Creativity, Mindfulness and the Middle School Art Room. How Does Mindfulness Impact Student Creativity in a Middle School Art Studio?

Seminar Title

Creativity, Mindfulness and the Middle School Art Room. How Does Mindfulness Impact Student Creativity in a Middle School Art Studio?

Mindfulness/Creativity

Middle School

Middle School

Art

All Disciplines

How could you include creativity and mindfulness in your classroom? Whether you are a high school or kindergarden teacher, infusing these concepts and skills will benefit your students. The impact mindfulness has had on my classroom is remarkable. As a middle school art teacher my ultimate goal was to find new ways to teach creativity, however I was surprised to find major impacts on classroom management and environment also. The concepts this session will explore are relevant to all age groups. You DO NOT have to be an art teacher to attend, it might actually be more fun if you are not!

The word creativity has many definitions, and the concept of creativity comes with many myths. After becoming an art teacher, I learned to value creativity and its importance in education in a whole new way. As I began researching, the rabbit-hole of creativity became darker and deeper. With every new article or book came a new definition, some slightly different and some dramatically more different than the last. During my research, the concept of mindfulness kept surfacing, and I began finding connections to creativity. The question I decided to ask is, “How Does Mindfulness Impact Student Creativity in a Middle School Art Studio?” My drawing classes became the focal point for my research. The students learned two different mindful drawing techniques, combining mindful meditation with drawing. I collected data to see what type of correlation these two daily drawing exercises had on student creativity over the course of time. My data consists of two creativity battery tests and a survey on creativity. Through my research, my hope was to find a correlation between daily mindful drawing exercises and student creativity. To my delight, the data showed positive results with creativity levels. As an aside to my research, I also noticed major positive impacts on my classroom environment. There are many ways to continue exploring these connections in classrooms in every subject matter and grade level. I plan to continue exploring these drawing exercises and their impacts with the rest of my classes for years to come.