In this episode of the Fueling Creativity podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with Dr. Wendy Ross, a cognitive scientist, senior lecturer in psychology, and Chair of the Serendipity Society. Wendy’s research looks at the role of serendipity in creativity, using everything from experimental methods to ethnographic work.

Listen in as Wendy shares her research findings on the relationship between serendipity and creativity, why serendipity is a disruptive force in learning, and the importance of students building a tolerance to failure and adversity. She also gives powerful advice for educators on implementing this knowledge around serendipity in the classroom.

They also discuss the current debates on whether the pandemic has increased or decreased feelings of serendipity, as well as what teachers can do foster a norm of working through discomfort and mistakes. 

Wendy’s Tips for Teachers:

1. Encourage your students to get comfortable with discomfort and failure.
2. Generate interesting environments with many different moments of inspiration and pathways of creativity.
3. Most serendipity comes from interactions with people, not with things.