Welcoming Creativity In The Young Learner Classroom

Welcoming Creativity In the Young Learner Classroom.

José Luis Morales,2009

Which of these views do you subscribe? A) All human beings can be creative. B) Only gifted individuals are truly creative.

What is creativity? Sanders & Sanders, (1984, pp 24-27)

f you want to be creative, stay in art a child, with the creativity and vention that characterizes children efore they are deformed by adult society.” Jean Piaget

“New Know” Robert Samples

“Divergent thinking in problem solving” J.P.Guilford

“...the emergence in activities of a novel relational product, growing out of the uniqueness of the individual on the one hand, and on the materials, events, people, or circumstances of his life on the other.” Carl Rogers

“The combination of previously unrelated tructures in such a way that you get more out of the mergent whole than you put in.” Arthur Koestler

“ Cr ea tivit y is a proces s that in volves se nsing gaps o r dist urbin g mis sing elem ent s, making h ypot he ses , test in g t hem, com mun ica tin g the res ult s and po ssibly modif ying an d r et est ing thes e h ypot hes es. ” Paul T or ra nc e

The concept evolves: R ob er t J. St er n b er g , P r of es so r of Ps y c h olog y a nd Ed u c a t ion , Ya le Un iv er s it y.

Mystical Approaches – Plato’s view of the poet as an empty vessel filled with inspiration by the Muses.

Psychodynamic Approaches – Freud (1908/1959) – creative work is a way for the artist to express unconscious wishes in a publicly acceptable fashion. - Gestaltists and the concept of ‘insight’.

Pragmatic Approaches – De Bono (1971) Lateral Thinking - Osborne (1953) Brainstorming

Confluence approaches – Csikszentmihalyi (1988,1996) Systems approach - Sternberg & Lubat (1991) Investment theory of creativity.

Investment Theory of creativity Sternberg & Lubat (1991, 1992, 1995,1996)

Creative people are those who are willing and able to “buy low in order to sell high”

Creativity as a process

lBeing open to experiencing lFocusing on one’s experiencing lWorking with discipline lBringing the work to a close

Foshay in Creativity in Teaching edited by Alice Miel (1961)

Creativity as a set of traits

lFluency of ideas – lots ? lFlexibility – variety? lOriginality – new, unusual? lElaboration – any gaps?

Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Torrance (1974)

lIntellectual abilities

Creativity as a lKnowledge set of interrelated lStyles of thinking lPersonality resources lMotivation lThe environment Investment Theory of Creativity Sternberg & Lubat (1991)

Definition of Creativity Longman Dictionar y of Contemporar y English

Cre-a-tiv-i-ty n [U] the ability to use your imagination to produce new ideas, make things etc: artistic creativity/ Teachers have been attacked for stifling creativity in their pupils.

Teacher Responsiveness and Creativity:

A teacher’s creativeness is exhibited to a significant degree in the nature of the response made to children or youth in this process of interaction. Marie M. Hughes (in Miel, A.1961)

What is integrity in classroom relations?

The state or quality of being complete, individual, or unbroken; entirety; an unimpaired state. Dieg o’s stor y

Teacher responses that protect creativity:

Child A: Is the house too big? How do you want it? How does it Teacher A: It’s okay. feel to you? ChildB: I need a title for my story. What is your story about? What Teacher B: What about best friend?” did you“My write?

Protecting Creativit y in Teacher-Child interaction

How a teacher reacted to the child’s comment:

Child – Mirá Simba. Teacher – Repeat after me. Look! It’s Simba.

Protecting Creativit y in Teacher-Child interaction

How the teacher could have reacted to preserve the integrity of the child’s comment:

Child – Mirá Simba. Teacher – Yes. It’s Simba, the lion.

Using space creatively Use the unexpected, unconventional: ceiling, floor, backs of chairs, corners, back of the room. Invite the learners to hold things up for classmates to admire their work if there is no display space available.

Using humble things creatively Boxes Paper bags Paper String Fabric Objects

Use a variety of activities. From closed...

Necessary focus on target language but little or no room for the child’s creativity (linguistic or other)

...controlled language

...to more open-ended...

Some room for the child’s creativity: learners can add their own objects and color as they like before they place phone orders.

...freer...

Make room for the child’s creativity (linguistic and/or other)

...creative thinking and language use.

Plenty of room for the child’s creativity (linguistic & other)

Creating with words:

Read the activity and suggest a way to increase linguistic pay off while allowing the children some creativity.

Possible adjustment: Each player must say a word for the next player to say the opposite.

It is a time for wondering and observing and figuring out… Without creative ability, we remain at the mercy of all that is going on around us, finding our lives lived for us. Peggy Brogan

REFERENCES •Miel, A. ed. 1961. Creativity in Teaching: Invitations and Instances. Wadsworth, Belmont, California. •Morales, J.L. et al. 2006. English Adventure 1 to 6. Pearson Longman, White Plains, NY. •Sanders, D.A., & Sanders, J.A. 1984. Teaching Creativity through Metaphor: An Integrated Brain Approach. Longman, New York. •Sternberg, R.J. 1999. Handbook of Creativity, Cambridge University Press. •Torrance, P. 1974. Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, Scholastic Testing Service, Inc, Bensenville, IL. •O’Neil, H., Drillings, M. 1994. Motivation:

Thank you very much for your participation! José Luis Morales [email protected]