Valuing and Developing Students’ Creativity

Abstract

Creativity and creative teaching are becoming

part of the educational psyche but let’s set the concept

of creativity within some kind of context. The government

is beginning to recognize that young people need to

develop the creative skills that will be necessary in the

workplace of the future. Fast-moving technology and the

increasing demands for flexibility and imagination mean

that all our students need to be able to pose questions

such as ‘what if…?’, ‘why…?’ and ‘why not?’

It is also more than likely that, as young people

start their careers, they will move jobs several times and

will need ability to cope with change so that they can

produce creative solutions to increasingly complex

environments. Creative teaching practices will help

prepare them for this-promoting the ability to solve

problems, think independently and work flexibly.

In Expecting the Unexpected: Developing

Creativity in Primary and Secondary Schools

(www.ofsted.gov.uk) the Office for Standards in

Education (Ofsted) suggests that ‘being creative’ and

‘creative teaching’ are not radical or new concepts-all

that they really involve is a willingness to observe, listen

and work closely with students to help them develop their

ideas in a purposeful way.

Ofsted goes on to suggest that it is vital that

school leadership is committed to promote creativity

because this support and encouragement will permit

both students and teachers to work creatively and

help to ensure that good practice is recognized,

resourced properly and disseminated across the

school. It identifies four characteristics of creativity in

schools:

• thinking and behaving imaginatively

• imaginative activities take place in a

purposeful way, i.e. related to a specific objective

• the activity generates something original

• There is value in the activity that is related

to the original objective.

I think this is an interesting definition when it is

applied to teaching and learning because it

immediately removes any vague ideas that all

creativity is about is lying on summer lawns thinking

‘creative’ thoughts that are never realized.

To be able to develop students’ creativity we

need to begin with a review of our own attitudes and

beliefs and then come up with ideas and specific

activities inspiring creativity; these may be

complemented with ideas of other people (e.g.

exchange ideas, talk to other teachers, go to workshops,

read books).