Want to be creative? 21 ways to get you started!
Sebah Al-AliWhat is creativity?
Creativity has always been a buzzword, in different fields: teaching, marketing, public speaking, business, … It’s gained its popularity because it is what makes you stand out from other attempts. Regardless of your field or profession, creativity can happen. It allows you to add a touch of original magic to something that might be lifeless otherwise.
Can we teach creativity?
Although it’s a talent that comes from within, Sir Ken Robinson and many others argue that it is something that can be taught, or at least be enhanced by training.
In his book about teaching creativity and problem solving, Arthur VanGundy also explains that creativity is about letting the gene out of the bottle.
“There is nothing mysterious about creativity; it’s just a matter of applying the right attitude and technology in a climate receptive to creative thinking and new ideas.”
–Aurthur VanGundy
Ways to boost creativity?
Creativity is vital for our students as it helps make their work unique, their ideas spark, and their confidence grow. There are many suggested techniques and ways. Some suggest that creativity is basically all about loosening up our brain to find ways to generate ideas that are confined by norms or standards.
You can encourage creative thinking in class by asking students to build a story based on random objects you provide them with. It could also help them to think in ways they didn’t think were possible, which will make it less possible for them to be confined by normal, uncreative line of thinking.
Let them picture/think of a world where:
- A talking flower ruled the world?
- We smelled bad whenever we said a lie?
What will happen? What kind of problems will disappear? Appear? Their stories can be as crazy they can get, as long as they can find a way to explain it.
I whole-heartedly agree with the commentary about freeing-up the brain to explore, thus creating space for some creativity that might otherwise be missed. Part of making space for creativity is helping our students to imagine possibilities, which is not always a comfortable task for them. For my class this cycle I have to really scaffold some of the students into imagining possibilities for their opinion writing. Some are at an advantage because they have broader or deeper life experience to draw from. It's always fun to see the process of discovery and the effect of it permeate the room. Important academic (and perhaps life) skill!