Creativity in the english language classroom

Over time a learning community can come into being, where co-operation, sharing and the valuing of others’ contributions become a natural part of the way things are done – what Wajnryb (2003) calls a ‘storied class’. There is a consensus too that teachers need to act as role models. It is no good preaching creativity to our students unless we also practise it ourselves. If we want our students to sing, we must sing too. If we want them to act and mime, we must act and mime too. If we want them to write poems or stories, or to draw and paint, then we must engage in the same activities as they do. If we want the bread to rise, we need to provide the yeast. In order to do this, we need to relinquish our excessively ‘teachercontrol’ persona, and become part of the group, not someone who is above it or outside it. Stevick’s words are relevant here too: ‘we should judge creativity in the classroom by what the teacher makes it possible for the student to do, not just by what the teacher does’ (Stevick, 1980: 20). Another thing to emerge from these chapters is the need for teachers to develop a creative attitude of mind which permeates everything they do – not to regard creativity as something reserved for special occasions. This also requires of teachers an unusual degree of awareness of what is happening both on and under the surface, and an ability to respond in the moment to the unpredictability as the action unfolds (Underhill and Maley, 2012; Underhill, 2014). This kind of reactive creativity complements the proactive creativity of the ‘activities’ the teacher offers. Clearly too, creativity is facilitated by a wide variety of inputs, processes and outputs (Maley, 2011). This implies that teachers need to be open to such variety, and willing to ‘let go’, and to ‘have a go’ by trying things they have never done before. A playful attitude and atmosphere seems to be a key ingredient for creativity (Cook, 2000). The notion of varied outputs reminds us that creativity encourages and facilitates divergent thinking, and frees us of the idea that questions always have a single, right answer. The what Creativity is a quality which manifests itself in many different ways, and this is one of the reasons it has proved so difficult to define. As Amabile (1996) points out, ‘a clear and sufficiently detailed articulation of the creative process is not yet possible.’ Yet we readily recognise creativity when we meet it, even if we cannot define it precisely. For all practical purposes this is enough, and we do not need to spend too much time agonising over a definition. There are of course, some features which are almost always present in a creative act. The core idea of ‘making something new’ is at the heart of creativity. But novelty is not alone sufficient for something to be recognised as creative. We could, for example, wear a clown’s red nose to class. This would certainly be doing something new and unusual but it would only count as creative if we then did something with it, like creating a new persona. It is also necessary for creative acts to be recognised and accepted within the domain in which they occur. They need to be relevant and practicable – not just novel. Sometimes creative ideas are ahead of their time and have to wait for technology to catch up. Leonardo da Vinci designed an aeroplane in the 15th century, but before aeroplanes could become a reality, materials and fuels had to be available. Among the earliest modern attempts to understand creativity were Wallas’ (1926, 2014) ideas. He outlined a four-stage process: Preparation, Incubation, Illumination, Verification. Given a ‘problem’, ‘puzzle’ or ‘conceptual space’, the creative mind first prepares itself by soaking up all the information available. Following this first preparation stage, there is a stage of incubation, in which the conscious mind stops thinking about the problem, leaving the unconscious to take over. In the third stage, iIlumination, a solution suddenly presents itself (if you’re lucky!). In the final verification stage, the conscious mind needs to check, clarify, elaborate on and present the insights gained. Koestler, in The Act of Creation (1989), suggests that the creative process operates through the bisociation of two conceptual matrices, not normally found together. He believed that putting together two (or more) things that do not normally belong together can facilitate a sudden new insight. This is another idea that we can put to use in the classroom through Overview: Creativity – the what, the why and the how  | 7 applying the random principle (see below) to create new and unexpected associations. Bisociation was also one of the key principles of the Surrealist movement in art, photography, music, film, theatre and literature which flourished mainly in Paris in the 1920s and ’30s. But they also emphasised the importance of the unconscious mind, especially dreams, of playing around and experimenting, and of seeing ordinary things from unusual viewpoints. They also explored the creative potential of constraints: one novelist (Perec, 1969) wrote an entire novel without using the letter ‘e’, for example. There are lessons we can learn from the Surrealists too. By contrast, Boden (1990) takes an AI (artificial intelligence) approach to investigating creativity. She asks what a computer would need to do to replicate human thought processes. This leads to a consideration of the self-organising properties of complex, generative systems through processes such as parallel distributed processing. For her, creativity arises from the systematic exploration of a conceptual space or domain (mathematical, musical or linguistic). She draws attention to the importance of constraints in this process. ‘Far from being the antithesis of creativity, constraints on thinking are what make it possible’ (p. 82). Chaos theory (Gleick, 1987) tends to support her ideas. Boden’s approach is richly suggestive for language acquisition, materials writing and for teaching, in that all are rooted in complex, self-organising systems. Csikszentmihalyi (1988) takes a multidimensional view of creativity as an interaction between individual talent, operating in a particular domain or discipline, and judged by experts in that field. He also has interesting observations about the role of ‘flow’ in creativity: the state of ‘effortless effort’ in which everything seems to come together in a flow of seamless creative energy (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). He further explores creativity by analysing interviews with 91 exceptional individuals, and isolates ten characteristics of creative individuals (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). Amabile (1996) approaches creativity from a social and environmental viewpoint. She claims that previous theories have tended to neglect the power of such factors to shape creative effort. Her theory rests on three main factors: domain-relevant skills (i.e. familiarity with a given domain of knowledge), creativity-relevant skills (e.g. the ability to break free of ‘performance scripts’ – established routines, to see new connections, etc.) and task motivation, 8 |  Overview: Creativity – the what, the why and the how based on attitudes, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic constraints and rewards, etc. The social and environmental factors she discusses include peer influence, the teacher’s character and behaviour, the classroom climate, family influence, life stress, the physical environment, degree of choice offered, time, the presence of positive role models and the scope for play in the environment. These factors clearly have relevance for learning and can be blended into an approach which seeks to promote creativity. There is sometimes a confusion in the relationship between creativity on the one hand and discovery and invention on the other. Discovery is about finding something that has always been there – but was until then unnoticed. For example, the phenomenon of gravity was not created or invented by Newton: he discovered it. By contrast, invention means bringing something into being which had not until then existed. A new poem or a picture would be instances of this – but it could also be extended to creating a new recipe, or a new game, or a new way of using paper… Is discovery an instance of genuine creativity? Perhaps it is simply a different aspect of creativity from invention: the outcome is not a new ‘product’ but a creative solution to a problem never solved before. This is related to the tendency to regard problemsolving and critical thinking as integral to creativity. There is a good deal of overlap but before we treat them as equivalent, we should be aware of the differences. Problem-solving may indeed involve students in experimenting with multiple possible solutions, in making unusual connections, acting on a hunch, engaging with the Wallas model above, and so on. But it may also be conducted in a purely logical, rational way which has little in common with creative processes. In problem-solving, we are given someone else’s problem to solve. In problem-finding, we need to make an imaginative leap to perceive that a problem might be there to solve. One issue frequently raised is whether creativity can be taught. There are many, such as de Bono (1969) and Seelig (2012), who believe that it can. And there are shelves full of self-help books claiming to teach us how to be creative in our lives and in our work. What is certain is that creativity can be tacitly learned even if it cannot be explicitly taught. But unless we as teachers demonstrate our own commitment to creativity, and unless we offer our students a richly varied diet of creative practices, they are unlikely to learn it.  The why General factors We cannot avoid it. The human species seems to be hard-wired for creativity. Humans are innately curious about their environment, which they explore tirelessly. Put in a maze, we will find our way out, but unlike rats, we are also capable of forming the concept of a maze, and of designing one. ■■ Establish a relaxed, non-judgemental atmosphere, where students feel confident enough to let go and not to worry that their every move is being scrutinised for errors. This means attending to what they are trying to express rather than concentrating on the imperfect way they may express it. Creativity is also necessary for survival. The history of our species can be mapped with reference to key creative breakthroughs: agriculture, the wheel, writing systems, printing – a cumulative and constantly proliferating series of discoveries and inventions. Without this creative capacity, we would still be living in caves. Creativity helps us to deal with change, and as the world changes ceaselessly, so will more creative solutions be needed. ■■ Frame activities by creating constraints. Paradoxically, the constraints also act as supportive scaffolding for students. In this way both the scope of the content and the language required are both restricted. By limiting what they are asked to write, for example, students are relieved of the pressure to write about everything. ■■ Ensure that the students’ work is ‘published’ in some way. This could be by simply keeping a large noticeboard for displaying students’ work. Other ways would include giving students a project for publishing work in a simple ring binder, or as part of a class magazine. Almost certainly, there will be students able and willing to set up a class website where work can be published. Performances, where students read or perform their work for other classes or even the whole school, are another way of making public what they have done. The effects on students’ confidence of making public what they have written is of inestimable value. ■■ Encourage students to discuss their work together in a frank but friendly manner. We get good ideas by bouncing them off other people (Johnson, 2010). Help them establish an atmosphere where criticism is possible without causing offence. This implies creating a ‘storied class’ (Wajnryb, 2003) – a co-operative learning community. ■■ Explain regularly how important accurate observation is, and encourage ‘noticing’ things. Encourage them to collect data which may be used later: pictures, games, DVDs, videos, websites, books and magazines… Students also need to be encouraged to be curious and to follow up with ‘research’ – looking for more information, whether in books, on the internet or by asking other people. ■■ Do not try to do too much. Take it easy. And be kind to yourself (Casanave and Sosa, 2007). Try introducing small changes over a period of time. And allow time for activities and for talking about them. Johnson (2010) among many others talks about the need for the slow burn of hunches and ideas. Linguistic creativity in particular is so much part of learning and using a language that we tend to take it for granted. Yet from the ability to formulate new utterances, to the way a child tells a story, to the skill of a stand-up comedian, to the genius of a Shakespeare, linguistic creativity is at work. In Carter’s words, ‘…linguistic creativity is not simply a property of exceptional people but an exceptional property of all people’ (Carter, 2004: 13). In the learning context, creativity also seems to stimulate, to engage, to motivate and to satisfy in a deep sense. Many of the chapters in this book testify to the motivational power which is released when we allow students to express themselves creatively. Likewise, creativity tends to improve student self-esteem, confidence and self-awareness. This enhanced sense of self-worth also feeds into more committed and more effective learning. When we are exercising our creative capacities we tend to feel more ourselves, and more alive. The how I will first of all suggest some ways in which we can lay the foundations for a more creative climate. These are important because creativity in teaching does not simply happen in a vacuum. We need to create favourable conditions for it. I will then suggest some generic ways in which we can develop creative activities – for students, for teachers, for the classroom and for materials. Overview: Creativity – the what, the why and the how  | 9 ■■ Make it clear that what they do in the classroom is only the tip of the iceberg. To get real benefit from these activities, they need to do a lot of work outside class hours. Most of what we learn, we do not learn in class. A heuristic is a kind of ‘rule of thumb’. Rather than applying a formula with a pre-determined outcome (an algorithm), heuristics work by trying things to see how they work out. The ‘suck it and see’ principle. Here are some examples of heuristics to try: ■■ Do the activities regularly in order to get the best effects. Maybe once a week is a sensible frequency. If you leave too long between sessions, you have to keep going back to square one. That is a waste of time and energy. ■■ ■■ Be a role model. This means working with the students, not simply telling them to do things. This is especially true for reading and writing activities. If they see you are reading, or writing, they will be more likely to engage in these activities themselves. Do the opposite. This has been extensively described by John Fanselow (1987, 2010). Essentially, it involves observing the routines and activities we consciously or unconsciously follow, doing the opposite and then observing what happens. Examples would be: if you always stand up to teach, sit down; if you teach from the front of the class, teach from the back; if you usually talk a lot, try silence. ■■ Reverse the order. Here you would do things backwards. For example: in dictation, instead of giving out the text at the end, you would give it out at the beginning, allow students to read it then take it away, then give the dictation; if you normally read texts from beginning to end, try reading them starting at the end; if you normally set homework after a lesson, try setting it before; if you usually give a grammar rule, asking them to find examples, try giving examples and asking them to derive the rule. ■■ Expand (or reduce) something. For example, increase (or decrease) the length of a text in various ways; increase (or decrease) the time allotted to a task; increase the number of questions on a text; increase (or decrease) the number of times you do a particular activity. (Maley’s books, Short and Sweet [1994, 1996] suggest 12 different generic procedures, including this one, to develop more interesting activities/materials.) ■■ Never underestimate your students. Their capacity for creativity will astound you, if you can help them unlock it. ■■ Make sure you offer a varied diet – of inputs, of processes and of products (Maley, 1999). This diversity helps to promote an atmosphere of ‘expectancy’ (I wonder what will happen today?), rather than the feeling of ‘expectation’ (Here we go again. Unit 4…). ■■ As a teacher, apply the four golden principles: acknowledge, listen, challenge, support. Acknowledge the individuality of students who make up the class group by showing that you value what they bring to the group. Learn to listen carefully and without pre-judgements to what they say or try to say. Make sure that you provide the right level of challenge in what you ask them to do. And offer support to them while they struggle to meet that challenge. It sounds easy but of course, it is not. Some generic principles for developing more creativity My intention here is not to provide a set of ovenready activities but rather to suggest some principles which can be used to develop various forms of creativity. Use the constraints principle The idea here is to impose tight constraints on whatever activity is involved. For example: ■■ Limit the number of words students have to write – as in mini-sagas, where a story has to be told in just 50 words. ■■ Limit the amount of time allowed to complete a task – as when students are given exactly one minute to give instructions. ■■ Limit the amount of materials – as in a construction task where each group is given just four file cards, ten paperclips and two elastic bands with which to build a structure and write instructions on how to construct it. Use heuristics at all levels By ‘all levels’ I mean that many of these heuristics (and others not mentioned here for reasons of space) can be used for teacher decisions, for developing materials, for varying classroom routines, and for devising student activities. It will be for the teacher to decide exactly how a given heuristic is applied. 10 |  Overview: Creativity – the what, the why and the how  Use the random principle ■■ This is essentially using bisociation – putting two or more things together that do not belong together and finding connections. For example: Students find as many uses for a common object (e.g. a comb) as possible. ■■ Students have to find as many different ways of spending a given sum of money as possible. ■■ ■■ Students work in pairs – all the As write ten adjectives each on slips of paper, all the Bs write ten nouns. The slips are put in two boxes. Students take turns to draw a slip from each box, making an unusual combination, e.g. a broken birthday. When they have ten new phrases they combine them into a text. Students are given pictures of five people taken at random from magazines. They then have to write a story involving all five characters. Use the association principle Use feeder fields Feeder fields are domains outside the limited field of ELT but which may offer insights of use in ELT (Maley, 2006). Examples would be: ■■ Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) (Baker and Rinvolucri, 2005). ■■ Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 1985; Puchta and Rinvolucri, 2005). ■■ Literature (Maley and Duff, 2007). ■■ The Arts (Maley 2009, 2010) – Music (Paterson and Willis, 2008), Art (Grundy et al., 2011; Keddie, 2009), Drama (Maley and Duff, 2005; Wilson, 2008), Clowning (Lutzker, 2007), Story-telling (Heathfield, 2014; Wright, 2008), Creative Writing (Spiro, 2004, 2006; Wright and Hill, 2008), Improvisation (Nachmanovitch, 1990). ■■ Technology (Dudeney and Hockly, 2007; Stannard – see web reference below). This involves using evocative stimuli for students to react to. For example: ■■ Students listen to a sequence of sounds, then describe their feelings or tell a story suggested by the sounds. ■■ Students are given a set of character descriptions and a set of fragments of dialogue – they match the characters with what they might have said. ■■ Students are all given a natural object (a stone, a leaf, etc.). They then write a text as if they were their object. ■■ Drawing on their own experience, students choose a taste, a smell, or a sound which brings back particular memories. Use the withholding-information principle This involves only offering part of the information needed to complete a task. Jigsaw listening/reading are examples of this. Other examples would be: ■■ A text is cut up into short fragments. Each student has one fragment. They have to reconstitute the text without showing their fragments to others. (The same can be done with a picture.) ■■ A picture is flashed on the screen for just a second. Students must try to recall it. Use the full range of materials available All the above principles can be used to devise new and interesting ways of doing things. However, there already exist a wide range of resource materials which teachers can draw upon to augment their own creativity. The list below offers a necessarily incomplete sample of such resources. Some have been referred to above, others have not. Arnold, J, Puchta, H and Rinvolucri, M (2007) Imagine That!: Mental Imagery in the EFL Classroom. Innsbruck: Helbling. Baker, J and Rinvolucri, M (2005) Unlocking Self-expression through NLP. London: Delta. Bilbrough, N (2011) Memory Activities for Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Use the divergent thinking principle Campbell, C and Kryszewska, H (1992) Learner-based Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The core idea here is to find as many different uses as possible for a particular thing or ways of carrying out a task. For example: Clandfield, L and Meddings, L (2015) 52: A Year of Subversive Activity for the Language Teacher. London: The Round. ■■ Teachers find alternative ways to do some of their routine tasks: set homework (Painter, 2003), take the register, give instructions, arrange the seating, do dictations (Davis and Rinvolucri, 1988), etc. Davis, P and Rinvolucri, R (1988) Dictation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Overview: Creativity – the what, the why and the how  | 11 Deller, S and Price, C (2007) Teaching Other Subjects Through English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rodari, G (1973) Una Grammatica della Fantasia. Torino: Einaudi. Dudeney, G and Hockly, N (2007) How to Teach English with Technology. Harlow: Pearson. Spiro, J (2004) Creative Poetry Writing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Duff, A and Maley, A (2007, second edition) Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Spiro, J (2006) Storybuilding. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Goldberg, M (2006, third edition) Integrating the Arts: An Approach to Teaching and Learning in Multicultural and Multilingual Settings. New York: Pearson. Stannard, R. Available online at: www.teachertrainingvideos.com Graham, C (2006) Creating Songs and Chants. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Grundy, P, Bociek, H and Parker K (2011) English Through Art. Innsbruck: Helbling Languages. Hadfield, J (1990) Classroom Dynamics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Heathfield, D (2014) Storytelling with our Students. London: Delta. Helgesen, M. Available online at: http://helgesenhandouts.terapod.com Helgesen, M. Available online at: www.ELTandHappiness.com Keddie, J (2009) Images. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Maley, A (1994, 1996) Short and Sweet 1 & 2. London: Penguin. Maley, A (2000) The Language Teacher’s Voice. Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann. Maley, A and Duff, A (2005, third edition) Drama Techniques. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Meddings, L and Thornbury, S (2009) Teaching Unplugged. London: Delta. Morgan, L and Rinvolucri, M (1983) Once Upon a Time. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Painter L (2003) Homework. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Paterson, A and Willis, J (2008) English Through Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Puchta, H and Rinvolucri, M (2005) Multiple Intelligences in EFL. Innsbruck: Helbling Languages. Pugliese, C (2010) Being Creative: The challenge of change in the classroom. London: Delta. 12 |  Overview: Creativity – the what, the why and the how Underhill, A (1994) Sound Foundations. Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann. Wajnryb, R (2003) Stories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wilson, K (2008) Drama and Improvisation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wright, A (2008, second edition) Storytelling with Children. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wright, A (2014) Creativity in the Classroom. Godollo: International Languages Institute. Wright, A and Hill, D (2008) Writing Stories. Innsbruck: Helbling Languages. Wright, J (1998) Dictionaries. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Conclusion This book is intended to add to the growing demand for more creative approaches to the teaching of languages. The variety and stimulating content of the chapters which follow are testimony to the interest in this direction in language education. It is our sincere wish that teachers everywhere will find inspiration and encouragement to experiment for themselves. References Amabile, M (1996) Creativity in Context. Boulder, Co: Westview Press. Boden, M (1990) The Creative Mind. London: Abacus. Carter, R (2004) Language and Creativity: The art of common talk. London: Routledge. Casanave, C and Sosa, M (2007) Respite for Teachers: Reflection and Renewal in the Teaching Life. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. Cook, G (2000) Language Play, Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.