Lesson 1: Let's Get Creative
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Welcome back, creative educators! We've reached the most exciting lessons in our course. In this lesson, we're going to take a look at our own creativity, and what beliefs and behaviors we can try to implement in our classrooms to help promote creativity among our students, too. First, let's begin by learning more about who we are as a creative individual!
What's My Creative Type?
As we've learned in our course so far, everyone has the ability to be creative. In order to develop those creative skills, we must practice with our "creativity muscles." Perhaps you already know the ways in which you express your creativity. Or, maybe you're still unsure of your creative potential. To begin our lesson today, we're going to take a look at our creative types, which will provide us with some helpful information as to what our creative strengths are, and how we might continue to support them. Please click on the link below to take this brief quiz about your creative type, designed by Adobe Create. Be sure to download your results after completing the quiz, so that you always have a reference about your creative potential!
How Can I Develop My Own Creativity?
Now that you've figured out your creative type, you may still be wondering: "So, now what?" Based on each creative type, I have designed some simple creative exercises or activities you could partake in. View them in the chart below, and be sure to try one out for yourself! (Psst – if you're wondering what my creative type is, it's "The Visionary!")
What is "Teaching for Creativity?"
Now that we've looked at how to develop our own creativity, we need to talk about teaching for creativity, and how to accomplish it.
So, what exactly does "teaching for creativity" mean? According to Bullard and Bahar (2023), "teaching for creativity is the act of implementing processes throughout instructional lessons that require students to develop and activate their creative abilities" (p. 5). This is NOT the same as creative teaching, which "pertains to how a teacher delivers a lesson in a novel and/or engaging manner" (Bullard and Bahar, 2023, p. 5).
There are several ways that teachers can best prepare themselves and their classrooms to teach for creativity. As we've previously learned, the way an educational environment is designed plays an important role in student creativity. Another important idea is that educators need to start seeing themselves as facilitators of learning and thought within the classroom, rather than as the sole contributor of content (Lopata et al., 2022). Educators must be open to student ideas and interests, as well as taking risks that develop students' creative potential (Anderson et al., 2022). The chart below highlights some of the beliefs educators should have about creativity, and how to translate those into the classroom setting, according to Anderson and colleagues (2022).
Wrapping Up
Of course, this list is not exclusive, and you may find that you already hold some of the beliefs about creativity and teaching mentioned above. A final note about teaching for creativity is that it does require some "organized chaos" in order to be effective. Always be consistent with your routines and procedures, but remain flexible and open-minded to allow your students to develop their creativity. Plus, it always helps if you can show them your creative passions as well!
Self-reflect: What beliefs about teaching for creativity do you already possess? What beliefs might you consider implementing? Record this information somewhere that is easily accessible to you.
In the next lesson, we'll take a look at several activities that encourage students to be more creative that can be easily implemented in the classroom.
If you'd like to learn more about the research mentioned in this lesson, you can find those links under the "Lesson Resources" heading below.
When you're ready, join me in Lesson 2: How Do We Get Students to Be Creative?
Or, click here to return to the Teaching for Creativity Course Homepage.
Lesson Resources
Adobe Create. (n.d.). Creative types. https://mycreativetype.com/
Anderson, R. C., Katz-Buonincontro, J., Bousselot, T., Mattson, D., Beard, N., Land, J., & Livie, M. (2022). How am I a creative teacher? Beliefs, values, and affect for integrating creativity in the classroom. Teaching and Teacher Education, 110, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103583
Bullard, A. J., and Bahar, A. K. (2023). Common barriers in teaching for creativity: A literature review. Journal of Creativity, 33, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjoc.2023.100045
Lopata, J. A., Barr, N., Slayton, M., & Seli, P. (2022). Dual-modes of creative thought in the classroom: Implications of network neuroscience for creativity education. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 8(1), 79-89. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000317