Resolving the paradoxes of creativity: an extended phase model

Many teachers are interested in fostering creativity, and there are
good reasons for doing so. However, the question of how to do it is
made difficult by the paradoxes of creativity: mutually contradictory
findings that are, nonetheless, simultaneously true (e.g. convergent
thinking hampers creativity but is also necessary for it). These
paradoxes can be resolved by dividing the process of creativity into
seven phases that depend upon different cognitive processes (e.g.
divergent versus convergent thinking) and personal properties (e.g.
openness versus compulsiveness), are facilitated by different
environmental conditions (e.g. tolerance of errors versus demands for
accuracy) and lead to different kinds of product (e.g. something
radically new versus novelty that nonetheless fits into the
conventional framework). Mapping the four Ps of creativity (person,
process, product and press) onto the phases provides a system for
analysing both teaching methods and learning activities of individual
students.