Creativity, flow
and deep-level
learning: the
value of
construction play
Bridget A. Egan
Some definitions: Creativity
Vygotsky: all human beings, are creative and that creativity
is the foundation for art as well as for science and
technology. This creative ability Vygotsky (1995) called
imagination. Imagination is the basis of every creative
action: “It manifests itself in all … aspects of our cultural life,
making artistic, scientific and technical creativity possible”
(p. 13).
Vygotsky (1995): play as imagination in action: a creative
process that develops in play because a real situation
takes a new and unfamiliar meaning. (Lindqvist 2003)
Some definitions: Creativity
DfEE (1999) All Our Futures:
creativity culture and education
• Creativity is obviously about producing something original. But
there are different views of what is involved in this process and how
common the capacity for creativity is. Para 2.22
p27
In our view:
creative possibilities are pervasive in the concerns of everyday life, its
purposes and problems;
creative activity is also pervasive: many people who are being creative
do not recognise that this is what they are doing;
creativity can be expressed in collaborative as well as individual
activities, in teamwork, in organisations, in communities and in
governments
Para 2.25 p28
Some definitions: Creativity
Creativity is itself a mode for learning.
• It involves a thoughtful playfulness - learning
through experimental ‘play’. It is serious play
conjuring up, exploring and developing
possibilities and then critically evaluating and
testing them. Para 6.171 p92
Some definitions: Creativity
• Nolan (2004) distinguishes between:
• creative thinking (generating new ideas, concepts,
wishes, goals, new perceptions of problems)
• creative behaviour, (those behaviours which facilitate
the creative process)
• creative action, (doing new things (doing things for the
first time as well as doing ‘things which are new in the
world’) (p20)
• I think I am looking at creative action in this project
Some definitions: involvement
The concept of involvement refers to a dimension of human activity.
One of the most predominant characteristics of this flow state is concentration.
An involved person narrows his attention to one limited circle. Involvement
goes along with strong motivation, fascination and total implication; there is
no distance between person and activity, no calculation of possible benefits.
(Laevers 2000: 24)
The crucial point is that the satisfaction that goes along with involvement
stems from one source, the exploratory drive (Laevers 2000: 25)
Involvement is very important to learning
Some definitions: Flow
Csikzentmihalyi (1990) identifies ‘flow’ as a state of being in
which the individual is deeply engaged with some selfimposed activity, absorbed in the task, unaware of the
passage of time.
He suggests that flow experiences enable the growth of
more complex selves, and that ‘flow helps to integrate the
self because in that state of deep concentration
consciousness is extraordinarily well ordered’ (p41)
There is a strong link between Laevers’ idea of
‘involvement’ and Csikzentmihalyi’s notion of ‘flow’
It is easy to see this process in children: during the first few
years of life every child is a little ‘learning machine” trying
out new movements, new words daily. The rapt
concentration on the child’s face as she learns each new
skill is a good indication of what enjoyment is about. And
each instance of enjoyable learning adds to the complexity
of the child’s developing self (Csikzentmihalyi 1990 p47)
My study:
To observe young children working with
construction materials in a naturalistic
setting
To identify elements of ‘flow’ which can be
observed
To consider the concept of creative action
Choice of materials
Offer a level of challenge through being unfamiliar to the
children, thus provoking ‘possibility thinking’ (Craft 2001)
materials
materials
materials
materials
Participants
24 children in a reception class (aged
between 4 years 11 months and 5 years 10
months)
Children working singly or in pairs
Video recording of the activity, and
photographs of the outcomes
Children individually interviewed while
viewing the video footage of themselves
Indicators of flow: duration
duration
n
2 to 4 minutes
3
10 - 16 minutes
4
20 -32 minutes
5
40-52 minutes
5
53 - 66 minutes
7
Persisting!
n
8
7
6
number
5
4
3
2
1
0
2 to 4 minutes
10 - 16 minutes
20 -32 minutes
duration
of activity
40-52 minutes
53 - 66 minutes
Indicators of flow: gaze and
intensity
First reading through suggests that all
the children were deeply engaged for the
period that they were engaged – they
concentrated on the material they had
chosen until they had achieved
something that satisfied them
Indicators of creative thinking
Sternberg et al
Engagement and
choice
Robson
ACCT category
Exploration &
engagement
Exploring
Engaging in new
activity
Knowing what you
want to do
Hypothesising and
analysis
Involvement and
enjoyment
Trying out ideas
Analysing ideas
Speculating
Involving others
& communication
Persistence and
self-efficacy
& risk-taking
Persistence
Persisting
Risk-taking
Completing
challenges
Outputs:
references
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Brehony, K (2004) Working at Play or Playing at Work: A Froebelian Paradox Re-examined inaugural professorial lecture
Craft, A. (2005) Creativity in Schools: Tensions and Dilemmas Abingdon: Routledge
Csikzentmihalyi 1990 Flow New York: HarperCollins
Csikzentmihalyi, M. (1996) Creativity NY HarperCollins
DfEE (1999) All Our Futures: creativity culture and education London: DfEE
Froebel, F. (1885) The Education of Man (trans. J. Jarvis) New York: A. Lovell & Co
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