Inventiveness

How do we encourage, teach and reward creativity and imagination in our schools?

I would like to preface my answer to this question with the statement that I believe schools do not universally encourage, teach and reward creativity, however such activities do exist. As far as encouraging creativity is concerned, I think this is quite prevalent in schools. I can remember so many instances with teachers of math, social studies, English, and science after presenting directions for an assignment, project, or paper say, "and be creative" or "make it look nice," "use your imagination" or even "make it interesting." These are all examples of a teacher asking for/encouraging creativity. This is not to say that all teachers do this. There are teachers that have strict guidelines and expectations that did not include room for creativity.

The above point lends itself well to being related to schools rewarding creativity. Rewarding creativity is just as consistent in schools if not more so than encouraging it. Many different rubrics for projects, papers, contests, speeches, and assignments have a category for presentation, creativity, interpretation, etc. All of the noted categories require creative energy in order to be successful or to receive high marks. Furthermore, I both feel and have found that teachers seem to reward creativity, even when the content is not perfect.

What schools lack the most is instruction in the art of creativity. Since creativity manifests in so many different ways, it is hard to teach a particular school of thought about what it means and how to be creative. Despite this, music, art, drama, and creative writing classes can be places where students are given techniques and strategies for fostering their creativity. Still, some fine art and creative writing courses require a large amount of copying a technique given by an instructor. Though this could be easily argued as a way of harnessing creative energy or channelling a student's creativity, however, I, personally, feel that in order for a project to be truly creative, a student must work to develop their own creative techniques to be implemented into the project. Instructors in such circumstances should identify more with the role of guide then of director.



How important is creativity as a skill for the 21st Century?

Creativity is so important in the 21st Century. Employers are always looking for someone that stands out from the crowd. As my father always tells me, "You know, presentation and first impressions aren't everything, but they sure do count for a lot." Both giving a good presentation and making a good first impression take creative energy, and a little professionalism, but even that has its creative side. Moreover, being creative, indicates innovation, which tends to do two important things. One, it keeps things interesting and two, it assists in problem solving. This is no secret, good problem solving skills are sought after by employers. These points just skim the surface of why creativity and innovation are essential skills of the 21st Century.

Some Other Useful Educational Blogs

The Best Tell-It-Like-It-Is Blog:
http://itsnotallflowersandsausages.blogspot.com/

The Best Superintendent Straight Talk:
http://www.principalspage.com/theblog/

The Best Student Teacher Blog:
http://docereestdiscere.wordpress.com/

Role-Playing

* Is this method of role-playing a legitimate way to learn what are some
of the important issues related to student learning and accountability?

I feel that role-playing is an excellent teaching strategy. The only issue is that before the role-playing takes place, the students participating must have, at least, a foundational background of information pertaining to the subject that is being role-played.

* What would have been the advantages/disadvantages of using a more
direct/lecture approach related to teaching and learning and school
improvement efforts?

In this situation, I do not believe a direct lecture would have been much more effective. However, one advantage that is present in a direct lecture format is the guarantee that a lecturer can present all the details they feel need to be presented. All these "necessary" details are not guaranteed to come up in a role playing scenario.

* What is your reaction to the common belief that before students are
asked to engage in complex learning tasks they need to have a solid grasp
of basic skills (i.e. they need to have a careful look at the information
about No Child Left Behind legislation)?

I believe this is completely true. Understanding the topic being role-played is essential and this knowledge enhances learning exponentially. Students are applying what they have learned, and are building from a foundation, not learning as they go.

* How important is some level of emotional engagement in the learning
process?

I believe that a level of emotional engagement is a must. It can be as simple as being "interested" in the topic at hand or as complicated as feeling "frustration".

* Do we tend to pay closer attention and to listen to higher achieving
students, their parents, and to other influential people in the community
before others?

Absolutely, excuse the clique but, "Money Talks!" Yes, this is the whole idea of lobbyists, interest groups, and PAC's. Our society tends to favor the "successful", "powerful", and "influential" long before it considers others, often times even the "intelligent".

As a side note, I thought the role-playing activity was quite interesting. It was fascinating to see how fast emotions raised in just a role-playing scenario when one group was passed over because of who they represented withing a community. It was fun to both watch the events as well as participate.

Passion

This one is easy!

I will never forget my high school biology teacher and her passion and drive for her subject.

I will admit that at the beginning of the year I was not at all looking forward to taking a biology class. In fact, I was dreading it as something that would be terribly boring and dull and have ridiculous assignments. I had picked up this bias from middle school where I had a terrible teacher for "Life Sciences" (i.e. Biology).

Well the school year began as any other did, with the first day of biology spent going over the rules and expectations, and let me tell you this lady was strict and demanding. I began to fear the worst. Fortunately, during the following weeks I noticed two things: 1. My biology teacher was as strict and as demanding as I had feared, and 2. She so passionate and excited about biology (especially in her lecturing) that I began getting excited about biology too. In fact, I began to look forward to the class.

Anyway, over the course of the year, I had a fantastic experience in Biology, I was actually interested in the labs and the research projects, and I consistently participated in lectures and review games. Needless to say, I have to accredit my own excitement and learning in high school biology to my teacher. Had she been a boring lecturer and taken little care in trying to make the class interesting, I imagine that I would have been very turned off by the course and probably would not have learned, or at least retained, much biological information. Instead the opposite occurred, and I felt I learned not only about biology, but I learned to appreciate the science itself. To this, I, once again, have one very strict, demanding, and passionate high school biology teacher to thank.