill
 
AJ highlights a few strategies he uses to guide school boards in reallocating resources and focusing more on student outcomes. He also shares examples of creative goals, plans, and solutions school boards have come up with to do that. Then, AJ addresses the challenges and barriers you might run into when creating change at the school board level.
“People want their kids to be set up for success and it’s the job of the school board to listen for that vision of the community and do everything in their power to make sure that that possibility is coming alive through the work of the school system.” – AJ Crabill
 
AJ’s Tips on Creating Change in Your School Board:
Give your school board permission to focus on creativity. Come together as a team of parents/teachers and be clear about what you want your kids to be able to know and do. Clarify that part of that lives in creativity, ambiguity, and uncertainty.
School boards want to help educators be affective at their craft. As an educator, give your school board the resources, research, and tools you need to be the most affective at teaching.
 
AJ’s Tips for Educators, Board Members, and Parents on Bringing Creativity into the School System:
For school board members, go watch school board meetings in different states than your own. The variability is significant! This will free your mind to pursue something different than what you’ve always done.
For educators, think about what it would take to create the most ideal lesson plan for one specific item. Release the urgency and spend 2-6 months developing the most epic, amazing lesson plan and see what you can create.
For parents, spend time going through everything your child is expected to learn this year and see where you can participate - what areas do you have knowledge or experience in? Consider partnering with your child’s educator in that area.
 
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! Please rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
 
Recommended Resources:
Visit AJ’s website
 
About AJ Crabill:
AJ is a school board coach and currently serves as conservator at DeSoto ISD. AJ is committed to accelerating the transition of the nation’s 14,000 school boards from being adult input focused to being student outcomes focused.
 
Visit AJ’s website
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Connect with him on LinkedIn
 

Teaching Teachers about Creativity with Lisa Saunders

In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Lisa Saunders, a 4th grade teacher based in Connecticut. Listen in to gain insight into Lisa’s experience at the Teacher Innovation Studio (a program facilitated by Matt) and how it transformed her thinking as an educator.
Lisa shares the unique challenge she worked on that led her to become a Teacher Innovation Champion in 2022: “How can I help students regulate their emotions to be prepared for learning throughout the school day by using plickers and a choice board?”
Lisa talks about how the data from students’ plickers influenced the decisions she made throughout her creative project. She speaks on how she was taught teacher creativity and design thinking in the Teacher Innovation Studio, highlighting the personal challenges she faced with not feeling creative as an educator.
“That was my biggest takeaway from this program was flipping the script on my thinking about creativity and how I view it. Now, I see that everything I do is creative. Every time I step into my classroom, I am creatively solving a problem.”  – Lisa Saunders
Lisa then shares the valuable lessons she learned from being in a teacher cohort and how she’s helping her students navigate their emotions and become better problem-solvers.
Lisa’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Just go for it! Try something new and if it fails, that’s okay. Failure is good!
Know that you are creative.
Trust yourself and focus on the good. You are doing a great job! Remember how many incredible things you’re doing every day.
Recommended Resources:
Learn more about Teacher Innovation Studio
Listen to the episode on How Emotions Influence the Creative Process with Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle
 
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! Please rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
 
About Lisa Saunders:
Prior to becoming a teacher, Lisa worked in sports marketing. She has been an elementary educator for more than 10 years and I have had experience teaching in grades K through 6th. She is currently teaching fourth grade at Long Meadow Elementary School which is Region 15 (Southbury/Middlebury).
 
Lisa went to Western New England University for her undergraduate degree, where she played D3 basketball all four years. She scored more than 1,000 points and had almost 1,000 rebounds.
Lisa was a two-year captain, MVP, and coach’s award, ranked as D3hoops.com player, and in 2019, she was inducted into the Western New England University Hall of Fame.
 
Lisa obtained her masters from Sacred Heart University. Most recently, she received Educational Administration & Supervision Sixth-Year Certificate (092) from the University of Bridgeport. Lisa is also the Teacher Innovation Champion 2022!
 
Lisa currently resides in Southbury, Connecticut with her husband and two boys.
 
Follow Lisa on Instagram

The Thinking Teacher is a Creative Teacher with Dr. Kulvarn Atwal

Calling all teachers! Do you need a boost of confidence in your career? Are you ready to take your profession to the next level? This is the episode for you!
 
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome back Dr. Kulvarn Atwal, an educator, principal, and author of The Thinking School and The Thinking Teacher. The Thinking Teacher was written to share the findings of Kulvarn’s doctoral research, which highlights how educators can create a more expansive learning environment through quality teaching.
Listen in to learn how you can take charge of your own professional learning, transform your mindset around teaching, and boost your confidence and resilience as an educator.
In England, 33% of teachers leave the teaching profession within five years. So, Kulvarn has made it his mission to figure out how we can help teachers enjoy teaching more and make it a long-lasting career.
Tune in as Kulvarn shares powerful, research-backed advice for new teachers and teachers who want to leave the profession. He speaks on how schools and teachers can continue innovating and fueling creativity after the pandemic is over. Then, he highlights the importance of teacher agency in their professional development and how that impacts students.
“Sometimes, we look at other education systems and think, what is their magic ingredient? It’s not magic. Just improve the quality of teaching. So, this is about them taking charge for themselves, empowering themselves, and giving them the confidence to know what they’re doing.” – Dr. Kulvarn Atwal
Kulvarn’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Look outside of your classroom for inspiration.
Take as many risks with your practice as you can.
Don’t be afraid of getting things wrong, making mistakes, and failing.
Be yourself and share with your students what you’re doing to fuel creativity.
Recommended Resources:
Listen to Kulvarn’s first episode of Fueling Creativity in Education
The Thinking Teacher: How to transform your mindset and your teaching by Dr. Kulvarn Atwal
The Thinking School: Developing a dynamic learning community by Dr. Kulvarn Atwal
 
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! Please rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
 
About Dr. Kulvarn Atwal:
Dr. Atwal has been teaching in East London schools for over twenty years and is currently Principal of two large primary schools. He has spent his entire career focusing on teacher learning, and his doctoral thesis investigated the factors that impact upon teacher engagement in professional learning in schools. His work was published in 2019 in his first book, The Thinking School. He has recently published his second book, The Thinking Teacher.
 
Follow Kulvarn on Twitter

Exposing Students to Different Cultures Expands Thinking with Joann McPike

Ever wonder what it would be like to travel the world as a nomad in high school? You’re about to find out! In this episode of Fueling Creativity in Education, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Joann McPike, the Founder of THINK Global School, a not-for-profit, project-based, student-led traveling boarding school. THINK Global School is based on the foundation of empathy, diversity, resilience, and self-reflection. Enrolled students travel to four different countries each year for the last three years of high school.
 
Tune in to learn how this nomadic school works, the changes they see in students as they progress through the program, and the power of infusing a global perspective into high school-level education.
 
“When you learn in an unconventional way like that, the learning sticks because the memory is stronger.” – Joann McPike
 
Joann sheds light on how THINK Global School enables students to trust their own creativity and build their creative skills. She walks you through an example of their educational projects, explains why they don’t do exams, and details how project-based learning fosters a deeper connection with the communities they live and travel in. 
 
“What does a TG student look like? Curious, creative, adaptable, resilient, caring, intelligent, fun, enthusiastic. They want to be there. They’re not there because they have to come, they come because they want to. They want to take charge of their own education. They want to see what’s different out there.” – Joann McPike
 
Plus, she shares how educators can get involved in teaching at THINK Global School!
 
Joann’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Asking kids what they’re curious about will spark creativity.
Mindset is really important. Understand that creativity lies in each one of us and it’s our job as adults and educators to support that. 
Let kids know that you believe in them because their creativity is their power, it’s where their energy lies.
 
Recommended Resources:
THINK Global School
Career opportunities at THINK Global School
Listen to the episode with Genein Letford
 
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 Joann McPike:
A deeply rooted passion for education has been the driving force behind most of Joann’s visionary work. Her conviction that there is no “one size fits all” in education, led her to create THINK Global School in 2010. The school is a not-for-profit project-based traveling boarding school, in which students from every continent, race, and religion travel with their teachers through 12 different countries during a three-year high school experience. Joann also founded the Re-Imagining Education conference together with Big Change, connecting global education innovators and thought-leaders on the feasibility and scalability of various reform initiatives in classrooms around the world. The conference inspired her to executive-produce the documentary “A Cure For The Common Classroom”.  Joann is a founding member of The B-Team, exploring business as a force for good, 100% Percent Human At Work, and she supports education innovators HundrEd, as well as Brookings Institute’s work around parental engagement.
 
Follow Joann on Instagram
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LIVE EVENT! Celebrating TWO YEARS of the podcast

Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood are celebrating TWO YEARs of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast. In this short promotional episode, they invite their listeners to a live event streaming over the Internet on March 24, 2023, 2:00-2:45 PM.
Complete this form to sign up for the event.
 
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. 
 

Emotional Intelligence and Creativity with Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle

What role do emotions play in creativity? Are we more creative when we’re happy? In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood continue their discussion with Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Ph.D., a Senior Research Scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. In part 1 of this double expresso, Zorana talked about how people engage in the creative process and how that applies to the classroom environment.
 
In part 2, you’ll learn more about the emotional side of creativity along with strategies for supporting students as they navigate emotions and creativity in the k-12 classroom. Zorana highlights the Theory of Emotional Intelligence, detailing how we can harness the power of our emotions to express creativity and achieve our creative goals. This insight is very helpful for teachers in helping students be more creative and more in touch with their feelings, moods, and emotions.
 
Zorana also shares insights from her new book, The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity and Emotion, and how they apply to creativity in education.
 
“What we have learned from these studies is pretty unanimous, actually - that positive, pleasant, highly energized moods, such as being happy, is helpful for creative thinking. People come up with more ideas and more original ideas in these states.” – Zorana Ivcevic Pringle
 
Zorana’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Creativity is full of emotions. From anxiety in front of an empty screen to frustrations when you’re facing obstacles to the joy and pride of success. All are part of the creative process. Remind yourself and your students that challenging feelings are not a sign of lack of creativity skills, but they are a normal part of the creative process and can be expected.
When teaching for creativity, it’s important to model and support the process of transforming ideas into an end product. That process may be long and will require flexibility, adjustment, and facing frustrations.
Teach students how to regulate their work on creative projects. They need to be aware that they will have to persist through difficulties, but they can use the emotions they experience in service to their project. 
 
“The advice shouldn’t be that we have to be happy or joyful in order to be creative, but it oftentimes happens like that. There are also other people who got inspired by grief and by pain and by anxiety, so that is possible too and we shouldn’t discount it, especially when we are giving advice of how to be inspired.” – Zorana Ivcevic Pringle
Check out Zorana's Newsletter!
 
Recommended Resources:
Listen to Part 1 with Zorana Ivcevic Pringle
The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity and Emotion by Jessica D. Hoffmann, James C. Kaufman, and Zorana Ivcevic
Listen to the episode with Dr. James Kaufman
GoNoodle
 
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! Please rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
 
About Zorana Ivcevic Pringle:
Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Dr. Ivcevic studies the role of emotions in creativity and well-being, as well as how to use the arts (and art-related institutions) to promote emotion and creativity skills. She has served as Associate Editor of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, International Journal of Creativity and Problem Solving, and Creativity Research Journal. Her work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, ArtNet, US News, Education Week, Science Daily, El Pais, and others, and is a regular contributor to Psychology Today and Creativity Post. Dr. Ivcevic received the Award for Excellence in Research from the Mensa Education and Research Foundation, the Berlyne Award for Outstanding Early Career Achievement from the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, and has been elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association.
 
Visit Zorana’s website
Follow her on Instagram
Follow her on Twitter
Connect with her on Facebook
Connect with her on LinkedIn
 

How emotions influence the creative process with Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle

Grab your coffee! We have an incredible double expresso about creativity and emotions. In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, a Senior Research Scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Dr. Ivcevic studies the role of emotions in creativity and well-being, as well as how to use the arts (and art-related institutions) to promote emotion and creativity skills.
 
In Part 1 of this discussion, you’ll learn how people engage in the creative process and the role emotions play in that process. Stay tuned for Part 2 to hear Zorana’s Tips for Teachers and Parents, as well as strategies for supporting students as they navigate the emotional side of creativity in the k-12 classroom.
 
Listen in as Zorana breaks down the three major factors attitudes people feel towards creativity: anticipating negative social consequences, internal anxiety, and the feeling that creativity is important to them. These attitudes about creativity can tell us about their creative behavior at school and how they approach schoolwork and creative projects. 
 
“People weigh each of these things in their minds as they are deciding what to do with the ideas they might be having.” – Zorana Ivcevic Pringle
 
Zorana shares tips and advice for teachers who have students that are anxious towards creativity. Then, she talks about what Social Cognitive Theory can tell us about how self-efficacy supports creativity, especially in kids.
 
Plus, Zorana sheds light on how education systems are hindering teachers’ ability to facilitate creativity in the classroom and the need for greater policy change. 
 
“This is what the leaders of the world economy are telling us, and of major organizations this is what we need, but there’s a disconnect from the world of educational priorities.” 
– Zorana Ivcevic Pringle
Check out Zorana's Newsletter!
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! Please rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
 
About Zorana Ivcevic Pringle:
Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Dr. Ivcevic studies the role of emotions in creativity and well-being, as well as how to use the arts (and art-related institutions) to promote emotion and creativity skills. She has served as Associate Editor of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, International Journal of Creativity and Problem Solving, and Creativity Research Journal. Her work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, ArtNet, US News, Education Week, Science Daily, El Pais, and others, and is a regular contributor to Psychology Today and Creativity Post. Dr. Ivcevic received the Award for Excellence in Research from the Mensa Education and Research Foundation, the Berlyne Award for Outstanding Early Career Achievement from the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, and has been elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association.
 
Visit Zorana’s website
Follow her on Instagram
Follow her on Twitter
Connect with her on Facebook
Connect with her on LinkedIn
 

BRIDGING THE GAP: Be a Mentor or Find a Mentor and Community Leadership

It’s that time again! It’s time to debrief the first half of Season 6 of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast. In this episode, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood reflect on the first five episodes of Season 6, highlighting the key takeaways and lessons these discussions have taught them about how they can fuel creativity in school, at home, and beyond.
 
Listen in to hear Cyndi and Matthew break down the following insights. Then, they challenge you to explore new opportunities for getting involved and facilitating creativity in your community. 
 
Stay tuned for a VERY special guest coming soon to Season 6!
 
For a chance to win a FREE Fueling Creativity in Education mug, be sure to rate and review the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Audible, or PodBean and then email us a screenshot of your review to questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com! The first 5 people to email us win!
 
Major Takeaways from Season 6 Episodes 1-5:
Follow your fascination because your heart belongs where your mind wanders. To learn more about the power of following your fascination, listen to the episode with Dr. Penny Hay: https://bit.ly/3Ja8voR 
Find a mentor or be a mentor. To learn more about the benefits of having a mentor and being a mentor, listen to the episode with Samantha Olschan: https://bit.ly/3JaKWML 
Music education is a great way to help children of all ages develop creativity. To learn more about bringing music into your classroom, listen to the episode with Adrian Gordon: https://bit.ly/3IPDOUP 
Give up a bit of your control so you can give students an opportunity to step into their power and take ownership of their learning and creativity. To learn more about how to do this, listen to the episode with Andrea Mango: https://bit.ly/3y55WhP 
Failure teaches kids many important lessons. Failing at something gives students the opportunity to learn and build resilience. Resilience is more important than succeeding because it teaches you to not give up when you fail or make a mistake. To learn more about building resilience in students, listen to the episode with Principal EL: https://bit.ly/3mmraoJ 
 
Episodes Debriefed:
Dr. Penny Hay
Andrea Mango
Principal EL
Samantha Olschan
Adrian Gordon
 
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.