Teaching

Creating a Climate of Creativity

Cultivating Creativity for Learning...

The ven diagram (LEFT) clearly illustrates how I approach teaching students. Now more than ever, it is so important to create a classroom context within which all students feel comfortable, safe, and able to succeed.

In times like we are experiencing now, this "climate" is even more important, whether virtual or in person. The learning process demands vulnerability, and a certain brand of openness about oneself, because learning is all about making mistakes and growing as a result.

Students must not only be provided with the appropriate instructional resources and support, but they must also feel safe enough to take bold risks which allow them to truly connect with the content in powerful ways that will extend far beyond the classroom, virtual or otherwise. I place a great focus on community, caring, and making all students welcome.

Creativity Development in Education

The illustration of creativity development in life (RIGHT) shows how many students often experience a decline in personal creativity during their high school years because it is not "valued" or cultivated as much as it was in earlier years.

Sir Ken Robinson discussed this at length and with considerable clarity in his TED Talk regarding why and how it is so important that education supports the development of creativity: CLICK HERE to see his talk.

Yet, the creative mind has great capacity to be of use in all spheres of learning and in all career paths throughout adolescence and adulthood!! Learning about new and emerging technologies allows students to gain confidence and to re-connect with their creative mind in powerful ways.

Engaging in the 21st Century learning curriculum develops skills which help students to be more successful in other work or school situations. Tech students are encouraged to explore all aspects of design, coding, and application; providing them with many opportunities to discover new talents and areas of personal interest.

Creativity Development in Life

Enhancing Personal Creativity

Among those who were first to theorize about the topic of creativity development was Mihaly Csikssentmihalyi. An excerpt from his writings on Enhancing Personal Creativity is embedded below in the RIGHT COLUMN. In this essay, he describes a specific series of exercises that can be used to discover and develop your own personal creativity.

The Importance of Creative Thinking - "Sparks of Genius"

Many authors have written about the creative process and what stimulates the creative mind or artistic impulse. Most recently, educators have been talking extensively about the implications for teaching and learning and the development of student creativity.

Authors Robert Scott Root-Bernstein and Michele Root-Bernstein wrote a fantastic book which synthesizes the theoretical work of many who have tried to explain the psychology of creativity.

Their summary of past and present research indicates that all highly creative people use the same thinking skills, regardless of their artistic domain (listed, RIGHT).

The 13 Tools for Thinking

According to Root-Bernstein, the Tools for Thinking are the key to unlocking personal creativity. The thirteen tools are:

Observing
Imaging
Abstracting
Recognizing Patterns
Forming Patterns
Analogizing
Body Thinking
Empathizing
Dimensional Thinking
Modeling
Playing
Transforming
Synthesizing

To see a preview of "Sparks of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People" on Google Books, CLICK HERE.

To find out more about my thoughts on Creativity in Teaching and Learning, please visit the pages showing my work from CEP 818, Creativity in Teaching and Learning.

Performance & Authentic Assessment

The foundation of my teaching is based a core belief that all students learn differently, and in tech or other applied arts, it is most often by doing. My professional practice centers on providing students with authentic opportunities to express themselves and create new understanding, while applying theory into practice to develop skills. Research has shown that when engaging in these types of curricular experiences, the most superior depth and breadth of knowledge are explored through an immediate and continual application of mastery.

The "Qualities of Authentic Performance" developed by The Coalition of Essential Schools (http://www.essentialschools.org/) indicates more detail about how these assessments can be best utilized for the benefit of student growth and learning in any discipline. (see embedded document, Right column)