Is Creativity Too Difficult To Measure?

Mmm... I would most definately say that creativity is too difficult to measure. For starters, the term creativity is open to interpretation. Usually when people define creativity their responses are based off personal experiences and opinions, not facts and theory such as Torrance's and Rank's Creative Types. They quickly associate creativity with giftedness and/or performance skills, not knowing the differences and commonalities between them.

One of the most common responses that I've come across is that "creativity is thinking outside of the box." Well what exactly does that mean???? It all depends on that person's opinion and personal experiences. All sorts of questions come to mind when trying to evaluate that response:
*How BIG is your box?
*Does your box have a lid on it?
*Is your box full?
*Is your box empty?
*Did you make your box?

This course has helped me in so many ways when it comes to preparing materials, implementing ideas, and evaluating outcomes for my gifted learners. Just as unique as each learner is in my class, I've come to realize that so is creativity. There is no one size fits all definition, type, or list of characteristics. I still don't believe that our class has selected or designed one agreed upon definition of creativity (I wonder if we could come to consensus?). However, the text, activities, and discussions have greatly stretched my box. It has provided a plethora of information to sort, synthesis, and apply in my own personal life and classroom. The textwork pages in the book for this course are GREAT! There CLEVER and I never write on them because I want to reuse it someway.

So is there an assessment, checklist, or portfolio that will measure it all? No!
Should we expected are children (students) to possess EVERY creative characteristic on a list? No!