Creativity in the Classroom

If the goal is to have students become creative producers at a variety of levels, then the skills of creativity must be taught and practiced. Dr. Calvin Taylor , a renown expert in the field of creativity shared, “Creativity can be described both as a breakaway and as a break-open-the-way talent. Creative talents break away from the narrow-minded and the lower-level functioning of the Academic Talents and thereby break open the way into the broader and higher-level functioning of multiple brainpower talents” (Taylor, 1990).

Classrooms need to be organized in such a way that creative thinking is valued and appreciated. Teaching “about,” and “for,” the development of creativity skills concerns how the classroom environment physical, social and emotional, is constructed to maximize creative efforts. Students need to be exposed to curricular areas of interest that challenge them to use their creativity. Teaching “with” creativity in mind gives teachers the mind-set or “focus” necessary to make creativity an important part of every lesson and every activity occurring in the classroom.