by JCSprenger

Created on: August 27, 2009

How Teachers Can Stimulate Creativity

I recently attended a creative teaching seminar which had the purpose of addressing the needs of Gifted and Talented students in the classroom. The suggested exercises contained the usual efforts of stimulating 'out-of-the-box' thinking processes, but did not include an actual focus group of youngsters on which we could have tried new creative teaching methods. We are of course expected to apply such methods in our respective classrooms, but the chance to practice with small groups of students during the seminar may have given us a better understanding of how and why creativity surges at a given time and not on a permanent basis.

All Children Are Gifted and Talented

Allow me first and foremost to state emphatically that all children are born gifted and talented, even those who may appear to suffer from serious psychological disorders. It is mainly a question of degree and opportunity. Creativity begins with exploration and curiosity. The need to know and discover is an innate quality shared by all youngsters, even in the animal kingdom. Babies who play with their feces elicit disgust and despair in many parents and yet the behavior is a clear sign of curiosity, an indication that they want to know what makes the world tick.

Opportunity Rules

The term opportunity mentioned above is critical in education; the 'by-the-book' teacher fails to give his/her students the opportunity to develop and practice their creativity. My 5th grade teacher was such a man; his class was totally quiet; nobody was allowed to even whisper. Every activity was regulated in a very strict manner. Laughter and group work were non-existent. If you have the chance to enter a classroom, pay attention first of all to the noise level. Unless all students are actively engaged in answering a test, there should be some conversations on an ongoing basis, whether with the teacher or among classmates in group work. I call that positive noise, as opposed to disruptive noise. Students must have the constant opportunity to express their ideas, even if these may sound ludicrous at first. If they fear ridicule from classmates or punishment by the teacher, children will soon learn to clam up as I did with my 5th grade despot.

Stimulate and Grow

The degree of creativity may be increased if we model the way for young children. We all know that kindergarten pupils love colors and love to 'paint'; our job as teachers is to show them how to use their creativity by presenting

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