Furthermore, and contrary to popular belief, social interaction with people of different backgrounds and expertise is essential to the creative process (see Csikszentmihalyi & Sawyer-7), which means that the creative classroom is one where students are free to interact with both the teacher and each other.
To sum, if students can be encouraged to own their learning and find pleasure in it, they are likely to become better thinkers, continuing learners, and well adjusted beyond the classroom. The method for this is the provision of curious materials and sufficient space for students to explore them on their own creative terms. Let us work with, and not against, our own playful instincts.
Footnotes
1. Babbage, K.J. Extreme Students: Challenging all students and Energizing Learning. 2006. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 60-3.
2. Batra, N.D. Digital Freedom: How much can you handle? 2008. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield. p. 128-30, 133-7.
3. Beder, S. Global Spin: The Corporate Assault on Environmentalism. 2000. Melbourne, Victoria: Scribe. p. 166-74.
4. Billig, M. Arguing and Thinking: A Rhetorical Approach to Social Psychology 1989. Newcastle, Great Britain: Cambridge University. p. 110-7.
5. Csikszentmihalyi, M. Flow: The Classic Work on how to Achieve Happiness. 1992. Sydney, New South Wales: Rider. p. 141.
6. Ibid 118-20, 141
7. Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Sawyer, K. Creative Insight: The Social Dimension of a Solitary Moment. In Sternberg & Davidson-30. p. 358-60
8. Dawkins, R. The God Delusion 2006. London, Great Britain: Transworld. p. 191-201.
9. Diamond, J. Guns, Germs and Steel: a short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years 1997. Sydney, New South Wales: Random House. p. 360
10. Elkind, D. The Power of Play: How spontaneous, imaginative activities lead to happier, healthier children. 2007. Cambridge, Massachusetts: De Capo. ch. 1
11. Ibid ch. 5-6.
12. Ellis, E. S. Watering up the curriculum for students with learning disabilities. Remedial and Special Education 18, 6 (1997). p. 327-8.
13. Fendler, L.. Educating Flexible Souls. In Hultqvist, K. & Dahlberg, G. (eds.) Governing the Child in the New Millennium 2001. New York: RoutledgeFalmer. p. 134-9.
14. Fleming & Marien. Fleming’s Art and Ideas 2005. Belmont, California: Thompson & Wadworth. p. 301-3.
15. Florida, R. The Rise of the Creative Class 2002. New York: Basic Books. ch. 3.
16. Goleman, D. The New Leaders: Transforming the Art of Leadership into the Science of Results 2002. London, Great Britain: Little, Brown. p. 92-6 & 194-5
17. Ibid 59-63 & 66-9
18. Guthrie, J.T., Wigfield, A., & Perencevich, K.C. Motivating Reading Comprehension: Concept Oriented Reading Instruction 2004. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. p. 61-8.
19. Kane, P. The Play Ethic: A Manifesto for a Different Way of Living 2004. London, Great Britain: Macmillan. ch. 6.
20. Morgan, P. Education Made Easy. Quadrant, January-February 2007. p. 50-52.
21. Okagaki, L. & Sternberg, R.J. Teaching Thinking Skills: We’re Getting the Context Wrong. In Kuhn, D. (ed.) Developmental Perspectives on Teaching and Learning Thinking Skills. 1990. New York: Karger. p. 74-6.
22. Runco, M.A. Creativity, Cognition and their Educational Implications. In Houtz, J.C. (ed.) The Educational Psychology of Creativity 2002. Cresskill, New Jersey: Hampton. p. 25-40.
23. Salter, D. The Media we Deserve 2007. Melbourne, Victoria: Melbourne University. p. 62-3
24. Schugurensky, D. Tranformative Learning and Transformative Politics: The Pedagogical Dimension of Participatory Democracy and Social Action. In O’Sullivan, E.V., Morrell, A. & O’Connor, M.A. (eds.) Expanding the Boundaries of Transformative Education: Essays on Theory and Praxis 2002. New York: Palgrave. p. 63-5
25. Silvia, P.J. Exploring the Psychology of Interest 2006. New York: Oxford University. ch. 6.
26. Simonton. Foresight in Insight? A Darwinian Answer. In Sternberg & Davidson-30. p. 478-86
27. White, S.A. Reporting in Australia1996. Melbourne, Victoria: Macmillan. ch.1
28. Zimbardo, P. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding how Good People turn Evil 2007. New York: Random House. p. 273-85.
29. Zuboff, S. Managing the Informated Organization. In Webster, F. (ed.) The Information Society Reader 2004. London, Great Britain: Routledge. p. 316
30. Sternberg, R.J. & Davidson, J.E. (eds.) The Nature of Insight 1995. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Article comments
1 - Anon
This may totally be besides the point, but the paper assumes that an ideal of encouraged learning exists whereas there are situations that learning is deliberately stunted by that hegemony who hold the capital on said information to keep it within a select few of those who can afford it while the rest rot. It also assumes that learners who learn outside the system around aren't hunted down and killed.
2 - Belle 2
Jonathan,
Very interesting!! I agree with your ideas and I try to encourage my student's love for learning, but I feel as though I'm losing my edge. Which resource do you recommend over all the others? I need practical suggestions to enhance my classroom. How do you suggest implementing your ideas in the current educational climate which has all the focus on standarized testing? My usual teaching assignment is three different subjects, six classes, 40 minute periods and 150 students!!
3 - Jonathan Scanlan
Hi Belle,
In regard to implementing this within classrooms, I'd suggest simply playing the system and testing it at this stage. See what works for you.
In my own experience however, sometimes this can work too well, and it is very easy to fall into the trap of trying to regulate the classroom noise and energy when the students seem to be doing all the work for you.
Another problem is that this can also be incredibly resource intensive. Building activities on a full schedule is problematic because it will often overwork you.
Now, I have yet to test this properly but one way I am planning to cut down the workload, and increase autonomy, is to hand students a simplified version of my syllabus documents at the start of a unit and then have them brainstorm and plan the work ahead - leaving me to edit and refine.
Essentially OpenSourcing their education, and including them in the planning process will - I expect - give you better indication of what students will find intrinsically interesting and promote a sense of ownership over the materials.
4 - Belle 2
Thanks for the advice. I'm excited to give it a try. Summer is such a great time for me to read and plan for the next year, can you recommend one great book to help get me started?
5 - Jonathan Scanlan
Best book among all those linked above, is FLOW. It's entirely about engagement and life satisfaction.
So far as education in particular, it is unfortunately the case that no one is writing about the incorporation of play in the middle and senior curriculum. I've actually had to resort to primary education texts.