The "standard" definition of creativity as novel and useful describes creative products, but creativity is constituted by processes. This misalignment contributes to the oft-noted challenges of operationalizing creativity. Here, we distinguish creativity as a process from creativity as an attribute (i.e. "creative-ness").…

In this article, the notion of potential as discussed within creativity research is examined. It is noted that there are multiple, sometimes competing, understandings of potential within the literature with the biggest gaps existing between individual perspectives, on the one hand, and sociocultural perspectives on the other. Affirming that a…

We propose a working definition of creative experience that involves principled engagement with the unfamiliar and a willingness to approach the familiar in unfamiliar ways. In other words, a creative experience can be defined as novel person world encounters grounded in meaningful actions and interactions, which are marked by the principles of:…

Over several decades, novel-and-appropriate has become established as the standard definition of creativity; while allowing for variations in the exact wording, the requirement that creativity requires external validation of value, utility, etc. is largely unchallenged. This functions well in high consensus fields in which value can be empirically…

Identifying potential abilities of children and youth is important, but often too little effort goes into conceptualizing how to enhance and support domain specific talent once it has been recognized. This article provides a research base for exploring this problem, leading to some grounding definitions, insights from experts on dimensions of…

As the United States and other countries consider "educational reform," the discussion appears to be primarily about fostering basic skills and content knowledge. Our contention is that this approach is not sufficient. Instead, we argue that for twenty-first century success, we must also foster creativity to prepare today's children to…

This article presents the results of research into the implicit theories of creativity of Educational Science students preparing for the role of educational counsellors. Educational Science students will soon be working in educational institutions where they are expected to support creativity. Prospective (pre)school counsellors were asked about…

Early years education is a holistic endeavour, with some education policies including spiritual development as part of that approach. However, studies exploring the spirituality of young children are scarce, which limits understanding of the phenomenon and its full application in educational settings. Furthermore, nurturing children's spiritual…

Creativity makes life more enjoyable and successful, both for students and people generally. The complex elements of society require that people be creative in order to guide humanity forward. Thus, educators often strive to promote creativity among their students and themselves. The present paper offers a broad definition of creativity and then…