By Kevin Cordi, PhD November 2, 2014 – Posted in: Uncategorized
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Creativity in the Classroom: shifting the shape of pedagogy : part two
6. We can imagine what we can’t see yet.
When given the permission (some classes this is not granted) to experiment, students can envision possibility. However, we need to routinize the imagination in our classroom.
“Routinizing imagination is not the work only of heroes—the geniuses, the luminaires, the elect. The work belongs to every one of us. Nor can this work come merely in response to crisis. It must come every day. What’s most revelatory about the study of imagination is, indeed, the everydayness of it. Imagination can be embodied in its most developed forms by a great figure or in great history-bending acts. But we believe that enduring, systematic change comes when everyone of us develops, in an abundant bloom of acts and choices, at work and home and play, our own mindfulness about being imaginative. (Liu, E, Brandon, S (2009) p. 11).”
If we work with this as a goal, we will soon witness and experience the imaginative quality in our teaching.7. There is value in play.
Some have said that play is a ‘rehearsal for life,’ however, like Vivian Paley suggests, it is more than this. It is in play where we can rewind our actions, consider other alternatives, create fictional choices and explore real ones. We need to step out of the classroom and enter a playful one. Real work can happen as a result.
7. There is value in creative problem solving.
Learning is a reflective process. As socioculturalist Vygotsky (1978) states, when students are involved in problem based play, it is as though they are “a head taller” in their learning. Imagine how much students can grow when then are involved in inquiry-based playful approaches in your classroom.
8. Discovery over correctness.
Art teacher Jayne Young of Wellington School said she states, “There are no mistakes only unexpected outcomes.” Imagine the eclectic range of choices that open to students when they are given reign to design how they represent their learning. There is room for discovery in the classroom.
9. The best creative designs for learning are negotiated.
The investment of the class will help the investment in the work, especially if it is problem based. As Beach, Edmiston, and Campano ( 2010) suggest, “We therefore align ourselves with those who argue that literacy tools (including artistic literacy) should be embedded in critical and dialogic inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009, Lewison, Leland & Harste, 2008; Morrell, 2008, Wells, 1999), where communities of learners not only gain knowledge, build interpretations, and formulate understandings about the words, including how society might be more equitably organized and their role in such transformations.
Ask yourself, what inquiry questions can we work together to find out? How can I build creative insight into the discovery process?
*This is part two.
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