Recommended Readings

CREATIVITY

Baer, J., & Kaufman, J. (2012). Being creative inside and outside the classroom: How to boost your students' creativity and your own. Boston, MA: Sense Publishers.

This book has two primary goals - to show teachers how to teach their students to be more creative thinkers and to help them to develop their own creativity as teachers - and it shows teachers how to do these things in ways that don't conflict with skill development and knowledge acquisition. The book focuses on three big, well-researched ideas related to creativity training - divergent thinking, intrinsic motivation, and the CPS model of creative problem. The book is written in a way that makes it easy for teachers to make these ideas their own, with many examples for use in K-12 classrooms.

Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. New York, NY: MacMillan Books.

Blatherwick, M., & Cummings, J. (2017). Creative dimensions of teaching and learning in the 21st century. Rotterdam, NL: Sense Publishers.

Bohm, D. (1998). On creativity. New York, NY: Routledge.

Creativity is fundamental to human experience. In On Creativity David Bohm, the world-renowned scientist, investigates the phenomenon from all sides: not only the creativity of invention and of imagination but also that of perception and of discovery. This is a remarkable and life-affirming book by one of the most far-sighted thinkers of modern times.

Boyd, D., & Goldenberg, J. (2014). Inside the box: A proven system of creativity for breakthrough results. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Inside the Box demonstrates Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT), which systemizes creativity as part of the corporate culture. This counterintuitive and powerfully effective approach to creativity requires thinking inside the box, working in one’s familiar world to create new ideas independent of specific problems.

Briggs, J. (2000). Fire in the crucible: Understanding the process of creative genius. New York: Phanes Press.

In this mind-expanding investigation of creativity, John Briggs reveals that there is no special trait of genius. Geniuses are not necessarily smarter or more talented than other people, but they give their attention to subtle nuances, contradictory feelings and perceptions that others experience and ignore. By focusing on sensory nuances, geniuses create themselves.

Catmull, E., & Wallace, A. (2014). Creativity, inc.: Overcoming the unseen forces that stand in the way of true inspiration. Toronto: Random House Canada.

Creativity, Inc. is a manual for anyone who strives for originality and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made.

Cramond, B. (2005). Fostering creativity in gifted students: Practical strategies in gifted education. Texas, ATX: Prufrock Press.

It is not possible to teach someone to be creative. It is not possible to teach someone to be intelligent. It is, however, possible to teach students to use the creativity and intelligence they already have. Encouraging creative thinking in the classroom is an exciting component of any effective gifted education program. This guide offers basic foundations required for supporting creativity.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Creativity is about capturing those moments that make life worth living. Legendary psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi reveals what leads to these moments—be it the excitement of the artist at the easel or the scientist in the lab—so that this knowledge can be used to enrich people's lives.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1993). The evolving self: Psychology for the third millennium. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

De Bono, E. (1970). Lateral thinking. London, ENG: Ward Educational Limited.

Dewey, J. (1958). Art as experience. New York, NY: Capricorn Books.

Eisner, E. (2002). The arts and the creation of mind. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Although the arts are often thought to be closer to the rim of education than to its core, they are, surprisingly, critically important means for developing complex and subtle aspects of the mind, argues Elliot Eisner in this engrossing book. In it he describes how various forms of thinking are evoked, developed, and refined through the arts. These forms of thinking, Eisner argues, are more helpful in dealing with the ambiguities and uncertainties of daily life than are the formally structured curricula that are employed today in schools.

Florida, R. (2012). The rise of the creative class, revisited. New York, NY: Basic Books. 

Gardner, H. (1993). Creating minds: An anatomy of creativity seen through the lives of freud, einstein, picasso, stravinsky, eliot, graham, and gandhi. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Howard Gardner changed the way the world thinks about intelligence. With Creating Minds, Gardner gives us a path breaking view of creativity, along with riveting portraits of seven figures who each reinvented an area of human endeavor. Using as a point of departure his concept of seven "intelligences," ranging from musical intelligence to the intelligence involved in understanding oneself, Gardner examines seven extraordinary individuals, each an outstanding exemplar of one kind of intelligence.

Gardner, H. (2008). Five minds for the future. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press.

Gardner, H. (2011). Frames of mind, the theory of multiple intelligences. Cambridge, MA: Basic Books.

Goldenberg, J., & Boyd, D. (2013). Inside the box: A proven system of creativity for breakthrough results. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Grant, A. (2016). Originals: How non-conformists move the world. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Kaufman, S., & Gregoire, C. (2016). Wired to create: Unraveling the mysteries of the creative mind. New York, NY: Penguin Random House LLC.

Wired to Create offers a glimpse inside the “messy minds” of highly creative people. This book shines a light on the practices and habits of mind that promote creative thinking. Kaufman and Gregoire untangle a series of paradoxes— like mindfulness and daydreaming, seriousness and play, openness and sensitivity, and solitude and collaboration – to show that it is by embracing our own contradictions that we are able to tap into our deepest creativity.

Keeley, L., Pikkel, R., Quinn, B., & Walters, H. (2013). Ten types of innovation: The discipline of building breakthroughs. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. 

Kelley, T. (2005). The ten faces of innovation. New York, NY: Doubleday.

Over the years, IDEO has developed ten roles people can play in an organization to foster innovation and new ideas while offering an effective counter to naysayers. Filled with engaging stories of how Kraft, Procter and Gamble, Safeway and the Mayo Clinic have incorporated IDEO's thinking to transform the customer experience, The Ten Faces of Innovation is an extraordinary guide to nurturing and sustaining a culture of continuous innovation and renewal.

Kelley, T., & Kelley, D. (2013). Creative confidence: Unleashing the creative potential within us all. New York, NY: Crown Business.

In an incredibly entertaining and inspiring narrative that draws on countless stories from their work with many of the world's top companies, David and Tom Kelley identify the principles and strategies that will allow us to tap into our creative potential in our work lives, and in our personal lives, and allow us to innovate in terms of how we approach and solve problems.

Kelly, T., & Littman, J. (2001). The art of innovation: Lessons in creativity from IDEO, america's leading design firm. Easton, ME: Crown Business.

In The Art of Innovation, Tom Kelley, partner at IDEO, takes readers behind the scenes of this wildly imaginative and energized company to reveal the strategies and secrets it uses to turn out hit after hit. IDEO doesn't buy into the myth of the lone genius working away in isolation, waiting for great ideas to strike. Kelley believes everyone can be creative, and the goal at his firm is to tap into that wellspring of creativity in order to make innovation a way of life. 

Kidder, D. (2012). The startup playbook: Secrets of the fastest-growing startups from their foundation entrepreneurs. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, Il: University of Chicago Press.

Lamott, A. (1998). Bird by bird: Some instructions on writing and life. New York: Anchor.

"Thirty years ago, my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird.'"

Le Boeuf, M. (1980). Imagineering. New York: McGraw-Hill.

McDermott, M. (2013). The left handed curriculum: Creative experiences for empowering teachers (NA) illustrated edition. Information Age Publishing.

Teaching is not merely a technical process- it is one that requires creative and inspirational thinking, not only on the part of students but for teachers themselves as artful, reflective beings. The purpose of this book is to provide educators with creative experiences which unlock their imaginative potential so they can re-envision their curriculum to promote active learning, culturally relevant pedagogy, and differentiated instruction. This book guides the reader through a series of experiences intended to tap into the right side of the brain, and provide educators opportunities to re-imagine their existing curriculum in new ways. Through this re-imaging (or re-envisioning) of the creative potential within themselves, teachers can redesign their curricula in ways that best meet the needs of their learners, schools, and communities. This book emphasizes creativity in teaching as a collaborative effort. The experiences and ideas presented in this book are intended to inspire small groups or whole communities (including schools) to work together and support each other in their creative efforts. Creativity does not just exist for individuals in isolated contemplation but resides instead in the relational work that community members create together toward a shared vision. In order to encourage imaginative students who will have the capacities to see the world, not merely as it is, but as it could be, we need to encourage teachers to tap into their creative imaginative capacities to teach as well. Such work cannot be performed in isolation. Creative social change requires that we imagine together that which we cannot do alone.

Michalko, M. (2006). Thinkertoys. New York: Ten Speed Press.

In this revised and expanded edition of his groundbreaking Thinkertoys, creativity expert Michael Michalko reveals life-changing tools that will help you think like a genius. From the linear to the intuitive, this comprehensive handbook details ingenious creative-thinking techniques for approaching problems in unconventional ways.

Osborne, A. (1963). Applied imagination: Principles and procedures of creative problem-solving. New York, NY: Schribner.

Piaget, J. (1973). To understand is to invent. New York, NY: Grossman.

Pressfield, S. (2002). The war of art: Break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles. New York: Black Irish Books.

Bestselling novelist Steven Pressfield identifies the enemy that every one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success. The War of Art emphasizes the resolve needed to recognize and overcome the obstacles of ambition and then effectively shows how to reach the highest level of creative discipline. Think of it as tough love . . . for yourself.

Robinson, K. (2011). Out of our minds. Chichester, UK: Capstone Publishing, Ltd.

Root-Bernstein, R., & Root-Bernstein, M. (2013). Sparks of genius: The thirteen thinking tools of the world's most creative people. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Rose, E. (2013). On reflection. Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars' Press Inc.

Sawyer, K. (2012). Explaining creativity: The science of human innovation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

Shekerjian, D. (1991). Uncommon genius: How great ideas are born. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Drawing on interviews with 40 winners of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship—the so-called "genius awards"—the insightful study throws fresh light on the creative process.

Tharp, T. (2006). The creative habit: Learn it and use it for life. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Wallace, D., & Gruber, H. (1989). Creative people at work. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

To demystify creative work without reducing it to simplistic formulas, Doris Wallace and Howard Gruber, one of the world's foremost authorities on creativity, have produced a unique book exploring the creative process in the arts and sciences. The book's original "evolving systems approach" treats creativity as purposeful work and integrates cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, and motivational aspects of the creative process. Twelve revealing case studies explore the work of such diverse people as William Wordsworth, Albert Einstein, Jean Piaget, Anais Nin, and Charles Darwin.

CREATIVITY IN VISUAL NARRATIVE

Bordwell, D., & Thompson, K. (2016). Film art: An introduction. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Publishers.

Goldberg, R. (1998). Performance: Live art since 1960. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams.

Katz, D. S. (1991). Film directing, shot by shot: Visualizing from concept to screen. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions.

Kress, R. G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (1996). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. New York, NY: Routledge.

McKee, R. (1997). Story: Substance, structure, style and the principles of screen writing. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Seymour, B. (1980). Chatman, story and discourse: Narrative structure in fiction and film. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Wardrip-Fruin, N. (2006). First person: New media as story, performance, & game. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Zettl, H. (2008). Sight, sound, motion: Applied media aesthetics (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. 

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

Daniel, P. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Edward, L. D., & Richard, F. (1996). Why we do what we do: Understanding self-motivation. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

EDUCATIONAL AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Brown, M., & Berger, A. (2014). How to innovate: The essential guide for fearless school leaders. New York, NY: Teacher’s College Press.

Eisner, E. (2017). The enlightened eye: Qualitative inquiry and the enhancement of educational practice. New York, NY: Teacher’s College Press.

Greene, M. (2000). Releasing the imagination: Essays on education, the arts, and social change. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Kelly, R. (2016). Creative development: Transforming education through design thinking, innovation, and invention. Calgary, AB: Brush Education.

Kelly, R. (2012). Educating for creativity: A global conversation. Calgary, AB: Brush Education.

Marshall, J., & Donahue, M. D. (2014). Art-centered learning across the curriculum. New York, NY: Teacher’s College Press.

FUTURE STUDIES AND LEADERSHIP

Elkington, R., Van der Steege, M., Glick-Smith, J., & Breen, J. (2017). Visionary leadership in a turbulent world: Thriving in the new VUCA context. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited.

Kotter, J. (1996). Leading Change. Boston, MA: Harvard Press

Lombardo, T. (2018). Science Fiction - The evolutionary mythology of the future: Prometheus to the martians (Vol. 1). Hampshire, UK: Changemakers Books.  

Miller, R. (2018). Transforming the future: Anticipation in the 21st century. London, UK: Routledge.

Motti, V. V. (2019). A transformation journey to creative and alternative planetary futures. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Scharmer, C. O. (2016). Theory u: Leading from the future as it emerges. Oakland, CA: Berret-Koehler Publishers, Inc.