Creativity as a Process: Why a Broader Understanding Matters for Education

Does creativity need to be limited to the creation of a product, or can it also be a state of mind? Professor Rekha Sharma Sen from Indira Gandhi National Open University reflects on the concept and describes it as a process, a flow, rather than an outcome. Drawing on Csikszentmihalyi's idea of flow and on the person-centered approach of Carl Rogers, she builds a broader understanding of the term, moving beyong its Euro-centric understanding and asks what it means for education. Tune in to rethink what it means to be creative.

The conversation invites us to ask whose ideas of creativity shape our classrooms, and what we gain by widening them.

References:

Sharma S., R., & Sharma, N. (2008). Unravelling the mystery of creativity. Researching families and children—culturally appropriate methods, 165-191.

Rogers, C. R. (1970). Towards a theory of creativity. In P. E. Vernon (Ed.), Creativity (pp. 137–151). Penguin Books.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1994). The evolving self: A psychology for the third millennium. HarperPerennial.