The benefits ofNewman and Parse in helping nurse teachers determine methods to enhance student creativity

The benefits of Newman and Parse in helping nurse teachers determine methods to enhance student

creativity Brenda I Jacono and John J Jacono Nurse educators have long been interested in producing graduates who are creative. But, what guidance is available which will assist faculty members in helping not hindering, the creativity of students? In this article, we address the guidance which is available in the nursing theories of Newman and Parse. In fact, we attempt to show that in operationalizing these theories, faculty members will also enhance their own creativity.

INTRODUCTION

Professor B l lacono MScN, RN, Associate Professor Dr I i lacono Phd, RN, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Laurentian University, RamseyLake Road,Sudbury, Ontario, CanadaP3E 2C6 (Requests for offprints to BJJ) Manuscript accepted 28 April 1995

Creativity has long been touted as an important characteristic for a discipline's practitioners. Sullivan & Decker (1992) say, for instance, that creative individuals can generate ideas rapidly, are flexible, can change approaches spontaneously, and are independent in judgement. It should not take a great deal of imagination then, for anyone to recognize the value of such individuals to the nursing profession, particularly in the current uncertain world o f health care. Freitas et al (1991), however, point out that there is little in the professional literature about h o w to enhance someone's creativity, including the nursing literature. As nurse educators, we (the authors) had long been interested in determining what we

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could do to produce graduates who were creative. But like Freitas et al (1991), we soon found that there was little in our discipline's literature to assist us in this matter. W e found some acknowledgement o f the importance o f creativity in the nursing leadership literature (Vestal 1987, Cournoyer 1990, Clark et al 1991, Tebbitt & Veninga 1991, Sullivan & Decker 1992, Manion 1993, Gflles 1994). W e also discovered the importance o f creativity in the educational realm, the research arena and the practice domain (Garity 1985, Thiel 1987, Chinn 1990, Gatewood 1990, Alligood 1991, Freitas et al 1991, Grainger 1991). And, we found a bit of general guidance about producing creativity in our students from authors such as Cournoyer (1990), who pointed out that certain activities might discourage creativity in students. However, we found little specific guidance about teaching strategies that might enhance a student's creativity. At this point, we began to consider the value of literature outside our own discipline in assisting nursing teachers to determine strategies to develop creativity in their students. But, first we decided to consider one last area of the discipline's literature to determine its usefulness in this matter. The area we last considered was nursing theory, and to our delight we discovered that some o f these theories can provide immense assistance in this critical area. This paper addresses the very valuable guidance on creativity we found in the theories o f N e w m a n (1986) and Parse (1987). Indeed, we are certain after operationalizing these theories, that the type of guidance one gets from such theories can be found nowhere else. The guidance is o f such value, because it is completely suited to the unique needs of whatever group o f students one is working with at any given point in time.

HOLISTIC NURSING THEORY AND CREATIVITY It is not clear why the usefulness of these theories for determining strategies to enhance student creativity has not been recognized previously, but it is possible that it is because of the continuing debate over whether Newman's 0987) and Parse's (1987) formulations can even be considered theories. But, as Melds (1992) points out, arguments about whether such formulations are theories or models, are mere hairsplitting which detracts from the valuable guidance to be had from such constructs. And fortunately, we agree with Meleis on this matter, or we might have missed the valuable guidance these theories can offer one in this area.

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W h e n we first turned to the nursing literature, we thought, as we indicated previously, that there would be little guidance available about h o w to develop creativity in students, given previously referred to comments like those ofFreitas et al (]991). W e did find, however, some general statements such as that of Lego (1993) who says that 'if we teach in a rigid, non-creative way our students learn to be rigid and non-creative' (p 193). Clearly, this is guidance of a sort. But, such guidance is not specific enough to be very useful. In addition, the study of Freitas et al (1991) itself identified some of the teaching techniques or methods which might help develop creativity in students. These included connecting the students' life experiences with educational material, including humor, involving students in the role of patients and others. W e soon realized, however, that although such guidance was more specific, much more guidance might be needed for determining how to develop creativity in particular students or groups or students, since they would not all necessarily respond to the same strategies. In our search for more specific direction about how to develop creativity in students, we came across an article by Grainger (1991) which finally put us on the right path. In this article, Grainger (1991) gives advice to nurses on h o w to nurture their own creativity. She observes that she has noticed that when she has some task to do such as write an article or speech, that sometimes things she reads, thinks about or used in her practice at that point seem to revolve about the topic for the speech or article. As a result, when she finally sits down to write, the article or speech essentially writes itself. This example from Grainger's (1991) life experience reminded us that creative behaviour like all behaviour is first of all developed holistically; and, hence, turned us to nursing theories dealing with holism for guidance about h o w to develop creativity in our students. In particular, as we said previously, we found the theories of N e w m a n (1986) and Parse (1987) were the most useful, but we realized these might be somewhat difficult to operationalize, particularly to those new to their use.

OPERATIONALIZING NEWMAN'S A N D PARSE'S T H E O R I E S In order to use any theory, one usually finds that they must first come up with operational definitions for the concepts from which the theory is built. Gatewood (1990), however, points out that the term 'creativity' is quite poorly defined in the literature. This difficulty,

of course, arises out of the complexity of this concept. But, Gatewood indicates that the literature does provide many descriptions of creative persons which can be used to help operationalize ideas about creativity without the necessity for the precise operational definitions of concepts which one would require to conduct research. W e found this fact of particular value in operationalizing Newman's and Parse's theories. Edwards (1979) provides us with one respected description of the creative individual. She says that the creative individual sees possibilities for transforming ordinary data into new creations which are transcendent over mere raw materials (p 26). While on the surface it may not seem that this description will be of much value in operationahzing theories of creativity (i.e. in other words helping one develop creativity in students), we shall attempt to show h o w the theories of N e w m a n (1986) and Parse (1987) expandthis description of the creative individual, and h o w the expanded description will indeed help one produce creative individuals. Newman's theory says several things that expand this description. N e w m a n (1986) states that the process of life is directed towards the expansion of consciousness. As one progresses through life, events occur which push one toward increasing levels of consciousness. Consciousness in this theory is the capacity of the system (individual) to interact with its environment. And, this capacity is seen in the quantity and quality of the interaction of the individual with its environment. Hence, individuals at higher levels of consciousness could be considered the more creative (i.e. they engage in more interactions of higher quality with their environment) and those at lower levels could be considered the less creative (i.e. they engage in fewer interactions of lesser quality with their environment). In terms of rendering these ideas operational, Newman's (1986) theory suggests that in order to produce creative individuals with a greater repertoire of responses to situations and a greater refinement of responses than those at lower levels, one must above all arrange experiences for them which push t h e m towards increasing levels of consciousness. W e will see later that N e w m a n also helps one determine the kinds of events which will provide this push, and now we have the tools with which to work. At this point, we begin to see how Newman's description of the creative individuals will help us operationalize ideas on creativity. Parse (1987) also provides valuable insight by her description of the creative individual. Parse says that the person is a holistic being, always changing, always in the process oftrans-

358 NurseEducationToday forming, who must choose from options and bear responsibility for choices. The individual chooses these options from his or her whole sense or the situation. In addition, she says that the options the person chooses are determined by the meaning the person assigns to events. And, she says the individual assigns meaning based on his or her ability to bear responsibility for the meanings he or she assigns. If we accept these premises of Parse's (1987) theory, the highly creative individual in Parse's theory would be the one who can bear responsibility for assigning many more possible meanings to situations than the less creative individual. Therefore, by Parse's theory, to develop creative students (i.e. operationalize this theory of creativity), one would help students see the many possible meanings which could be assigned to situations, and help them accept personal responsibility for assigning those meanings that they choose to situations. Again as with Newman, we begin to get a clearer idea of our role with students if we wish to increase their creativity. At this point, we have some fairly general guidance from the above theories to help us enhance our students' creativity. W e will n o w turn to the very much more specific guidance offered by these theories.

Keys to operationalizing Newman's and Parse's theories to enhance student creativity According to both the theories o f N e w m a n (•986) and Parse (1987), one is pushed to gain the knowledge and wisdom required to become more and more creative by the total interaction o f the individual with his or her environment. Therefore, no experience that a person has should be dismissed for its potential to increase the creativity o f that individual. W h e n we attempted to apply this idea (i.e. operationalize this theory postulate) with students to enhance their creativity, we found it to be an important key to operationalizing ideas about creativity inherent in Newman's and Parse's theories. Earlier in this paper, we referred to an experience described by Grainger (1991). Grainger, we said, asserted that sometimes, when she was attempting to write a speech or article, that all the experiences she had at that time of writing seemed to relate to the topic of the speech or article; and that this helped her do her writing when the time came to do it. While considering the theory o f N e w m a n (1986) and Parse (1987), one o f us (the authors) had a very similar experience. During the time she was contemplating this matter, the authors was unexpectedly asked to prepare a presentation on

dreams for a community group. This request arose not out of the author's professional life, but out of personal life connections. In researching her presentation on dreams, the author came across a great deal having to do with creativity and dreaming. This led her to wonder whether she might incorporate this idea into her endeavors to teach current students with which she was dealing to be creative. At this point, she felt an inner nudge to look again at Newman's and Parse's theories. W h e n she did, the idea of Newman (1986) and Parse (1987) that no experience should be dismissed for its potential to increase a person's creativity suddenly jumped out at her. Dreaming then would be one of those experiences that N e w m a n and Parse would not want dismissed. And, indeed this, coupled with the authors recent exposure to Grainger (1991), helped her see just what N e w m a n and Parse had been trying to tell her all along. What the above introduces is the notion that it takes certain experiences to make one realize fully the implications o f theory postulates, and only after these experiences does one begin to understand more fully h o w to operationalize such theory. One would not necessarily automatically consider dreaming as one o f those experiences that a teacher could use/encourage in her students to increase creativity. Indeed, we might not even recognize that holistic nursing theory would support/suggest such an idea. But, it is important that we point out here that the tenets of holism as outlined by N e w m a n (1986) and Parse (•987) state that if we stay open and receptive, we will be led ultimately to experiences which will help us identify specific interventions to help deal with whatever situation we encounter. That is, indeed, what happened to one of us in the situation on dreaming described above. The most important key to operationalizing theories like that o f N e w m a n and Parse, then, is that we need only wait and open ourselves up to it, and the specific interventions we need to operationalize these theories will be revealed to us. Newman's (1986) theory, in particular, suggests that each person gets the internal guidance they need to assist them with various situations they encounter in life. W e (the authors) needed guidance as to how to use Newman's and Parse's theories to teach students to become more creative, and that guidance came to one of the authors. One o f the author's outward experiences in preparing a presentation on dream, and her reading of Grainger's (1991) work, was accompanied by an inner nudge. This inner nudge suggested that the link of dreams and creativity, which she had been learning about elsewhere,

Newman and Parse methodsof enhancingcreativity 359 was linked to the ideas found in Newman's and Parse's theories. Hence, outward experience, together with an inner guidance, connected the author to a deeper understanding of specific ways of operationalizing holistic theory to assist students become creative. That is the key to operationalizing any holistic theory. What this experience made the author realize, however, is that specific guidance such as this on h o w to use these theories can be easily missed. W e found that for the action-oriented individual w h o needs quick, precise prescriptions, reliance on such theories can be frustrating, since such individuals often do not have an important trait necessary to using such theory: the patience to wait for the specific guidance which will come to them, if they remain open and receptive to its coming. Hence, these individuals often miss the guidance available to them. However, we also found that the guidance one does get if one has the patience to wait for it is always specific to the particular needs o f the group with which one is currently dealing. Indeed, one will often find when dealing with another group at a later time, that the interventions revealed are quite different from those of the previous group. There is some evidence that ideas from the theories of N e w m a n and Parse are at last beginning to catch on with some teachers. Cameron & Mitchell (1993), for instance, content that the most important thing a teacher can do is 'let go of control, and trust that students will learn what is necessary to them' (p 297). Cameron & Mitchell appear to believe the tenets of N e w m a n and Parse on inner guidance, since here they are saying that students will also receive inner guidance as to their learning needs. This brings us to the final key to operationalizing holistic theories to enhance student creativity.

A final key The final key to using the theories of N e w m a n (1986) and Parse (1987) to enhance student creativity is to realize that the faculty member's role according to these theories is one of ensuring that students get tuned in to the inner guidance they are getting. Newman's (1968) theory, in particular, would suggest that having students attend to outer events in their life will help them understand what their inner guidance is saying to them about what they should be doing to increase their own creativity. Parse (1987) also makes this point, but more indirectly. Kecall, that Parse says that inner and outer experiences help us make choices as to what to do in a given situation. Kecall also, that she says that one assigns meaning to situa-

tions on the basis o f the inner and outer experiences one is having at a particular time. Therefore, if one were directed to think of these experiences as related to the guidance one needed with some matter at a particular time, one would more likely be able to interpret the guidance that was being given to them. What Newman's (1986) and Parse's (1987) theories say then is that life is, in essence, a kind of waking dream. It is an outer manifestation which points (directs) us to the inner guidance we require to handle many of the situations we may encounter in life. In addition, the outer events themselves help us interpret the inner guidance. People who are most creative by this reasoning would be those who can most capably interpret their waking dreams. Your specific intervention as a teacher in this situation then becomes one of helping students who are not yet capable o f doing so discover h o w to interpret their own waking dreams. But, h o w does one do this? Before turning to these specific techniques, there are some important points to note. First of all, it is doubtful that most students who are good at interpreting life's waking dreams are consciously aware o f what they do. They would probably be initially somewhat taken aback, if you suggested it to them. In fact, Grainger (1991), who we referred to earlier, stated that she was only sometimes aware o f the guidance she received from connecting her outer and inner realities (i.e. interpreting her waking dreams). Since this is so, the second important point to recall is that you will at first have difficulty with the idea that your job with students is helping them interpret their waking dreams. We too had difficulty with this idea initially. However, one o f the authors had an experience which was described earlier in this paper, and this confirmed (actually reconfirmed) for her that N e w m a n and Parse were correct about life being a waking dream which we need but interpret for valuable guidance on any matter. But, o f course, until readers have had such an experience themselves, they may be skeptical. For these individuals, we can only suggest that they remain open to the possibility, and see if they have similar experiences to ours. Sometimes all it takes to have one is being open to the idea that they occur. So your role as a teacher, if you accept what we have said to this point, is connecting the students' outer and inner realities. Again, N e w m a n (•986) and Parse (1987) give one specific way to accomplish this. Once more, of course, Newman's and Parse's theories do not address this directly, yet the help one gets from

360 NurseEducationToday the theory is again very specific to one's needs as a teacher. If you are a teacher looking for guidance to help students interpret their waking dreams, and have been perusing N e w m a n (1986) and Parse (1987), there are many ways guidance can come to you. You might at this point, for example, find yourself scanning other literature. W h i l e scanning this literature, you come across an article such as the one by Freitas et al (1991) which we referred to earlier. In the article, you find that these authors r e c o m m e n d such role-playing techniques as those in which the student takes the role o f the patient as well as the nurse as a method to enhance creativity. If Newman's and Parse's theories are correct, contemplating on whether or not this technique would be a useful way to enhance student creativity with the particular student group with which you are dealing, should lead you to some other outer experience which, coupled with inner nudges at the time, should help confirm whether or not you should use this strategy to accomplish your purpose. Since Freitas et al also identify other useful strategies, you might decide to submit several o f their methods to the same test to determine whether they also would be useful for you to use in your efforts to enhance student creativity in this particular situation. This is what we did, and we would like to n o w describe what happened to us to illustrate our point. O n e strategy suggested by the above authors (Freitas et al) is connecting the student's life experiences to the educational material to be learned. As we were contemplating h o w to go about doing what these authors recommended, we next found an article by Lego (1993). This article gave us an even more precise idea as to h o w to do what was recommended by Freitas et al. Indeed, when we came across this article, we knew guidance was forthcoming, given our belief in N e w m a n ' s (1986) and Parse's (1987) theories. W e has been awaiting it. The article by Lego told us h o w one teacher who, when she found she had students who felt particularly powerless, had these students spend their day in the clinical area noticing ways in which institutions and families render patients powerless. That, indeed, seemed to us a perfect waking dream we could set up for students to help them come up with creative ways to assist patients. W e had found our answer. T h e reader might wish n o w to try c o n t e m plating on such strategies for a time, and see whether they have experiences and nudges which verify that they should use them with a particular group o f students, and h o w specifically to use the strategy. T h e answer will be forthcoming to those w h o have the patience to wait.

TEACHER BEHAVIORS INTERFERING WITH CREATIVITY T o this point, we have described the ways in which Newman's (1986) and Parse's (1987) theories helped us determine ways to assist students develop their creativity. W e have not covered all the possible ways in which the theory postulates can be operationalized. This is intentional, because what we have tried to illustrate is that the faculty m e m b e r will receive inner guidance as to h o w to do so when he or she decides to operationalize the theory for him/hersel£ However, both these theories also helped us identify some specific behaviors in teachers which might interefere with the development o f creativity in particular students which we have yet to address. W e would like to turn to these in closing so one can more fully appreciate the vast scope o f guidance available from this type o f theory. W h e n we were perusing these theories for guidance, they seemed to say that there were two behaviors in particular which might most interefere with a student's developing creativity. These behaviors were encouraging students to rely on teachers too much, or at the wrong time. Both Newman's (1986) and Parse's (1987) theories suggest, that it is the tension created by having to make choices throughout life, which pushes one to higher levels o f development. In addition, they suggest that higher levels o f development equate with higher levels o f creativity. It seemed to us consequently that an over-reliance on others, would not produce the tension necessary to expand one's creative imagination. It further seemed to us as we contemplated on this matter, that what N e w m a n (1987) and Parse (1987) were telling us was that giving students too much information about what might be in examinations would be behaviors that w o u l d interefere with the development o f a student's imagination, since that would be encouraging such reliance. But, clearly, we also realized that some c o m m o n sense was required in this matter, as we also k n o w that too little information can also have deleterious effects (Varcarolis 1994). Since the particular behaviors suggested here as being deleterious, were not ones which were identified as harmful in the current nursing literature, we felt it possible that we might be being guided specifically to strategies suited to the needs o f our students. W h e n we began to contemplate on the possible deleterious effects o f such teaching behaviors to determine their likely impact on creativity, once again we had additional outer experiences and inner nudges which confirmed to us that we were

Newman and Parse methods of enhancing creativity 361 being guided in this matter. For instance, at this point, we were marking a set of mid-term assignments, and we found ourselves being prodded on the inner to notice that it was the students who had come to us for the least guidance who indeed, produced the most creative assignments. At this time, it is also important for the reader to remember a point which we already made, but which they may have missed because it was previously only indirectly addressed. W e have said in the above that we often contemplated on the theory itself in order to get guidance about enhancing student creativity. And, indeed, contemplation is crucial in the process. Contemplation is precisely what one does when they are viewing the world through the theoretical perspectives of N e w m a n (1986) and Parse (1987). Contemplation as a method of examining something, is different than thinking about it. It is a relaxed sensing for answers to some matter rather than the vigorous and regimented thinking through of an issue. So, unless one is relaxed even in their consideration o f the theory itself, they will not receive all the valuable help available to them from the theory. N o w , let us turn to the other conclusion we earlier made as a result of this process, to further demonstrate the above idea. As we continued to consider Newman's and Parse's theories, we also began to conclude as we said earlier, that assistance given to students by teachers can be given at the wrong time, and that this can be detrimental to their developing creativity. W h e n we reached this conclusion, we once more felt that we had truly discovered something which we could easily have missed. Indeed, we wondered why we had not, given that others had done so in the past. As we ruminated on the matter, insight finally came. W e soon began to realize that it was because we contemplated in the relaxed way described above that we avoided this danger. Indeed, we quickly realized that it is as one begins to contemplate theory rather than vigorously thinking on it, that things begin to fall into place. To illustrate further, consider the way in which we reached our conclusion about the fact that students can be given information at the wrong time. W e noticed first in our contemplation of the theory, Newman's (1986) contention that time, space and movement act complementarily, in the development of an individual's perceptions of reality. And then, it was almost as if we were led to recall that these unique perceptions are, what divides the highly creative individual from the less creative one. From here, we were led to remember that the highly creative individual perceives that he or she has many more options than the less creative one perceives he or she had. Clearly then,

all this taken together pushed us to the conclusion that the timing of information will influence the options the person sees himself as having, and hence his or her creativity. Additionally, when we further contemplated this matter in relation to the idea of assignment writing, we were directed to more insights. It seemed to us that we were being told, that if teachers give a lot of information at the beginning of an assignment, for instance, that this information might be perceived by the individual as decreasing the amount of space he or she has available to manoeuver. It also seemed to us then that a proper amount of space (i.e. direction) given at exactly the right time (as perceived by the individual) seems to be required to produce the precise amount of tension required to move (push) the individual toward producing a creative assignment. And conversely, it consequently seemed to us that too little space (i.e. direction) at the wrong time produces inappropriate amounts o f tension and the creativeness of the assignment is diminished. Clearly, faculty members must do some experimentation to determine for themselves the correct amounts of information to give, and the correct time to give it. But, if one remains open, as we previously indicated, one will get any additional guidance they may require here. W e will not relate at this point other experiences we had that further confirmed these theory postulates. It would seem time now, for us to encourage readers who may have been motivated by this recounting of our experiences, to try these methods and see for themselves h o w they work. What we found ultimately, of course, is that c o m m o n sense is necessary. N o theory will give us all the answers, as much as we might wish this to be true. After all, as Newman's (1986) and Parse's (1987) theories indicate, the interpretation of theories like the interpretation of life is fraught with complexity. We (the authors) have found, however, that holistic theories, such as those of N e w m a n (1986) and Parse (1987), provide more guidance than is available from most sources once one can relax, and open themselves to being guided.

CONCLUSION As nurse educators, the creative abilities of our students interests us greatly. In attempting to determine h o w to help students develop their creative potential, we found holistic nursing theories, like those of N e w m a n (1986) and Parse (1987), to be particularly useful. W e also discovered, however, that these theories might seem problematic to the action-oriented

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individual interested in quick, precise prescriptions to assist t h e m in enhancing their students' creativity. T h e y do, after all, have to pause, o p e n themselves, and wait for guidance in order to use these theories, and that is difficult for some individuals. W e h o p e that this article m i g h t cause everyone including such individuals to pause, h o w ever, and reconsider the value o f such theories. Indeed, these individuals may find that such a reconsideration, because it requires pausing and reflecting (i.e. contemplating), will increase their o w n creativity. As nursing m o v e s toward the next century, it is clear that it will n e e d its practitioners to b e c o m e m o r e and m o r e creative. It is perhaps time to try n e w ways o f enhancing that creativity, and these theories seem to suggest such ways. Indeed, these ways are o f value precisely because they are fitted to the unique needs o f each group w i t h w h i c h a teacher is faced at any N v e n p o i n t in time.

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Clark K, Cronenwett L, Thompson P, Reeves S 199l Turning the organization upside down: creating a culture for innovation and creativity. Nm'sing Administration Quarterly 16(1): 7-14 Coumoyer P 1990 The art of creative solutions. Nursing Clinics of North America 25(3): 581-586 Edwards B 1979 Drawing on the right side of the brain. Larcher, New York Freitas L, LantzJ, Reed R 1991 The creative teacher. Nurse Educator 16(1): 5-7 GarityJ 1985 Learning styles: basis for creative teaching and learning. Nurse Educator 10:12-60 Gatewood F 1990 Creativity, collaboration, and the development of mental health video tapes. Journal o£ Nursing Education 29(9): 415-417 Gilles D 1994 Nursing management: a systems approach. Saunders, Philadelphia Grainger R 1991 Ways to nurture your creativity. American Journal of Nursing 91(1): 14-17 Lego S 1993 Public policy and creativity in nursing. Journal of Professional Nursing 9(4): 193 ManionJ 1993 Chaos or transformation? Managing innovation. Journal of Nursing Administration 23 (5): 41-48 Newman M 1986 Health as expanding conscioasness. Mosby, St Louis Parse R 1987 Nursing science: major paradigms, theories and critiques. Saunders, Philadelphia SuUivanE, Decker P 1992 Effective management in nursing. Addison-Wesley, Redwood City, CA Tebbitt B, Veninga R 1991 Administrative prosperity: principle III, nurturing a creative spirit.Journal o£ Nursing Administration 21(1): 12-14 Thiel C 1987 The cookie experiment: a creative teaching strategy. Nurse Educator 12:8-10 Varcarolis E 1994 Foundations of psychiatric mental health nursing. Saunders, Philadelphia Vestal K 1987 Management concepts for the new nurse. Lippincott, Philadelphia