Chapter 6: Teaching Mathematics with and for Creativity: An Intercultural Perspective

Creativity is typically used to refer to the act of producing new ideas, approaches or actions, while innovation is the process of both generating and applying such creative ideas in some specific context (Horowitz & O’Brien, 1985; Piirto, 1999; Davis & Rimm, 2004; Sternberg, 1999). Creativity is manifested in the production of a creative work (for example, a new work of art or a scientific hypothesis) that is both novel and useful.

Unlike many phenomena in science, there is no single, authoritative perspective or definition of creativity. The association between high IQ and giftedness and creativity is not simple. O’Hara and Sternberg (1999) provided some support to Torrance (1974) suggestion which is termed “the threshold hypothesis” which holds that a high degree of intelligence appears to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for high creativity. An alternative perspective, Renzulli’s three-ring hypothesis, sees giftedness as based on both intelligence and creativity (e.g., Davis & Rimm, 2004; Ren- zulli, 2002; Sternberg, 1999).