Torrance Journal for Applied Creativity

trate the transformative power of the
model as both an instructional technique
and a framework for thinking.
Each stage is briefly described, followed
by an analysis of the theoretical basis of
the incubation process. Finally, practical
suggestions are provided to illustrate
how encouraging incubation and
creativity can breathe new life into the
classroom.
A Brief Summary of the Model
Let’s imagine we snuck into my
closet study and poured the contents
of every basket into a misshapen heap
on the floor, the entire year’s Spanish
vocabulary words mixing promiscuously
with important history dates and
then smothered by algebra formulas.
Along with the emotional breakdown
that would be sure to occur, something
amazing could happen: Spanish vocabulary
could bring the history unit on
Ponce de León to life, and the drawings
of plant and animal cells would take on
new meaning when placed next to the
lesson on evolution. The disorganization
would cause discomfort, but also allow
for diverse connections to be made.
While I would surely want to organize
things again, perhaps the material could
be sorted into new categories: biology
notecards no longer sorted by chapter
but rather by related theories, and new
piles formed of concepts that I wished
to explore further. I would not be
hindered by trying to place the material
in the right place, but rather inspired
to dig deeper, realizing that the heap of
notecards may more closely resemble
the “real world” than the neatly labeled
baskets that brought such comfort and
restriction.
The first stage of the Incubation
Model of Teaching and Learning, Heightening
Anticipation, serves to encourage
students to recognize the “real-world”
importance of what they are learning.
It is important to note that the teacher
is not responsible for inspiring every
student to enthusiastically delve into the
lesson, but rather to create an environment
of curiosity that primes students
to engage in learning. Most teachers
naturally structure lessons to heighten
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anticipation, planning “hooks” or “attention-getters”
that are meant to attract
students and get them excited about the
material. The challenge comes in recognizing
that what excites one student
may seem mundane to another. Instead
of attempting to meet the interests of
all students, teachers “arouse curiosity,”
“tickle the imagination,” and “create
the desire to know” (Torrance & Safter,
1990). Interestingly, this often involves
the teacher backing off from instruction,
scaffolding lessons to ask thoughtful
questions by providing minimal detail,
and encouraging learners to confront
real-world problems that relate to the
content.
Teachers can also heighten
anticipation by presenting warm-up
activities (either related or unrelated to
the content) that provide students with
opportunities to stretch the mind and
prepare for creative thinking. Students
are so accustomed to searching for the
“right answer” that a creative warm-up
such as listing multiple uses for commonplace
objects or building a newspaper
tower is vital to shifting into a
creative mindset. These activities set the
mind free from meeting the day’s objectives,
allowing students to consider why
they might want to learn the material.
Thus, instead of informing the students
as to why they need to learn the content,
the teacher provides the students
with the necessary environmental
context and thinking skills to creatively
consider how the material may apply to
their daily lives.
Stage Two, Deepening Expectations,
involves the creative assimilation
of new content into existing knowledge
sets. Torrance used analogies to describe
various information processing strategies
that facilitate deep learning and encourage
students to connect new content
with prior experiences. Table 1 describes
these strategies in detail.
The final stage, Keeping it Going,
encourages students to apply what
they have learned and do something
with the information encountered (Torrance,
1979). Although most directly
related to incubation, this stage is driven
by the intrinsic desire to delve deeply
into learning, which is established
throughout the first two stages. To learn
creatively, students first become aware
of gaps in their knowledge, anticipating
new and original solutions. They search
for these solutions by digging deeper,
testing and retesting hypotheses, and
modifying strategies. Finally, incubation
allows time for students to ponder the
problem, fitting the pieces together in
various ways until dazzling moments of
insight and inspiration occur.
Terra Payne