Creativity is the process of finding and implementing new and appropriate ways of thinking and doing. People who are able to do so with ease are often said to be ‘creative’, but there are dangers of pigeon-holing people in this way.

Knowledge bank

Though traditionally thought of as referring to the ‘creative arts’ (music, art, theatre), creativity has relevance to all subject areas.

Creativity across the curriculum is a much neglected area of schools’ practice which is only just beginning to receive the attention it deserves.

Creativity can be defined in various ways, including the definition above as well as ‘the purposeful search for innovation in problem solving’.

Teachers need to be creative to new ways of teaching and learners need to be creative in order to live successful and happy lives. We believe that creativity is a vital human attribute that will enable people to flourish in the uncertain world of tomorrow.

Creativity also allows teachers and school leaders to adapt to changing circumstances, allowing them to keep their practice at the cutting edge.

Teaching creative skills can be infused into lessons within one subject area or taught discretely – a blended approach combining the two is likely to get the best results.

Because creativity is about opening up to new possibilities it’s essential that you adopt an open-critical approach if you are to continue to develop your own creativity. This includes opening up to what your learners have to say about effective teaching and learning.

Ask yourself

• To what extent do you recognize the importance of creativity to the subjects you teach?
• In what ways do you currently use creative approaches in your teaching? How could these be developed in the future?
• How do you currently try to help your learners develop their creative skills? What could you do to allow them to develop these skills more?

To do list

• Carry out a ‘creativity audit’ over the course of a week, identifying creative practice in your own and another teacher’s classroom.
• Reflect on the kinds of creative skills that you would like learners to develop in the subject(s) you teach – draw up an action plan outlining how you can ensure that these skills are developed more systematically by more learners over the next half-term.
• Visit a neighbouring school with the express mission of finding an effective teaching and learning approach that has not been tried in your school. Take it back to your school and try to work with other colleagues to embed practice in your school too.

Popularity: unranked [?]