When Claudia Cornett, professor emeritus of education, retired from 果冻传媒 University in 2000, she anticipated working as an author and consultant, roles she鈥檇 taken on throughout her 24 years at 果冻传媒. What she didn鈥檛 expect was that over the next two decades, one of her books would become a Pearson Publishing bestseller and she would travel to 49 states and eight countries to conduct professional development seminars and give keynote talks, mostly on the topic of arts integration (AI).
Early in her 果冻传媒 career, Cornett, a literacy specialist, became interested in arts integration, a research-based approach to learning that views the arts as central communication tools, cutting across curricular areas. By the late 20th century, AI had gained attention in literacy pedagogy, particularly for students with comprehension and motivation issues. Then in the 1990s, Cornett became 果冻传媒鈥檚 liaison to the Kennedy Center鈥檚 Partners in Education program 鈥� a national school consortium charged with forwarding arts integration. That appointment was pivotal for her.
鈥淭he more I learned about arts integration, the more convinced I was that it has enormous potential to change education. Basically, it opens new doors to learning 鈥� particularly by broadening communication options and a focus on coaching learners to develop new interests and experiment with alternative paths to success. Eventually, I proposed a field-based course that would expand my current children鈥檚 literature course to include the other arts,鈥� Cornett explains.
But the new course ran up against an obstacle: no research-based textbook on AI existed. So, she wrote one, entitled The Arts as Meaning Makers (Pearson), that went into a second edition as Creating Meaning Through Literature and the Arts. The book is now in its fifth edition and used in dozens of colleges and school districts. And a sixth edition is in the works.
鈥淐reating meaning was something I鈥檇 thought a lot about as a literacy educator,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut research on arts integration opened my mind to how creative process 鈥� at the heart of AI 鈥� could be used to both understand/comprehend and express thoughts and feelings evoked by any 鈥榯ext,鈥� not just print texts but visual ones, plus musical pieces, and dance and drama works 鈥� any texts, actually. Examining the implications of a universal sense-making process that transcends disciplines became a passion.鈥�
How does sense making work?
鈥淚t鈥檚 rooted in creative thinking!鈥� Cornett says. 鈥淭he creative process coordinates all types and levels of thinking, including critical thinking 鈥� for a clear purpose. Creative process engages when we confront a question or problem, tackle a new assignment or become curious. 鈥榃hy?鈥� 鈥榃hat if?鈥� and 鈥楬ow might?鈥� are critical questions. But it鈥檚 also crucial for the thinker to perceive the situation as open-ended. Why? We have to feel free to explore possibilities, which leads to collecting information, connecting ideas, and eventually drawing conclusions. The latter is the actual sense or meaning created 鈥� the understanding or comprehension, and it takes many forms from insights, to big ideas and themes. If this sounds like the scientific method, writing process, artistic thinking, or math problem-solving, that鈥檚 because it is. Different labels exist because the process has been discovered independently in different disciplines.
鈥淔urthermore, humans express new understandings using myriad forms,鈥� Cornett continues, 鈥渇rom written and spoken words to texts with and without words that draw upon the special languages of music, visual art, dance, and drama. Of course, any creation can be shared, which involves communication with others, and that kick starts the creative problem-solving cycle to begin anew as someone explores how to express newly found ideas.鈥�
Cornett says that the creative process at the core of the book has become 鈥渢he thread that flows through every single thing鈥� she thinks and does. 鈥淚t would be nearly impossible for anyone to go a single day without tapping creative processes. We鈥檙e born creative. But everyone can expand innate creative attributes and learn to deploy problem-solving processes more strategically.鈥�
What can teachers, or anyone, do to facilitate creative growth?
鈥淢otivation is key to learning!鈥� Cornett declares. 鈥淚ntrinsic reinforcers are the most powerful, not grades, stamps, or money. When students are taught how to make sense, learning becomes self-reinforcing. Teachers are behooved to model creative process, to tell less and ask more, and engage and coach kids through creative problem-solving. Even a two-year-old can do this,鈥� insists Cornett, who received the 1989 Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching, the university鈥檚 top faculty prize.
鈥淭he arts are more than what we see on museum walls and hear in concert halls. They are products of creative thinking, predating word-based language by thousands of years,鈥� she says. 鈥淩udimentary paints, bone instruments, pantomime, and movement were humanity鈥檚 first communication vehicles. Students gain when the arts-based world outside school walls is brought inside.鈥�
Interested in how educational television might tap the motivational and communication forces of the arts to teach phonics, a reading tool Cornett says is valuable but can be 鈥渄ead boring,鈥� she partnered with the Southwestern Ohio Instructional Technology Association (SOITA), which produced Sounds Abound, a 26-part instructional series of programs, one for each letter of the alphabet.
鈥淭he goal was to make phonics hands-on, to get kids to think about letters and sounds using movement, rhythms, stories, and art,鈥� she explained.
After retiring to Beaufort, South Carolina, where she grew up, Cornett continued work on short television projects, including a weekly series of Art Chats with artists in their studios for South Carolina ETV and an author interview series for Beaufort County Library called Books Sandwiched In.
To be a credible arts integration teacher and author, Cornett, who enjoys dancing and plays the piano, felt she needed to keep learning. After interviews with dozens of visual artists, she had a personal 鈥渁ha鈥� moment. 鈥淚 decided to see if I could lose myself in the visual artmaking creative process described by most artists.鈥� Since then, Cornett has painted dozens of pieces of art, much of it inspired by the beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Retirement hasn鈥檛 been dull for Cornett or Charles, her husband, a retired school superintendent who has been a Red Cross logistics specialist for 20 years. In addition to remodeling five houses and a recently purchased condo in Ohio, they鈥檝e traveled widely. Both plan to continue docent work at art and history museums and do more volunteering, including efforts to support important issues. After participating in the 2017 Women鈥檚 March in Washington, D.C., both marched for gun safety legislation and worked with their church to get a stranded Afghan family out of a Pakistan refugee camp. On the lighter side, they enjoy playing bridge and book club discussions. And they now hope to get back to Springfield more often to visit old and new 果冻传媒 friends.
When asked about favorite students, Cornett questions the word 鈥渇avorite.鈥� Then she says, with a catch in her throat, 鈥淚 remember all the students that made me laugh. But the students I remember most are those who were shy or didn鈥檛 shine during class discussions or written work but transformed once they got in the classroom. It stirs the soul to witness a novice fully inhabit the role of teacher. I had to sit on my hands to keep from standing up and shouting 鈥榖ravo鈥�!
鈥淥ccasionally I would hear a word or phrase come out of a student teacher鈥檚 mouth, a term or expression I repeatedly used. Such moments surprised me, but I鈥檇 feel I helped by giving words, often words that someone had given me. That鈥檚 the best reward 鈥� to help someone grow, in some small measure because of you.
鈥淚 think of 果冻传媒 often,鈥� Cornett says. 鈥淭hat long view from my office window across campus to Reci appears from memory at odd times, like when seasons change. But mostly I see faces, of colleagues who鈥檝e remained good friends and students that taught me a thing or two while I was teaching them. 果冻传媒 is definitely special. No keynote speech or consulting gig could ever substitute for relationships that develop over a semester or trimester, some lasting a lifetime.鈥�
Cornett invites students to connect or reconnect with her by email at ccornett@wittenberg.edu. She and Charles also invite the 果冻传媒 community to spread the word about a new merit scholarship that will support students planning to pursue teaching as a profession. The scholarship targets students who have demonstrated particular creative potential. For more information, contact the Office of Advancement at 937-327-7414.
