Creative Teaching

Creativity is a fundamental element that needs to taught within the school system and fostered. It aligns itself with Piaget’s theory of cognitive development with the focus on children/students actively constructing their understanding of the world (Santrock, 2011). Students use creative outlets to make sense of their surroundings, feelings and to connect their ideas. As a teacher I believe that creative aspects should not just fall on how the student needs to develop but should also be modelled by the teacher. Below is a clip of a teacher incorporating his student’s interests and passions to connect with an aspect of education that they felt unconnected with. This creative teaching is inspiring as it engages the students and excites them. It helps to make them use their creative thinking and make connections between their passions, prior knowledge and the new knowledge that they are receiving. Cooper suggests that due to creativity and connectedness with constructivist theories, the learner’s questions determine the lines of enquiry, which generates their own ideas and draw on thoughtful conclusions. After watching the clip below it highlights the csikszentmihalyi flow, as the students are absorbed in the task at hand. They are exhibited an intense concentration and loss of self-consciousness (Nakamura, J & Csikszentmihalyi, M, 2002). The teacher has engaged the task at just the right level, as his class have the skills and passion to produce a rap but has stretched their learning by incorporating a subject matter which is at the appropriate level to produce a challenge for the student.

I am a creative person by nature; painting tends to be my creative outlet. It puts my in to my flow and produces a kind of mindfulness. I think being able to produce and construct something, whether it is a visual art form or written piece or being absorbed in finding connections and answers in other subject areas, slows us down and allows focusing. This is an aspect that is not often allowed in our busy lifestyles and to allow students to be and be absorbed in something that is allowing them to make connections and expand their thinking whilst we facilitate them as teachers is something to be embraced. 

References

Cooper, H. (2013). Teaching history creatively. New York, NY: Routledge. 

Snyder, C. R., & Lopez, S. J. (2002). The concept of flow. In Handbook of positive psychology. Oxford [England: Oxford University Press.