ERIC Number: EJ1214329
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1357-3322
EISSN: N/A
Creativity as a Developmental Resource in Sport Training Activities
Sport, Education and Society, v24 n5 p491-506 2019
The multidimensional concept of creativity has a much wider scope of application than disclosed by prevailing research on sporting creativity. In this area, creativity is mostly perceived, praised, and approached for its performative, in-game benefits. Pointing to the belief that creativity requires well-developed technical skills, this phenomenon is often treated as a performative end. When targeting creative match performances, the developmental and experiential benefits of creative activities may be neglected, and creativity may be reserved for the best offensive players. To nourish and nuance practical and scholastic dialogues, the purpose of this paper is to conceptualize creativity as a developmental resource in sport training activities. This is accomplished by building on and articulating [Shilling, C. (2005). "Body in culture, technology and society." London: SAGE] body-sociology, [Glaveanu, V. P. (2012). What can be done with an egg? Creativity, material objects, and the theory of affordances. "The Journal of Creative Behavior," 46(3), 192-208. doi:10.1002/jocb.13, Glaveanu, V. P. (2016b). The psychology of creating: A cultural-developmental approach to key dichotomies within creativity studies. In "The Palgrave handbook of creativity and culture research" (pp. 205-223). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-46344-9_10] socio-cultural notions about creativity, and [Dewey, J. (1916). "Democracy and education--an introduction to the philosophy of education." New York, NY: The Free Press.] educational philosophy. Based on these positions, creativity is treated as a dynamic quality of action that is located in the transaction between the player and the specific situation (i.e. affordances, intentions, and norms). Hence, creativity regards the exploratory and playful processes of discovering, exploiting, and originating unusual action possibilities (i.e. acting on unperceived, unexploited, and uninvented affordances). Grounded in these ideas, we argue for the stimulation of creative actions during training, which should not be forgotten when trying to nurture in-game creativity. Essentially, the developmental benefits (e.g. learning and enjoyment) of creativity could apply to all players, at all levels. Among others, creativity may enhance their situated potential (e.g. expanding the boundaries of usual actions; developing the capacity for novel actions). For instance, the exploration of unexploited affordances (i.e. actions normally avoided due to norms) entails broad experiences and may help the players discover novel actions. Moreover, creative activities may develop the players' capacity to search for, handle, and/or create unexpected, unusual, and novel situations. This is vital for players' development and performance.
Descriptors: Creativity, Athletics, Training, Discovery Learning, Creative Activities, Athletes, Performance Factors, Athletic Coaches, Interaction, Habit Formation, Individual Development, Intention, Competition, Social Environment, Sport Psychology, Games
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A