Torrance Journal for Applied Creativity

Students participating in the year-long
Community Problem Solving program
or in the Action-Based Problem solving
program actually carry out the plan.
Of his many accomplishments,
Torrance was proudest of the establishment
of the Future Problem Solving Program.
He knew that the program has the
potential to profoundly affect the many
students who participate as well as others
whose lives are touched by the participants
and their community projects. It
is also indicative of where his heart truly
lay, in the nurturance of creativity in
young people.
The Teacher
6
From the discussion above, it
should be clear that teaching was a priority
for Torrance and his students felt
this. A quiet, humble man, he was not a
dynamic lecturer, nor a lively discussant;
he was a mentor, role model, inspirer,
and co-learner. His love of learning was
infectious.
Torrance’s first profession was
teaching. He began as a high school
teacher, and added counselor, principal,
registrar, and dean of men to his educational
credentials in time. However,
he never lost his interest in classroom
interaction, and, in fact, it was deepened
through his work teaching college students
and working as a psychologist with
the Air Force Survival Training Program.
Through his experiences, Torrance disclosed,
“I became a firm believer in experiential
learning, cooperative learning in
small groups, learning in all modalities,
tolerance of disagreement in groups, the
extreme importance of motivation and
creative thinking," (Hébert, Cramond,
Speirs Neumeister, Millar, & Silvian,
2002, p. 8). The devotion and commitment
that his students still have toward
him and his work are testaments of the
kind of teacher he was.
Through his many years of
teaching, first in high school, then in
colleges and universities, and even with
the jet aces in the survival training, Torrance
directly touched the lives of many
students. However, he “taught” many
more through his writing, talks, and correspondence.
Students still remark that
his writing is more accessible than that
of most academics, and he corresponded
with so many people around the world
that he had his home mailbox replaced
with a toy chest to hold all of the letters
he got. He had to hire a secretary to help
him respond to all of the mail, and he
continued to do that, long after he had
retired, until he was physically unable
to do so. Although he was always busy,
he was never too busy for his students,
and his students included everyone who
wanted to learn from him.
Some comments from former students
reported in E. Paul Torrance: His Life,
Accomplishments, and Legacy (Hébert
et al., 2002) show his strengths as a
teacher:
• He gets a lot of general letters requesting
such things as, “send me everything
you have on creativity.” Of course,
he has rooms and rooms full of things
on creativity. So he very carefully selects
the appropriate articles and photocopies
those, packages them and mails them at
his own expense. Very seldom does he
let two days go by between the receipt of
a letter and his response. I would say his
greatest strength is his generosity combined
with that sense of mission (Vicki
Connell, p. 30).
• One of the most memorable things
I recall is going into his office one day,
needing to see him, and apologizing
for interrupting him and having him
say, “Jeanette, you’ll never find me not
busy, but I’ll never be too busy to help
you,” and I always remembered that and
learned a great deal from it ( Jeanette
Parker, p. 29).
• .. . the greatest thing about Dr.
Torrance is the positive valuing of
his students. As an instructor he was
open-minded, valuing, and respectful of
your talents, encouraging, and understanding.
Anything you’d like to have in a
teacher, that was Dr. Torrance” (p. 29).
• He was marvelous at helping me to
feel comfortable with the quality of my
own insights. He has a quality of being
able to give other people what they need,
so that they can find the creativity within
themselves to pursue their own inquiry.
He is selfless in that regard (Tammy
Safter, p. 30).
The stories of generosity, respect, sense
of mission, encouragement, and understanding
are repeated in many stories
that students tell about Torrance, the
teacher.
One of my favorite stories was
told to me by a friend, Joy Anderson
Brown (personal communication, 1989),
who recounted the first time she met
Torrance. At the time, he was the department
head for Educational Psychology,
Research, Evaluation, Measurement,
and Statistics at the University of Georgia.
She was a young student who didn’t
have any idea who he was, but needed to
take one educational psychology course.
In those days, students had to walk from
department to department on campus
to get a class card to register for a class,
and with buildings spread all over the
massive campus, that could be an all day
affair. Sometimes, after the student had
gotten all of the cards, she found that
there was a conflict in her schedule, so
she would have to go back and exchange
a card. This is what happened to Joy
Anderson, and she found herself getting
back to the department office at 5:00 pm,
after a long and frustrating day, to try to
get a card for an educational psychology
course. The secretary told her that she
would have to come back the next day
because they were closed. Joy started
crying. Dr. Torrance heard her, and came
out to inquire about what was wrong.
When she told him, he kindly asked
the secretary to give her a class card.
The secretary asked her what class she
wanted, and she responded, “Whatever
class he is teaching.” Having found the
first kind and helpful person of the day,
she knew that she would take whatever
course he taught. Dr. Torrance’s classes
were in high demand, and the class was
full, but as the secretary told Joy that,
Torrance told the secretary to give her
a card for the class. So, Joy went to the