Teachers develop their creativity:Ideas for Teaching English Creatively
Are your students creative?
Creativity is usually described as having a number of different dimensions: the ability to solve problems in original and valuable ways that are relevant to goals, seeing new meanings and relationships in things and making connections, having original and imaginative thoughts and ideas about something, using the imagination and past experience to create new learning possibilities.
Creativity is the most difficult thinking skill to acquire, and
also the most sought-after. We value it in our music, entertainment,
technology, and other aspects of our existence. We appreciate and yearn
for it because it enriches our understanding and can make life easier.
Creativity always starts with imagination, and history shows that
many things we imagine are later actually created. Gene Roddenberry
imagined the Star Trek flip communicators in 1966, and Motorola
produced them in 1996. In the mid 1800s, Augusta Ada King envisioned a
language for computing machines that didn’t even exist; today she is
honored as the founder of modern programing languages.
When Benjamin Bloom identified what he called the taxonomy of the
cognitive domain, he ranked synthesis (creativity) as one of the most
difficult skills to master because a person has to use all of the other
cognitive skills in the creative process. Since, according to Bloom,
creating is the highest order of thinking, it should be in the forefront
of all learning environments and an end goal. When students create what
they imagine, they’re in the driver’s seat.
Why is creativity important?
Creativity improves self-esteem as learners can look at their own solutions to problems and their own products and see what they are able to achieve.
Creative work in the language classroom can lead to genuine communication and co-operation.
Learners use the language to do the creative task, so they use it as a
tool, in its original function. This prepares learners for using the
language instrumentally outside the classroom.
Creative tasks enrich classroom work,
and they make it more varied and more enjoyable by tapping into
individual talents, ideas and thoughts - both the learners’ and the
teacher’s.
Creative thinking is an important skill in real life. It is part of our survival strategies and it is a force behind personal growth and the development of culture and society.
Teachers develop their creativity:
Step one: become a knowledgeable teacher Step two: connect with other teachers Step three: become a collector of teaching ideas Step four: share your learning Step five: remove the blocks to creative thinking Step six: practise your creativity Step seven: start experimenting and reflecting on your teaching Step eight: make creativity a daily goal
Creativity in the Classroom
When designing learning experiences, teachers can plan and
frame curriculum and provide tools that give students options, voice,
and choice in order to enable them to be creative. In my work in
schools, I’ve found four things that successful teachers do to develop
creativity in their students.
1. Set up learning activities that allow students to explore their creativity in relevant, interesting, and worthwhile ways.
Classroom example: Fourth-grade students are presented with a sample of
rocks. They are to devise tests to determine what kind of rocks they
have based on the definitions they’ve studied. Students find their own
ways to determine differences in hardness, color, and shapes.
Another classroom example: A kindergarten class creates a new
illustrated book each week that celebrates a different member of the
class or an adult at the school. Each book is full of pages drawn by
each student. They have the full liberty of depicting what the person
likes and how they perceive him or her.
2. Value creativity and celebrate and reward it.
Classroom
example: Third-grade students are learning about polygons and to see if
they know the concept, the teacher takes them outside and gives each
student a sidewalk chalk. Each student is given the task of drawing
several examples of polygons on the driveway.
Once the students have accomplished this, the teacher tells the
students to transform those shapes into something they love. The
students want to show everyone their geometric-based kittens, robots,
and dragons and then have an opportunity to explain to the whole class
why they liked them.
3. Teach students the other skills they need to be creative.
Classroom example: A second-grade class is learning about the concept
of freezing. The teacher asks one question to get them started, “Does
only water freeze?” The students then design an experiment to determine
what other things freeze. The limit is that they can only use what they
have in the classroom at the time.
The students come up with a list of things that they will leave
outside to see if they freeze: water, juice, vinegar, glue, glass
cleaner, toothpaste, and paper. Some suggestions they decide are already
solids and shouldn’t go outside: pencils, erasers, and books (but
somehow paper stays on the test list).
The next day, they discuss their
findings and have engaging conversations about why the paper is
stiff and the vinegar has not frozen.
The initial discussion among students about what might freeze fosters
skills such as advocating for one’s ideas and compromising. The
follow-up discussion encourages deductive reasoning and active
listening.
4. Remove constraints for creativity and give the students space and a framework in which they can be creative.
Classroom
example: A sixth-grade class produces Halloween costume plays. In order
to wear costumes to school, the students have to write a play that
incorporates each of their characters into a plot and then present the
play. For instance, they have to come up with how a giant soda can and
the superhero Wonder Woman will interact. The students love the
challenge.
We Learn by Doing
Imagination and creativity are the traits that fuel the future. Both
serve to inspire students and should be integrated into every part of
learning. In planning and designing learning for students, this we know:
Teaching students how to think is more important than teaching students
what to think.
Creativity in the Classroom
1. Allow students to explore their creativity in relevant ways.
2. Value creativity and celebrate and reward it.
3. Teach students the other skills they need to be creative.
4. Give students space in which they can be creative.
