Encouraging Creativity in the Classroom

"Glory be to God for dappled things," wrote Gerard Manley Hopkins over 100 years ago in celebration of the different, the original and the creative.

Long before "being different" gave high school cliques reason to commit uniform rebellion, this Jesuit priest was celebrating creativity through experiments with words. So how can you imbue your students with the same spirit? Well, technically you can't. But you can encourage it.

Try creating new assignments that encourage new lines of thinking. Do not make the mistake of thinking creativity is stifled by rules. Look at form poetry where creativity is governed by very stringent guides; however, bending these rules is highly encouraged. Try creating an assignment with a set of rules, with the last rule being "Break one of these rules." Give extra credit to the student who, paradoxically, only breaks the very last rule.

Working in a new point of view also helps incite creativity. Try rearranging the physical layout of the classroom - moving desks into a circle, for example, or even just turning every desk 90 degrees to one side... or how about 45 degrees? If this isn't a possibility, try moving class outdoors once in awhile.

But most importantly, a teacher must express creativity to inspire creativity. Lead by example. Do you teach through lecturing from the safety of your desk? Move to the back of the class. Try sitting on the same level as your students. Find ways to incorporate the unexpected into your subject: pop culture, comics, music, television references.

Don't be shackled to notions of what creativity is. You don't have to be the hippy teacher to be a creative one, nor do you have to teach an artistic subject. But the more you can think outside the box, the more your students will be able to as well.