Confratute

Join us July 13-17, 2025 for our 47th Confratute.

A Taste of Confratute

This virtual event offers a full day of professional learning reflecting the flavors of Confratute! We are holding four Taste of Confratute events during the 2024-25 school year, each with a specific topical focus.

• Thursday, October 24: Special Event: Schoolwide Enrichment Model Overview
• Wednesday, January 29: Taste of Confratute: Thinking Skills
• Wednesday, February 26: Taste of Confratute: Social and Emotional Learning and Underachievement
• Wednesday, March 26: Taste of Confratute: Strength-Based Learning

Free Online Course

We offer a free Schoolwide Enrichment Model online course starting four times each year (November 1, February 1, May 1, and August 1).

Free Webinars

You can now register for our University of Connecticut's Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development free webinars on topics related to gifted education.

September 20, 2025 (11 a.m. to 12 noon Eastern time)
The Creativity Choice: From Having Ideas to Making Them Happen
Zorana Ivcevic Pringle
The modern science of creativity was jumpstarted by the speech of J.P. Guilford who defined divergent thinking and discussed its relevance for creativity. Since, researchers have focused on divergent thinking and idea generation more than any other part of the creative process. In this talk, I will argue that we need to shift attention to the process of doing something with those ideas. I will address three groups of questions: (1) Why do people sometimes have ideas, but fail to act on them?; (2) What are the self-regulation processes that enable progress and persistence through the creative process?; and (3) What is the role of social processes in shaping creative performance and achievement? I will discuss the needs for future research and implications for educational practice.

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October 25, 2025 (11 a.m. to 12 noon Eastern time) – TBA

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November 20, 2025 (11 a.m. to 12 noon Eastern time)
Generative AI and Creativity: Avoiding the Convenience Trap
Matt Worwood
Generative AI is a multi-purpose technology with numerous known and emerging applications in education. Already, it is being used as a writing tool, a reading aid, an assessment resource, and a chatbot that provides feedback and supports idea generation. As we continue to explore best practices for integrating this technology into the classroom, it is essential to prioritize our understanding of creativity in learning to mitigate the impact of the Convenience Trap—the risk of diminishing students’ engagement in divergent and convergent thinking. This presentation will examine two GenAI scenarios, analyzing their potential effects on the cognitive process and considering the long-term implications for mini-c and little-c creativity in education.

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January 10, 2026 (11 a.m. to 12 noon Eastern time) – TBA

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Click Here for Recordings of 2021-24 Webinars