The "communication effect" is what happens when we saturate our classrooms with authentic communication, which occurs when students use language to build up ideas and do meaningful things. For starters, authentic communication deepens and increases language development, learning of content concepts and skills, rigor and engagement,…

There are, it seems, few instances when "unintended consequences" are regarded as having a positive and beneficial effect. Here a well-used activity takes on a "life of its own" as a result of the enthusiasm of the learners. The outcome provides insights for all those involved, including the "teacher". Maybe it is…

One quality among the many that characterize effective teachers is the ability to bring a creative disposition to teaching. In second language teaching, creativity has also been linked to levels of attainment in language learning. Many of the language tasks favored by contemporary language teaching methods are believed to release creativity in…

Most educators who work with gifted students acknowledge the importance of creativity and have found various ways to include it as part of the gifted education curriculum. In many cases, however, developing creativity is still viewed as something separate from academic learning. Students with undemonstrated creative potential often are excluded…

In the light of the European Union's interest in creativity and innovation, this paper, drawing on data from the EU project Creative Little Scientists (2011-2014), explores the teaching and learning of science and creativity in Early Years education. The project's conceptual framework, developed from detailed analysis of relevant literatures,…

Educators have indicated that creative teaching is the most important educational activity; nevertheless, most existing education systems fail to engage students in effective creative tasks. To address this issue, this study proposes a mind map based collaborative learning approach for supporting creative learning activities and enhancing…

Using life-affirming values as a starting point, authors conducted action research to investigate ways of enabling pupils to experience freedom of choice, and to participate creatively in class activities, thus allowing them to begin to enjoy the subject of agriculture. The research problem was: How to encourage pupils to independently and freely…

Science is creative. Write it big, shout it loud, because the message is not getting through. There is much discussion about creativity in education at the moment, yet how often does one hear the minister for "this" or the expert in "that" discuss creativity and immediately start talking about the arts? If "creativity" in the curriculum is…

Intended for teachers at all levels, this paper examines the characteristics of creativity and provides activities for creative learning. Following an introduction defining creativity as the ability to draw upon one's past experience, the paper examines the characteristics of creative thinking. This examination is followed by a section that…

Five different perspectives on creativity in teaching are examined: (1) Creativity is developed by making teaching methods from almost nothing. (2) Creativity is fostered by idealizing without constraint. (3) Creativity can be developed through analogs. (4) Creativity can mean to reorganize or modify. (5) Creativity can be fostered using a forced…

The authors cite the personal characteristics of creative individuals and the behavior of teachers which inhibits student creativity before focusing on their main topic: ways to promote creativity in the home economics curriculum. (AG)

Presents suggestions for making reading instruction exciting and creative both for students and teachers. Describes the creative reading environment, ways the teacher may foster creativity as a result of reading, and ideas for developing creativity based on reading. Lists 20 creative reading activities. (MG)

The creative process of teaching is discussed. Teachers are artists because they employ creativity when they formulate, select, and organize their ideas into a medium which is called a lesson. This medium, in turn, is the means which provides a learning experience for others. There are eight articles. In the first article, "What is a Lesson?"…

A set of "creative competencies" provides a framework for assessing the extent to which local school environments contribute to the production of creative citizens. Following an introduction to rationale and organization of the Vermont Creativity Task Force, material is divided into five substantive sections. Section 1 pinpoints the…

The mission of teachers as creative facilitators is not to assign a grade; the mission is to educate students to think, to learn, and to make new connections that they never before thought possible. A teacher's guidance, constructive feedback, and facilitated instruction should pave the way for students to meaningfully bridge prior knowledge with…