Children are driven by curiosity and playfulness. When they are playing, they can explore and make things happen, and share with others - not afraid of failure, they are experimenting, inventing and failing, and somehow succeeding.
The playfulness approach allows children to learn and be creative. However, in order for play to happen, children need free time, unstructured time, when they have permission to take risks, make mistakes, and explore new pathways. An environment with pre-defined activities in a defined time does not allow playfulness, creative thinking and active engagement. It does not offer support for creativity and experimentation. Like adults, children need free time. If your children are over scheduled and do not have time to play, they often feel overwhelmed and pressured, and that can lead to a number of problems, including behavioral issues and emotional challenges. Children also need time to relax and do nothing - sometimes, these are the moments when they have the best ideas. Science journalist Jonah Lehrer, referencing a landmark neuroscience study on brain activity during innovation and creativity, said: 'The relaxation phase is crucial. That’s why so many insights happen during warm showers. One of the surprising lessons of this research is that trying to force an insight can actually prevent the insight.' So, what are you doing this weekend? Are you allowing your children (and yourself) some free time?
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I have heard and read many 'experts' in creativity talking about the stifling effects of education on creativity. Most of them refer to websites such as TED and talks with titles like 'Ken Robinson says school kills creativity.'
Besides that, many teachers do say that they not instill a sense of 'thinking outside the box' among their students; that it is an extremely difficult task to inspire students to be creative; that it is almost impossible to 'go against the system', and so on and so forth. However, quite a lot is known about how teachers can promote creativity, and I certainly thought about them today, as I saw all teachers at the language institute I work for promoting them. What I saw today was teachers relying principally on positive enforcement and encouragement to motivate students, rather than punishment. I saw teachers modelling creativity, questioning assumptions, allowing time for creative thinking, rewarding creative ideas and products, and allowing mistakes ('How to Develop Student Creativity', Robert Sternberg). I know and I can see that teachers do encourage creativity, although certainly not all. However, if one of your goals for your education or the education of your children is to develop creativity, the best thing to do is to select the teachers accordingly. They are - and have always been - the ones who can inspire students to be creative and change education for the better.
The benefits of using chants and songs with children are numerous, among them:
Today I saw the power of using chants as a learning tool outside the classroom. I spent the day at my brother's house, and there was a little girl, Heloisa, who is two years old, and who was too shy to get close to me. I tried all I could without any success. So, I just sat next to her and my niece, Valentina, who is seven, and watched them drawing and playing. Then, I listened to a background song, and saw that the girls were moving their bodies even without paying attention to the song. I suddenly said,' why don't we sing a song together?' My niece suggested 'Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes' and we all chant it in Portuguese, the little girls and me. Heloisa smiled, enjoyed what we were doing, and started to talk to me. But what really brought her close was when my niece asked me to chant it in English. Valentina knew the chant and what it meant. Heloisa, who is only two, did not. However, she asked me to repeat the chant again and again, until she could pronounce the words correctly and knew their meaning. And when her mother picked her up by the end of the day, Heloisa could chant it alone to her and show the body parts. I have always believed that real learning happens when you are having fun, when you are enjoying yourself, in or outside the classroom. When you use chants and songs, it will double the fun. Children love them. Always keep a song in your heart (and a poem) in your pocket. You will be glad you did! Children are inherently creative. However, as they grow old, they lose their willingness to try new things due to a series of factors, being among them: fear of failure, opinions of others become important, they want to know the 'right answer'. At the same time, teachers make use of the so-called 'creativity killers' in the classrooms, such as:
Instead of stifling children's creativity, teachers should nourish and develop them. Here are some suggestions that can promote creativity in the language class:
What else could you add to this list? Creativity had been seen as a mystical process, the province of geniuses, artists and eccentrics. Nowadays, creativity is recognised as a practical skill, one that can be taught and which everyone can achieve. From my point of view, it is a skill that cannot be taught. What teachers can do is create conditions to help students find and develop their own creativity. But what is creativity? It is certainly something not easy to define. But maybe we can consider it as a way of thinking in which we look at familiar things with a fresh eye, and use our imagination combined with our knowledge to explore new possibilities rather than established rules. The importance of creativity I believe that creativity is very important at an individual level and essential in language learning. Creativity helps improve self-esteem, motivation, and achievement of learners. Students who are encouraged to think creatively and use it in the classroom:
Also, teachers who encourage students to be creative in the language classroom help them overcome fears, express themselves better, initiate plans and actions, and a desire for lifelong learning. |