Stimulating Creativity

Time never stops it's flow and as it goes is bound to bring changes for everything. One of those things that sure will undergo some changes is education itself.
Our traditional educational system happens to lack one of the important elements that will be part  of the future teaching and that is non other than Creativity .
So, we as future teacher should have some knowledge as about to how to stimulate the aspect of creativity in our students and that is what we are going to talk about below.

 Here are some ways that we as educators can promote creativity in our classrooms.

1-Embrace creativity as part of learning. Create a classroom that recognizes creativity. You may want to design awards or bulletin boards to showcase different ways of solving a problem, or creative solutions to a real world scenario.

2-Use the most effective strategies. Torrance performed an extensive meta-analysis that considered the most effective ways to teach creativity. He found that the most successful approaches used creative arts, media-oriented programs, or relied on the Osborn-Parnes training program. Programs that incorporated cognitive and emotional functioning were the most successful.

3-Think of creativity as a skill. Much like resourcefulness and inventiveness it is less a trait and more a proficiency that can be taught. If we see it this way, our job as educators becomes to find ways to encourage its use and break it down into smaller skill sets. Psychologists tend to think of creativity as Big-C and Little C. Big C drives big societal ideas, like the Civil Rights movement or a new literary style. Little C is more of a working model of creativity that solves everyday problems. Both concepts can be included in our classrooms to promote creativity in general.

4-Participate in or create a program to develop creative skills. Programs like Odyssey of the Mind and Thinkquest bring together students from around the world to promote creativity, design creative solutions, and bring them to competition.

5-Use emotional connections. Research suggests that the best creativity instruction ties in the emotions of the learner. In the “Odyssey angels” program students can devise a solution to help their local community, such as helping homeless youth. This topic is worthy of more discussion by itself.
Research suggests that the best creativity instruction ties in the emotions of the learner.

6-Be aware during discussions. You know that student who often asks the question that goes a bit outside the lecture? Well, engage him. Once a week, intentionally address those questions. Write them down on an assigned space in the board to go back to later. Promote creativity by validating students’ creative thinking.

7-See creativity in a positive light. If we are going to promote creativity, we need to embrace it too. Reward students for thinking of problems in varied ways by recognizing their efforts.

8-Use a cultural artifact. Research from experimental social psychology finds that artifacts can enhance insight problem solving. Consider using an ordinary object, such as a light bulb used in the study or a historical artifact to have students think about living in a particular time period.

9-Establish expressive freedom. The classroom environment must be a place where students feel safe to share novel ideas. Allow for flexibility and create norms that promote creativity.

10-Be familiar with standards. Knowing the standards inside and out helps find creative solutions in approaching a lesson. Teachers can adapt them and work within the current framework. Some topics allow for flexibility and use of creative approaches.

11-Allow space for creativity. Design some classroom space for exploration, such as a thinking table, a drama stage, a drawing table, or a space for groups to discuss ideas.

12-Creativity builds confidence. Students take ownership of their own learning. Think of ways where students might design a project. For instance, for the history requirement, I suggested students of both fifth grade classes create an exhibition of their final projects. The students were so proud of their final work and learned from others presentations. Parents and community members were happy to see students take ownership of their learning.

13-Encourage curiosity.Consider what is important to students. Student interest is a great place to start on what drives their own thinking tank. Find inspiration from their world. Creativity is intrinsic in nature. Try to promote creativity by stepping into their viewpoint to find what motivates them.
Student interest are a great place to start on what drives their own thinking tank. Find inspiration from their world.



This are some of the ways i found of how to stimulate creativity. I hope they were helpful as i myself found them quiet interesting .

Till the next time, Have a nice day/night ^^