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Ann Arbor, MI 48106 PRISMATIC VISION: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL EXPLORATION OF CREATIVITY by Helen Nita Hotz A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education Greensboro 1992 Approved by Dissertation Adviser @ 1992 by Helen Nita Hotz APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dissertation Adviser Committee Members h)nJ € Date of Acceptance by Committee tiilGt SI. Date of Final Oral Examination ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I give thanks to all those who have reached out and touched the children and me mind to mind, heart to heart, soul to soul so that our stories could be told. My Mentor: E. Carolyn Eller My Committee: Dr. D. Michelle Irwin Anne Deloria, Dr. Jo Alice Leeds & Dr. David Purpel My Family: James R. Hotz Anthony Ted Hotz & Kristin K. Hotz Stella F. Nita, Anthony F. Nita, Mania, John & Toni My Fellow Educators and Friends: Donna Collins Walton Dr. Fritz Mengert, Dr. Nancy Routh, & Tomiko Smith Dr. Kathi Middendorf, John Jewel, Peggy Layman & Henry Miller Mary Claiborne, Charlene Holler, Beverly Edwards & Sandy La Grega My Students! Emily, Anne, Liza & Megan THANK YOUI TABLE OF CONTENTS Page APPROVAL PAGE i i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i i i CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1 The Background - Coming from the Silence 1 Creativity - A Way of Being 4 The Process: Phenomenological Inquiry 7 Methods 9 Narrative Inquiry 9 Informal Interviewing 10 How I Will Proceed 10 Effects on Education 12 I I THE INTERVIEWS 14 Emily's Journey 14 Background and Personality 14 Earliest Memory of Being Creative 14 Feelings About Being a Creative Person 15 School Experiences 16 Creative Forms of Expression 17 Blocks to Creativity 19 Nita's Journey - Part I 2 0 Background and Personality 2 0 Earliest Memory of Being Creative 2 0 Feelings About Being a Creative Person 21 School Experiences 2 2 Creative Forms of Expression 2 5 Blocks to Creativity 2 6 Patterns in the Lives of Emily and Nita 2 6 Anne's Journey 2 9 Background and Personality 2 9 Earliest Memory of Being Creative 3 0 Feelings About Being a Creative Person 3 0 School Experiences 3 2 Creative Forms of Expression 33 Blocks to Creativity 3 6 iv Nita's Journey - Part II 3 7 Background and Personality 3 7 Earliest Memory of Being Creative 3 9 Feelings About Being a Creative Person 3 9 School Experiences 4 0 Creative Forms of Expression 4 2 Blocks to Creativity 4 3 Patterns in the Lives of Anne and Nita 4 4 Megan's Journey 4 6 Background and Personality 4 6 Earliest Memory of Being Creative 4 7 Feelings About Being a Creative Person 4 7 School Experiences 5 0 Creative Forms of Expression 5 3 Blocks to Creativity 5 5 Nita's Journey - Part III 5 6 Background and Personality 5 6 Feelings About Being a Creative Person 5 8 Creative Forms of Expression 5 8 School Experiences 6 0 Blocks to Creativity 6 3 Patterns in the Lives of Megan and Nita 6 5 Liza's Journey 6 9 Background and Personality 6 9 Earliest Memory of Being Creative 7 0 Feelings About Being a Creative Person 71 School Experiences 75 Creative Forms of Expression 7 8 Blocks to Creativity 8 2 Nita's Journey - Part IV 8 6 Feelings About Being a Creative Person 8 6 School Experiences 8 8 Creative Forms of Expression 9 2 III DIALOGUES 9 9 Prismatic Vision 99 Emily 104 Inner Monologue - Images of Emily 104 Response Dialogue 107 The Reflective Synthesis 108 Educational Considerations 108 Anne 110 Inner Monologue - Images of Anne ...110 Response Dialogue i.. 111 Reflective Synthesis 112 Educational Considerations 113 v Megan 116 Inner Monologue - Images of Megan 116 Response Dialogue 119 Reflective Synthesis 120 Educational Considerations 121 Liza 123 Inner Monologue - Images of Liza 123 Response Dialogue 124 Reflective Synthesis 125 Educational Considerations 126 IV CONCLUSIONS 127 BIBLIOGRAPHY 138 vi HOTZ, HELEN NITA, Ed.D. Prismatic Vision: A Phenomenological Exploration of Creativity. (1992) Directed by Dr. D. Michelle Irwin. 141 pp. This qualitative study chronicles the personal journeys of five females and their struggle to give expression to the creative patterns at different points of their lives. Through the phenomenological process, the methods of narrative inquiry, and informal interviewing, the author investigates the creative lives of four students and her own life. First the author brings to language the connections between what she identifies as the inner monologue and outer dialogue, and the relationship of both to creativity. Then, as she examines the individuals' understanding of their creative expression, she seeks patterns in their varied life-pictures using what she calls prismatic vision to tell their stories. In this process she is viewing the varied stories of individuals from early life through adulthood. Second, through informal interviews and dialoguing with the individuals she attempts to see the entire picture and to determine the connections between and among them; each picture must be viewed separately and at the same time one must be aware of all the stories, much like viewing a prism. The study concludes that in recognizing the connection between the inner monologue and the outer dialogue and allowing it to reach a conscious state, we give access to learning for all individuals. The growth of understanding that evolves when an individual is allowed to process his or her own inner monologue and outer dialogue not only leads to the unfolding of a creative expression, but opens the door to understanding how the thinking process unfolds for each individual. These stories are intended for individuals interested in further languaging the creative experience of thinking. 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Prismatic Vision: A Phenomenolooical Exploration of Creativity tells the story of the personal journey of five creative females and their struggle to find expression. I have chosen to examine the stories of four females of differing ages. I am the fifth individual and will add my own perceptions about myself as I was at each of their ages. Since a major goal of this study is better understanding my own creative process as an educator, I have selected only females to interview. I recognize that there may be gender related issues involved in understanding an individual's way of being creative and do not want to sort out those issues here. In Composing a Life, Bateson (1989) says that we illuminate our own lives when we look into the lives of others. It is my purpose to bring a better understanding to the creative process in education as that pattern finds expression in the lives of these students and in my own life. I will tell the story of the four girls and in telling their stories I will begin to understand my own creative process. The Background - Coming from the Silence While working with elementary students over the years, I have been interested in those who did not fit easily into the existing school environment. These students were different for a variety of reasons, but the common thread of the students was that their needs were not recognized by any school program. I have become increasingly interested in those students who, with creative intensity, stretched the existing boundaries of the educational programs provided for them. My interest in these students has been unfolding consciously only for the last thirteen years as I worked with academically gifted students. These students were 2 identified as being academically gifted after an evaluation of attitude, achievement and classroom grades. From the pool of students who qualified for gifted classes, another group of students began surfacing within the designated group. The similarities I found in this second group were identified by Vera John-Steiner (1985) as: - a striving for a personal voice, a language. - a passion or intensity for their task. - a search for meaning in their lives.