We were given an additional blog post this week. The assignment is to answer some questions related to creativity, curiosity and education that we discussed in class last week.
The sixth question is what would help you become more creative? What role would teachers and/or schools have in that process? I think that being open to new ideas and not trying to stick to a specific plan could help me to be more creative. I will need to consult fellow teachers to broaden my ideas for the classroom as well as let them inspire me to create some of my own ideas. Sometimes schools can have a positive role in this process by encouraging teachers to come up with new and exciting methods for the classroom. However, schools can also play a negative role when to many restrictions are put on the teacher and they are only allowed to teach what has been given to them in a certain way. If they give me a plan to follow that is plain and not exciting it will restrain me from being creative in my classroom.
The first question is do schools in the United States systematically destroy (or inhibit) the development of curiosity and/or creativity in students? Yes I believe that in some ways schools do inhibit creativity. Teachers sometimes have lots of restrictions put on what they have to do and their lessons are already planned out minute by minute. When you take away the ability for the teacher to be creative in the classroom you also take away the student's. When everything becomes about standardized tests and scores students become consumed with right answers. This kills the creativity and students want take the risk of thinking outside of the box. This is a major downfall in our education system today.
The second question asked is can a curriculum be developed that increases the curiosity of students? If so, what would be the key components of such a curriculum? A curriculum that can spark curiosity in students is something can be developed. We as Educators must have lessons that are intriguing and ask questions in an interesting way. If the lessons are boring and straight from the textbook the kids will not be engaged or want to lean more. We need interactive activities that get the students thinking.
Next we were asked can a curriculum be developed that increases the creativity of students? If so, what would be the key components of such a curriculum? Creativity is something that is needed for in the curriculum. There are many ways that we can increase our students creativity through curriculum. Like we talked about for curiosity we need interactive activities that really get the students to think. We need to make sure that we allow for the students to freely answer and not stress so much about right and wrong. The questions that we ask during discussion need to be open ended and allow room for the students to think and be creative. Even different activities need to be more open ended as well.
The fourth question is can a teacher's actions increase the curiosity of students? If so, what would be those actions? Yes I think that teachers can increase students curiosity. Some of these actions would be by asking them questions that spark their curiosity. They can make the lessons intriguing and inviting. This causes the students to be curious and excited about what they are learning in the classroom. The teacher can also give the students some information about a subject encouraging them discover more on their own. If they present the ideas in an exciting way the students will be more engaged in the mystery and discovering more about the topic.
Then we were asked, can a teacher's actions increase the creativity of students? If so, what would be those actions? Creativity is something that teachers actions can increase in theor students. The teacher can stimulate their minds by encouraging them to think outside of the box. They can ask questions as well as give assignments that give them a chance to discover new ideas. The less concentration you put on having the right answers and everything being black and white the more creative students will become. Students need to be challenged to come up with their own ideas and think creatively. We do not need to hold them back by making them only study and learn certain curriculum.
The last question is what would help you become more curious? What role would teachers and/or schools have in that process? One thing that would help me to be more curious would be to research and not be afraid of finding new methods for teaching. As an Educator we should always continue learning in order to be successful in the classroom. If I lose the desire to become better and find new ways of teaching then i will become stagnant in my career. Curiosity is a vital tool in helping us become the best teachers and guides that we can be for our students.
Interesting. Good ideas. Well written.
ReplyDeleteLearning never ends. Keep on learning!