Page 23 - FIS World

have seen teachers in other subject areas encouraging students to be cre- ative in Math, Humanities, English, and Languages. Teachers manage to do this by designing assessment tasks that demand collaboration, creative expression of students’ understanding of curriculum material, often (but not always) using technology.
In my dissertation, through a fairly large-scale survey I conducted, I came up with a number of characteristics that fine schools demonstrate in sup- port of creativity.
• Offering courses in fine arts (music, visual art, dance and drama) as well as extra-curricular activities in these areas
• Allowing students choice in how they demonstrate their understanding of curricular knowledge
• Providing teachers choices to encourage divergent, creative
Creativity is
a goal worth pursuing for both economic and intrinsic rewards, even though creativity can be difficult to measure.
thinking through the selection of course material and assessment tasks • Creating a flexible, less structured collaborative environment
• Offering explicit instruction of appropriate thinking skills through experimental, inquiry-based learning that has appropriate use of technology
• Employing international teachers who bring different perspectives and ways of teaching
While schools must be proactive in their support of creativity, it is also important to be aware of factors that can inhibit a creative learning environ- ment. Examples these factors are as follows.
• Adhering to a prescriptive curricu- lum featuring closed questions that reward memorization.
• Focusing purely on external exam- inations, standardized tests and grades, especially when the focus is upon punishing students’ failure to meet expectations.
• Encouraging teacher centered or curriculum-centered learning rather than student-centered learning
• Adopting a rigid approach to learn- ing, that is void of teacher and student choice.
• Designing dull or uninspiring school or classroom settings that do not foster collaboration.
• Failing to integrate subject matter or promoting the belief that some sub- jects are more important than others.
The main points I learned through this process are that creativity can be fostered by school leaders, teachers, students and parents. Creativity is a goal worth pursuing for both eco- nomic and intrinsic rewards, even though creativity can be difficult to measure. It is important to avoid false dichotomies such as “creativity can only be taught in arts classes”, or that all art is inherently creative. Perhaps, most importantly, that we do not have to choose between creativity and aca- demic success. Both are essential to a student’s success.
Daniel Cowan, US Asst. Principal
February 2015 FIS World 21