Engagement and creativity play such important roles in the learning process, but with the myriad of other requirements and obligations, they can easily get lost in the abyss of deadlines and mandates. Creativity helps develop a deeper sense of learning, yet we keep our “creative” units until after state testing is over. Recently, I met with two education leaders to discuss how to improve teacher and student engagement through creativity.
Why does creativity matter?
Sir Ken Robinson says, “Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value.” In schools, creativity can be harder to imagine in core subject areas like math and easier to associate with humanities and arts. However, creativity shouldn’t be reserved for just those content areas. Building in more creativity comes down to student agency—teaching students to find their voice.
“It’s about empowering students to find what is unique about them, finding their own voice, their story,” says Ben Forta, a senior director of education initiatives at Adobe. “It’s letting them discover the joy of learning.”
Ultimately, we want our students to be successful beyond the classroom walls. Being future-ready is more than just being ready for college or securing a job; it’s thinking creatively about the problems we face as a society. Creativity is about making a major impact on learning. According to a Gallup article, schools that promote creativity see improved scores on standardized tests and results of deeper understanding.
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