Torrance Journal for Applied Creativity

Strategies to Inspire Continued
Learning Beyond School
While most lessons typically
have a clear beginning, middle, and
end, Torrance asserted that for creative
thinking to occur, one must do something
before, during, and after learning
(Torrance, 1979). Thus, learning does
not end, but rather extends “beyond the
a-ha,” seeping out of school and into
other segments of life. Torrance presented
five information-processing strategies
to encourage students to keep the learning
going beyond the traditional school
setting.
The first strategy, having a
ball, refers to bringing learning to life
through humor, laughter, and fantasy.
Students are encouraged to put
a creative twist on the material they
learned, translating it from “school
language” to “real-world language.” This
method is similar to singing in one’s own
key, which Torrance and Safter (1990)
described as “seeing implications of the
information for present problems or
future career roles, and using it to solve
personal problems” (p. 11). If students
are intrigued by a particular concept
mentioned in class, they are likely to
investigate this concept in detail, engrossing
themselves in outside research
and asking others for their thoughts and
opinions.
A third strategy, building sand
castles, involves pondering the content,
imagining what could happen in the
future, and fantasizing about what is
learned. Torrance asserted that plugging
in the sun was an essential technique
to extend learning; students plug into
outside sources, seeking inspiration and
guidance from others in the school and
community. Finally, shaking hands with
tomorrow describes the inspirational
marriage between current learning and
the student’s image of the future. An
individual’s image of the future largely
determines what he or she is motivated
to learn. Connecting current learning
with future aspirations is key to establishing
intrinsic motivation that will
give birth to life-long learning (Polak,
1973).
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The Incubation Model of Teaching
and Learning is deceptively simple,
yet powerfully impactful. The model
builds a clear bridge between theory and
practice, bringing empirically researched
teaching techniques into the classroom
in a practical manner1.
Why is Incubation Important?
The importance of incubation
in the creative thinking process has
been empirically proven in a multitude
of studies (see Csikszentmihalyi,
1996; Mednick, Mednick, & Mednick,
1964; Segal, 2004). Torrance and Safter
(1990) recognized that
People prefer to learn creatively--by
exploring, questioning, experimenting,
manipulating, re-arranging
things, testing and modifying, listening,
looking, feeling--and then thinking
about it--incubating (p. 13).
Incubation is the brilliant power of
nagging curiosity that cannot seem to
be quelled, the enigmatic force that underlies
the delicious moment of “things
finally clicking.” We have all experienced
the frustration of feeling “stuck”
when trying to solve a problem, only
to take a break, begrudgingly return
to work, and find the answer “staring
out at us.” Research suggests various
intriguing explanations for the benefits
of incubation.
Production of Deeply Connected,
Diverse Solutions
While many students are eager
to hoist their hands in the air and
provide the first answer that comes
to mind, educators must often direct
students to think about the problem, resisting
the temptation to come to quick
conclusions. An individual’s first ideas
are seldom the most original or creative,
and promoting incubation encourages
students to engage in deep processing,
creating diverse solutions (Mednick,
1962).
Mednick’s (1962) associative
theory suggests that the production of
one idea leads to another, and thus ideation
occurs in a cascading fashion. He
asserted that ideas that are far removed
from the starting point of idea generation,
known as remote associates, are
likely to be the most original. You only
need a few minutes to see this theory
come to fruition in the classroom. Ask
your students to spend two minutes listing
problems they would like to solve in
your school. When time is up, have the
students compare the first half of their
list to the second half. Chances are
most students will have “longer recess”
or “no homework” in the beginning of
their list, but as the list continues, ideas
are likely to become more original and
thought-provoking.
Individuals often solve problems
by making connections to prior
knowledge and tapping into long-term
memory (Alexandridis & Maru, 2012).
While the capacity of long-term memory
is quite large, only small sections are
activated at one time through a process
known as spreading activation, in which
recall of a specific piece of information
triggers the recall of another (Anderson,
2010). Thus, encouraging and allowing
time for incubation allows the production
of more diverse and original ideas.
Creation of a “Clean Start” for
Problem Solving
One of the greatest frustrations
teachers experience is a look of
bewilderment on their students’ faces.
Although it is tempting to ensure that
students understand the material before
the bell rings, providing quick and often
forced conclusions can actually inhibit
deep learning and processing. I have
often introduced a complicated topic
at the end of class, only to watch my
students struggle through a few practice
problems and leave the classroom with
furrowed brows. At the start of class the
next day, they are quick to express their
confusion, relay their failed attempts at
problem solving, and eager for a fresh
start.
1 The description provided in this article is brief and
only begins to scratch the surface of the depth of the
Incubation Model for Teaching and Learning. Readers
are encouraged to consult Torrance and Safter’s
(1990), The Incubation Model of Teaching: Getting
Beyond the Aha!, as well as the thorough research
and practice update by Murdock and Keller-Mathers
(2008).