You see things and you say, "why?" But I dream things that never were and I say, "why not?"

- George Bernard Shaw

Creativity is a concept surrounded by a number of beliefs and misconceptions. People believe it is limited to only a few.[and] is associated primarily with uniqueness or innovation or "artists" . However research shows that creative thinking is a universal ability.

- Sandra Kerka, 1999

While working on this Guide, I traveled to another city to meet with a colleague about incorporating arts-based research into the Guide, and about ideas for the book's design. With time to spare before the meeting, I stopped into a library and found a book on art education. Browsing through, I was drawn to the heading, "Art develops creative thinking" (Jenkins, 1992). I copied some pages, noted ordering information and continued on my way. Some hours later-possibly when I woke in the night-it came to me that research in practice is a creative process.

Jenkins (1992) describes creativity as the "process of recombining known elements and past experiences to produce something new to the individual" (p. 13). The product may be tangible or it may be an idea. This definition of creativity fits well with the perspective that we bring much to our research, including our life and work experiences. Through research, we might combine what we already know with the information that we gather, in order to come up with something new, at least for ourselves.

Csikszentmihalyi (1996) describes five recursive stages in the creative process, listed below, which we can relate to the research in practice process. Although the stages of preparation and elaboration relate most to starting and completing our research, incubation, insight and evaluation need to happen all along the way.^{Footnote 4}

• Preparation: being immersed in problematic issues that are interesting and prompt curiosity. This process may be conscious or unconscious.
• Incubation: ideas churn around below the threshold of consciousness.
• Insight: the "Aha" moment when the puzzle starts to fall together.
• Evaluation: deciding if the insight has value and is worth following up.
• Elaboration: translating the insight into its final work.

As literacy practitioners, we invite students' creativity when we plan learning environments that allow time for exploration and unhurried work; support risk-taking and making mistakes; include time and space for quiet contemplation; and ideally, include space to leave work to finish at a later time. Questioning, making connections, imagining possibilities and reflecting also contribute to creativity (Morris, 2006).

As researchers in practice, we can use similar approaches to support and extend our own creative process. In particular, having time and tools for reflection, and opportunities to connect with others, supports creativity.

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