How can Creativity be Taught in the Foreign Language Classroom?
Well, I made a simple video clip containing a collection of images which reflect the core ingredients outlined by Clarke in Creativity in Modern Foreign Languages Teaching and Learning: meaning, questioning, exploration, experimentation, adaptation, open-mindedness, insight, fearlessness, innovation, abandonment and enjoyment. These images could be used as a starting point for discussion in the classroom, requiring students to interpret and define what they see, as well as justifying their explanations with examples.
I believe this exercise would combine the learning strategies my classmate, Robert, aims to deliver in his teaching, for example, to ensure that students understand creativity and why its good for them. I think the fact that this exercise could take some time to complete, means the focus is more on learning during the process, rather than on what is produced at the end. And by having students discuss the images, de-construct and re-construct meaning, in pairs, and small groups, allows for a stress-free, enjoyable work environment to be cultivated.
Reflections on Clarke
What stood out for me most, apart from the handy MQEEAOIFIA&ER-T acronym (!), was Clarke’s commentary on materials development, the measure and value of assessment, the teacher/research binarism and the role of self-identity in the language learning context. Like her, “I am clearly against the systematic use of course books…”, which may contain content that is out-of date, boring and/or irrelevant. I agree that teachers should select and adapt appropriate materials, as well as CREATE their own to better match their students’ needs.
It seems that we are struggling to move away from exams as the ‘make-or-break’ way of measuring ability. Should certificates and qualifications be the sole predictor of future success? When interviewing an international school principal here in Beijing, assessment was an area he thought would have matured and ‘moved on’ by now. When asked what will replace it, he said, “I don’t think anything will replace that single absurdity, I think the whole infrastructure that depends on it crumbles. And then that single task within it, no longer becomes relevant.” Indeed, we are already seeing a slow crumbling in the growth of online courses and MOOCS from highly-regarded educational institutions. Personalised education is gaining popularity. And freedom of choice to study when and what you like, allows us to foster and expand our own creativity.
Clarke’s suggestions for developing creativity in the classroom, “…by creating tasks based on authentic materials, by combining source material in new or unexpected ways or to an unexpected end, by making assessment meaningful to students…” seems to me the basis of any good lesson, or course of lessons. Surely this is something that good teachers always strive to do? That is to say, that all of our lessons, if adequate time is taken to consider the content, stages and possible outcomes, are inherently creative? This means that the role of the teacher is deeply misunderstood, especially in contrast with those involved in research. Academic professors are regarded as somehow better than ‘ordinary’ teachers, pursuing as they do, the answers to abstract research questions. But it is the ordinary teacher that is on the front line, being ‘creative’, spinning many plates at the same time, and yet seriously undervalued on an intellectual level as well as in terms of pay and status.
Finally to the role of self in language learning. Being (willingly) forced from the early stages to present who you are and where you are from, lays you open to possibly, uncomfortable, questions of identity. No more evident is this here in China, where I feel saying the words, 我是英国人，I am English, extremely tiresome, troublesome and inaccurate. Why? Because a few words simply cannot encapsulate who I am. And without more words at my disposal, I am unable to breakdown the stereotypes associated with that United Kingdom. However, being forced to look at my own culture in contrast to others, in seeking meaning behind cliches, spurs me on to deepen and widen my vocabulary so that I may give a clearer explanation of my beliefs, my experiences and myself. In this way, I see the process of language learning as an under-rated, and yet powerful 21st century skill, that naturally envelops self-reflection, cultural understanding and critical thinking, into one.
Karina’s CW Mini-Course
By the way, I have also prepared the content of the above video in ppt form, so I can add detailed lesson plan notes to it, and am starting to weave together the elements of the activities we have done so far to sketch out my own CW mini-course. For example, lesson 1 could be a tagxedo self-introduction. The video/ppt could be lesson 2, that is, an introduction to creativity. Lesson 3 and 4 could be haikus and acrostic poems. And so on…
Source
Clarke (2010) Creativity in Modern Foreign Languages Teaching and Learning, Disciplinary Perspectives on Creativity in Higher Education