Professional Reading #2 - Building creative thinking in the classroom: From research to practice

 Title of Book/Reading/Study Programme

International Journal of Education Research: Building creative thinking in the classroom: From research to practice

Link to Reading

Author/s or Lecturer/s or Speaker/s

- Emma Gregory, Mariale Hardiman, Julia Yarmolinskaya, Luke Rinne (2013)

Synopsis

Classroom instruction often overlooks the importance of encouraging and explicitly teaching students to think creatively. Yet classroom learning offers an ideal opportunity for students to master content knowledge and to creatively apply that knowledge. a skill important for success in any environment. Literature on creativity is reviewed with a focus on findings that inform how creativity can be taught. Reviewers argue that some changes in the ability to think creatively arise due to factors that are directly manipulable in the classroom, whereas other changes stem from increases in capacities of cognitive function. 

Motivation

Doing this reading as part of our CoL PLG this coming Thursday. I think it was quite lengthy and very wordy, but definitely had some ah-ha moments and highlighted some key points I felt was relevant and resonated with my practice.

4-5 Quotes I resonated with:

1. ...A student's ability to creatively apply information they have learned, is best supported when creative thinking is taught in tandem (having two things arranged one in front of the other) with subject matter content, rather than in a standalone way, divorced from content...
2. Content knowledge has been argues to be the foundation for creative thinking and innovation...creative thinking cannot occur unless one has first mastered a body of content knowledge
3. ...educators must give students opportunities to flexibly apply content knowledge; it appears that this can be accompanied by offering students active learning experiences...
4. ...teachers should include learning that is hands-on and experience-based to motivate students, supply sufficient information and experiences...
5. Knowledge gained through experience allow children to construct mental models

How will it help me? How has it helped me?

I found this to be a very complex reading. I had to re-read it multiple times to actually understand what it was about. I felt this reading was relevant because it highlighted that classrooms in which teachers fostered student creativity, saw student achievement gains. It emphasised the processes and mental models behind the teaching and learning of CREATIVITY. Educators must give students opportunities to flexibly apply content knowledge and build that knowledge through active learning experiences.

So What?

I think our school is on a roll with this concept. Our learn, create, share pedagogy provides learners with the opportunity to drive their learning and experience 'lightbulb moments and learning pits' along the way. To explore, discover and investigate areas of interest and passion. To learn the processes of inquiry and develop their own understanding of the key concepts. Our learn, create, share models were created with intent that the learners could adapt to and follow. One of the main objectives is to encourage students to "think outside the box", be CREATIVE and go forth with it. To not limit themselves to the 4 walls of the class but use the power of the internet to help them get in touch with people across the street, the city, the country and the world.

Anyhow, my takeaway from this reading is to encourage creativity in all areas of learning. With my focus on RPI this year, I can see how creativity is one of the driving factors behind the task-boards created for the learners and the activities included. 

Blogpost #1: Student Inquiry Foci for 2023...

This year my Inquiry has a main focus & a sub-focus. How this will turn out is still quite blurry but I do know my purpose.

My main focus is on the Reading Practice Intensive (RPI) where my role is to mentor 2 teachers in my team. I want to inquire into the shift in our Reading Programme and if the changes made will produce an increase in student engagement and achievement.

My sub-focus is a collaborative one with fellow CoL teachers (Dorothy Apelu, Robyn Anderson, Dianne Fisi'iahi & Amy Tofa) and looking at how we could limit the language hurdles faced in Y8-9 High School transition #WordConsciousness.

I am hoping that through RPI and the changes my team have implemented and will continue to make in our Reading Programme this year, a vocabulary list or bank of words could be generated (in collab with other CoL Kaiako), to assist our Y8 kids with their transition into Y9.

So far this year, my team and I have been working in the school hall in an MLE. We have about 72 kids and 3 teachers working in 1 space. It's been an interesting, yet positive experience. With both teachers in my team taking the RPI intensive, it only makes sense that we all follow this approach. We work quite collaboratively and plan this way too. We have implemented the reading task-board idea into our programme, it's very multi-modal, and we have teacher workbooks - this is to help us track learner progress, keep record of their levels, strengths & weaknesses and make further teacher notes about the child's learning throughout the year.

Through talanoa with my team, we identified spelling to be a weakness amongst our team. All students bring different understandings and practises to the conception of spelling. We were recommended a book called 'The Code'. Fortunately we have an expert teacher in our RT Lit team whose followed this spelling programme thoroughly in her practice. Upon rich discussion with Kate, she advised that we have the student sit the test so we can identify the appropriate rules they need to be taught. Good thing is, the rule comes with a particular spelling list. These are just one of the changes we're taking on board for 2023, to ensure our deliverance of Reading and the shift in our programme, proves to be a productive one.

Next steps:

• Have the students sit 'The Code' spelling test
• Have Kate or Amanda from RT Lit, come in to model how to teach particular 'spelling rules'
• Meet with the CoL collab teachers to further work on our inquiries and what to do this year to help with Y8-9 High School transition
• Continue to mentor my 2 RPI mentee teachers