Creativity is the process of coming up with a new idea that has some value to someone or something. Sir Ken Robinson defined creativity as being a process, being original, and having value.
It is unfortunate that creativity has become so attached with the Arts. This has made it hard to even begin to envision how we can encourage creativity in science or math settings. One day in class we were talking in a group about some approaches to teaching that would encourage creativity. My group was full of future English and Social Studies teachers, and they were able to come up with a bunch of ideas that would encourage and promote creativity in their classrooms. However, i found it very hard to come up with a few ideas for Science and Math. My first idea was having a "review" project, where students could use whatever approach they wanted to create a review package throughout the course. For example, a student could have made a scrapbook with pictures, definitions, etc. or created a video that contained course content and explanations, etc. In high school, i don't remember doing anything like this, or having choices in what we were able to do to get our final marks. I like writing tests because i like reading textbooks (weird, i know) and i can usually do well on them. But we all know that there are the students who have test anxiety, or just don't test well on this kind of assessment. In my science classes, i want to be able to provide alternative assessment options to my students, so that they can learn the material in a way that works for them. Of course, there will be final assessments throughout the term, but there should be other options for grade accumulation.
Creativity can also be used in physical education classes. When i was running a sports camp last summer, i gave groups of 8 athletes certain equipment and space restrictions, and they had to come up with a game that pertained to the topic of the sport that they were assigned (getting to open space, deking, diving, etc.). The groups were given about 10 minutes to come up with the game, 5 minutes to play the game themselves, then they were split (like the jigsaw method) into new groups and taught their new teammates. My coworker and i were amazed by the types of games that they came up with...things that we would never have considered. We recorded the games, used some throughout the camp, and modified others for future use. It was amazing being able to experience all of the different perspectives of ideas that we had defined before the day began.
My biggest issue with physical education today is that it is supposed to be about teaching strategies for having a "healthy and active lifestyle," but for the most part, i really don't think this is happening. What happens to the students who do poorly in one sport, a few sports, or all the sports that we teach in a 2-3 week unit? It is unlikely that they are having fun and chances are they will never participate in those activities again unless they are harangued to do so. I believe that providing opportunities where students can make their own games and have fun while creating and playing them is crucial to promoting lifelong activity. When students realize that games can be fun, and that they aren't restricted to the "final product" (ie. full match of soccer, basketball, 6v6 volleyball, etc), i have seen that they are much more likely to participate and continue being active afterwards.
As i become a more practiced teacher, i think that finding creative options and promoting creativity in the classroom will become easier to explore and implement. It will come through my own experiences, input from others in the field (and elsewhere), and from my students....they are the ones that know themselves the best!
PE and Gender Equity
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