Abstract

These days, creativity is a hot commodity, the magic ingredient that separates excellence from competence in every field of human endeavor. Yet there is little agreement on what it is, especially in education, where Jean Piaget’s critique of imagination remains influential. I outline the basis for a naturalized conception of creativity rooted in evolutionary processes that are enhanced by and in turn amplify individual and group creativity, and propose that replacing Piaget’s polarization of imagination and realistic thinking with Lev Vygotsky’s integration of those mental processes is necessary to meet the aim of educating for creativity. The role of imagination in counterfactual thinking is explored and improvisation posited as a paradigmatic manifestation of both creative process and product.