In a world plagued by enormous, complex problems requiring long-range vision and interdisciplinary insights, the need to attend to the influence of dogmatic thinking on the development of high ability and creative intelligence is pressing. This volume introduces the problem of dogmatism broadly, explores the nature and nuances of dogmatic thinking from various disciplinary perspectives, and applies the gleaned insights to what is known about creativity. Bringing together leading thinkers in the fields of creative studies and education, and in other relevant fields (history, sociology, psychology) whose work pertains to the various dimensions of dogmatism and the ethical problems it generates, this panoramic view represents interdisciplinary bridge building with the potential to generate new insights about the education of creative young minds.

This volume introduces the problem of dogmatism broadly, explores the nature and nuances of dogmatic thinking from various disciplinary perspectives, and applies the gleaned insights to what is known about creativity and the education of creative young minds.

In an increasingly complex world the natural human inclination is to oversimplify issues and problems to make them seem more comprehensible and less threatening. This tendency usually generates forms of dogmatism that diminish our ability to think creatively and to develop worthy talents. Fortunately, complexity theory is giving us ways to make sense of intricate, evolving phenomena. This book represents a broad, interdisciplinary application of complexity theory to a wide variety of phenomena in general education, STEM education, learner diversity and special education, social-emotional development, organizational leadership, urban planning, and the history of philosophy. The contributors provide nuanced analyses of the structures and dynamics of complex adaptive systems in these academic and professional fields.

Creative Contradictions in Education is a provocative collection of essays by international experts who tackle difficult questions about creativity in education from a cross-disciplinary perspective. The contributors to this volume examine and provide fresh insights into the tensions and contradictions that researchers and educators face when attempting to understand and apply creativity in educational contexts. Creativity in education is surrounded by many contradictions. Teachers generally value creativity, but question the role it can and should play in their classroom. Many educators find themselves feeling caught between the push to promote students’ creative thinking skills and the pull to meet external curricular mandates, increased performance monitoring, and various other curricular constraints. This book brings together leading experts who provide fresh, cross-disciplinary insights into how creative contradictions in education might be addressed. Contributors will draw from existing empirical and theoretical work, but push beyond “what currently is” and comment on future possibilities. This includes challenging the orthodoxy of traditional conceptions of creativity in education or making a case for maintaining particular orthodoxies.

This book, at the crossroads of creativity, design and interdisciplinary studies, offers an overview of these major trends in scientific research, society, culture and economics. It brings together different approaches and communities around a common reflection on interdisciplinary creative design thinking. This collective effort provides a unique dialogical and convergent space that deals with the challenges and opportunities met by researchers and practitioners working on design thinking, creativity and inter- and transdisciplinarity, or at the interface between these areas.

How can creative individuals and societies adapt to complex 21st-century conditions? Will civilizations thrive or collapse in the decades to come if they are not creative enough, or if they are too creative? Interest in these questions is growing; however, until now there has been inadequate understanding of the socioeconomic and cultural trends and issues that influence creativity. This book provides that understanding while yielding insights from many of the world’s leading creativity researchers and educational experts. The book begins with a big-picture, interdisciplinary overview of the socioeconomic, cultural, and technological pressures emerging from 21st-century globalization and describes some ways in which those pressures simultaneously suppress, distort, and invigorate creativity in general, and creative education in particular. After that, prominent scholars of creativity and education use their impressive knowledge bases to clarify how we can adjust our thoughts and actions in order to give ourselves the best possible chances for success in this complex world. “The world’s problems are complex, messy, and seemingly intractable, but history tells us that human creativity finds solutions to even the most daunting problems. This book collects perspectives on creative development from many of the most respected scholars and educators working in creativity and innovation today, helping chart a path forward for creativity in the 21st century.” – Jonathan Plucker, Julian C. Stanley Endowed Professor of Talent Development, Johns Hopkins University “A volume taking on macro-opportunities and macroproblems by editors Ambrose and Sternberg is a treat for readers who want to think ‘big’ and think ‘forward.’ Kick back for an imaginative journey that reaches back to early global insights but propels us solidly into the 21st century and beyond.” – Ann Robinson, Past President, National Association for Gifted Children

This book looks beyond the predominant conceptual frameworks that dominate thinking about giftedness and talent. Leading thinkers in the field of gifted education question fundamental assumptions about high ability and probe the larger contexts that influence gifted education.