Abstract
First of all, tell us a bit about yourself and your career.
I studied and became an accordion teacher in the Jyväskylä Conservatory, in Finland. When I qualified, I was the 9th accordion teacher in Finland. Then at the same time I studied at the University of Jyväskylä Musicology, Educational science, Philosophy and Art education. Then, the Jyväskylä University started educating music subject teachers, and I started my studies at that time. I was the first music teacher in Finland who qualified outside the Sibelius Academy. Today, music teachers are educated in the Sibelius Academy, at Jyväskylä University and Oulu University in Finland. After completing my studies, I became a senior lecturer of music education in the University of Joensuu, which in 2011 became a part of the University of Eastern Finland when it merged with Kuopio University. I conducted my doctoral dissertation in 2000 on the topic of music orientation. Then, in 2011 I became a professor in Education, focusing particularly on the pedagogy of Arts and Skills. All the while I have been playing bass in different bands. I have been involved in much studio work and recordings, played in theater band in various musicals and the like. I have been involved in thousands of restaurant gigs and public performances. Now from the beginning of 2019, I was nominated as professor in Creativity education in the University of Eastern Finland for 5 years.
Why study creativity? How did you first get involved in the study of creativity?
I have always been interested about creativity as I have been involved with music and other arts in my work. My father and his father were carpenters; my mother, and her mother were seamstresses, so creativity has always been present in our family. My father was also an accordionist and a quite skillful one. He played professionally for more than 50 years.
Fifty years ago, students would develop their creativity differently than today. What do we need to understand about today’s educational environment?
We should understand the potential of Inspiring Creative Thinking (ICT) and all the applications and gadgets, but at the same time we should not forget the traditional sources of creativity, and that creativity does not only belong to arts and skills, it can be found anywhere and in all school subjects, too. Creativity can be found in any school subject if it is searched for and nurtured in the right way. It needs space, support and positive atmosphere and it cannot be forced to any degree or direction.
Does the level of creativity diminish or decrease as student’s progress from first to 12th grade?
I am afraid that it does. At least some researches show that kind of development. I think that probably it is in connection with the increasing demands in all school subjects, the students must try to learn so many new subjects and master certain knowledge and information when they really dont have a chance to use their own creativity in learning. The curricula are too full and there aren’t enough lessons or hours in the day to leave space for creativity.
How much do students need to know about the arts and music and the humanities in order to really actualize their creativity?
The more, the better. I can’t provide an exact definition. To activate creativity in students is to connect with the teachers’ attitude and the positive atmosphere in the lessons. There must be a peaceful feeling, a positive and supportive attitude to create creativity among the students. New ideas and innovations should be able to be carried out and implemented even if they apparently do not work initially in the beginning of creative endeavors.
How important is creativity in instructional design on a college campus?
As I am a professor in creativity education (as the only one in Finland), I, of course, see it as very important and I am doing my best to develop it further in our university and in the schools of Joensuu. In the beginning, I am planning to start research which concentrates on all activities which include creativity elements in the lives of pupils from all school levels in Joensuu. I will probably start with an electronic questionnaire (such as Survey Monkey or something along those lines) which the pupils will complete during their lessons. Of course, I will ask about instrument playing, drawing, and all the old arts and skills, but also the usage of new technology: crafting music, pictures, films and sound experiments etc. The difficulty will be in the way to ask about these activities, because many of the young pupils do not count them as their hobbies, they may be just fun or a diversion for them. I also plan to collect narratives and interviews of all school levels. My university students will implement several interventions where data will also be collected. This research will aim to produce several master’s thesis and doctoral dissertations. This is one way to increase creativity and its research into our campus and university.
Are there systematically different areas that Finland targets with creativity in education than other nations in the world?
I think that in the last few years there has been more and more discussion about increasing the innovation at the higher levels of education. It has been mentioned in government statements a couple of years ago, and I believe that it has had an enormous influence in the educational sector. Still, the talk and discussions on innovativeness is that in Finland we are most often connected to industrial matters and money making more effectively, and efficiently. This is not my target of focus of my investigations and research, because my idea of innovativeness targets and focuses more on making people’s lives happier and richer in emotional and deeper levels. I think this is a very important area to investigate.
What are some specific aspects to creativity that influence learning?
Freedom of decision making, permission to make mistakes, and adequate time for building ideas are all realms that are important and serve to influence learning and growth and development. Teachers should encourage pupils to develop their own solutions to problems and encourage them to try them without any fear of making mistakes or being laughed at. But all this needs space and time! The problem is in the Finnish curriculum for different school levels, which is so full of matters, subjects, knowledge and information to learn that the teachers have to rush all the time to keep up with the various curriculum demands, and this results in some stress.
What are some of the problems that the world faces with creativity in an academic setting? How would we start to mitigate those issues?
We are all too much in a hurry. This must be emphasized. Every academic step has been thoroughly planned so that there is not enough room for creativity and creative ideas and solutions. We should give students more opportunities to make their own plans and decisions and find new, creative, innovative and divergent solutions to problems. Now we are offering everything completed, standardized and prepared for them. The problem is the same in all school levels, but also in the academic world.
In your mind is there big C-Creativity (with major changes) and little c-creativity—something that a first grader might do or so?
I believe that there are those kinds of creativity in individuals. The c-creativity would be something to start working on with first graders. It is the time when the children are living their most creative part of life. The seeds for C-creativity can and should be planted at that time when school starts instead of making the children just sit in their desks and be quiet. I cannot emphasize this too much!
Who are some of the major thinkers that have influenced you?
In music education, David J. Elliott has had the biggest influence, but of course the other big names also have had their influence, Swanwick, McPherson, O’Neill. In motivation research Eccles, Wigfield, Deci, Ryan are all important. In sociology and philosophy Pierre Bourdieu, and the realm of sociology of education and the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory. And there are many others, of course, as well as colleagues in Finland.
I know you are in Eastern Finland. What is going on in the other universities in Finland (for example, Turku, Lahti, Helsinki, Rauma)?
I believe that right now there is a rather big crusade going on in the Finnish universities just to save money. And it is being done by driving down arts and skills in, at least, teacher education units. I talked to Kimmo Lehtonen, and he said that the administration of the Turku University is trying to cut down the music education teaching hours. In Helsinki University, the big cuts have already been made. For example, they do not have any instrument teachers left in teacher education. So, it seems that no one cares anymore about the skills of future teachers, which is a very terrible, sad situation.
The university of Oulu has discharged most of their instrument teachers which makes it impossible to educate music teachers anymore when there is only one professor and a couple of lecturers left. So, very soon there will be music teachers educated only in Sibelius Academy.
Are there tests, measures or rating scales that you use in Finland?
If you mean in creativity, there are no such ratings at all. But after the fourth-grade, pupils get numerical evaluations of their skills (4–10) in school subjects. Before that the ratings are made in writing. In university we use the scale 1–5 in our evaluation when needed.
Do you look at male/female differences in terms of developing creativity?
I don’t see such differences between the genders. I believe that both have similar opportunities in terms of developing their creativity and creative potential. But as it has earlier been presumed, girls are more oriented in reading and writing while the boys might be more interested in math or science subjects which may lead to different kinds of creativeness among the genders. But I don’t know if there is scientific proof about this.
What have we neglected to ask?
I can’t figure out anything at this time. I do ask you to remember that I have just started in my new creativity professor’s post and I have not yet started my research plans because the process of being chosen as a professor has been very long and tough. But I hope to keep you appraised in the future as to my endeavors!
