Why is Creativity Crucial in the Classroom?

“Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting.” – Edward de Bono, the father of lateral thinking and creativity.

 

Everyone has creative capabilities as a natural result of being human. The challenge, as Ken Robinson states in his book Out of our Minds: Learning to Be Creative,” is to challenge and develop a culture of creativity which has to involve everybody not just a select few.

Why is Creativity Crucial?

  • It allows students to unleash their imagination, and discover things that make them come alive. Simply put, creativity is fun and can inspire individuals.
  • Creativity prepares students for a life in a rapidly changing world. With the technology revolution, there will be more jobs that will have to be created, and new ways of conducting everyday life.
  • It enriches peoples lives, allowing for personal and societal discoveries.
  • Creativity allows for visions to be shared, and dreams to be shared.
  • It can create inventions that are can become valuable contributions to society.
  • Creativity awakens the student to become critical thinkers.
  • Creativity enlightens students, and can give them more opportunity.
  • Creativity allows the mind to be free, and produces lifetime learners and free thinkers.
  • Creativity builds confidence. 

 

How can Creativity be Promoted in the Classroom?

Below are links to articles that describe the different methods in which creativity can be used in learning.

Odyssey of the Mind: an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college.

Activities for Social Studies Classroom that Promotes Creativity Skills:

 

 

Closing the Achievement Gap – The Hidden Power of Character

Reading news from the Economist, I found this article posted today that highly sparked my interests. This article depicts new research on closing the achievement gap. The power of persistence and curiosity can be better predictive measures of student success than cognitive skills. How do we teach this mindset to students and illustrate the correlation between hard work and destiny? This article gives some insight on a new way to look at measuring student success, along with the book “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character,” by Paul Tough.

Link to article

Link to book on Amazon