Creative Teachers for Creative Students: Creativity in the EFL Class of the Greek Primary State School
Glikeria Selimi, Greece
Glikeria Selimi is a teacher of English at the 1st Experimental Primary School of Athens, Greece. She is interested in Literature, Art and New Technologies and has written articles on their application in class. She enjoys working with colleagues who share the same interests and experiment with different educational approaches. She has recently become a member of the C group.
E-mail: glikeriaselimi@gmail.com
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Introduction: Can creativity be taught?
Background: Creativity in Greek education
Examples: Art in class as a promoter of creativity
Conclusions
References
How does one become creative? Can school teach students to be creative thinkers? As a teacher of English at the Greek state school I feel the need to address the matter and attempt to come up with resourceful and, hopefully, creative ideas and suggestions.
The concept of creativity has not always been related to formal education. In fact, while researching the subject of creativity in education I came across a considerable number of quotes by famous people like Beatrix Potter and Albert Einstein directly criticizing school for robbing students of their ability for creativity and imagination.
The application of cognitive sociocultural educational theories and the teaching/learning process of exploratory team work, project, based on it has definitely contributed to the reorganization of educational priorities bringing skills like creativity in the foreground.
As far as the EFL class of the Greek state school is concerned, there is great need for shifting focus from more traditional teaching patterns towards creative and even innovative methods developing Ss’ ability to discover and build up knowledge. The development of well-documented, creative methods towards that end forms a major challenge for the educator who is truly interested in integrating the concept of creativity not only in the designed teaching/learning process but, more importantly, in the outcomes, the products of students’ activities.
One idea is the application of the concept of ‘art in education’. The basic principles of transformative learning can form the theoretical background for the implementation of a technique gradually introducing students to the world of art which will be the context for expressing ideas and feelings that are or could be related to the paintings under study, and, eventually, improving their ability to express their inner thoughts and emotions as well as their creativity.
Here is an example of how the implementation of an art project in the EFL class of the fourth grade of primary school as a method of approaching and dealing with problematic aspects in students’ cooperation with each other can trigger students’ creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
1st stage of the method: Specification of the need for dealing with the problem of cooperation in class
Although this is a class that generally functions well, when the time comes for group work, students seem to prefer joining their friends rather than any other student in class, so when their group is not formed according to their preferences, their reactions often involve intense complaining and the occasional tear shedding which makes it difficult for the class to move on with their assignments.
2nd stage: Students wrote down on a small piece of paper their views on the problems of
cooperation they seem to be having in class.
Here are some examples of the students’ answers:
‘I can’t cooperate with someone who’s not my friend, we don’t agree on anything.’
‘I don’t know how to work with others.’
‘Because I don’t know the other kid very well, I feel stress and can’t work.’
‘I don’t like it when they don’t listen to me and only listen to their friends.’
‘I don’t like working with someone I don’t know.’
3rd stage: Determination of the matters to be addressed
- Why don’t I like listening to other people?
- Why must I respect others’ opinion?
- Why are we different?
The latter question was chosen for elaboration.
4th stage: Selection of the art work to be studied in relation to the question posed in the previous stage
This is a stage of ‘lonely’ work for the teacher as I performed a short research aiming to find the work of art that could serve our purpose. Eventually, I decided that Salvador Dali’s Swans Reflecting Elephants (www.dali-gallery.com/html/galleries/painting13.htm) would be ideal for the class project and that the technique of visible thinking would be employed towards that end.
5th stage: Application of the technique of Visible Thinking
Dali’s painting was displayed with the use of the class projector and, after having taken their time silently studying the painting, each student commented on what he/she saw, what that sight made him/her think and why he/she thought that was so.
Here are some of the students’ answers:
| What do I see? | What do I think? | Why? |
| 3 swans | They don’t want to be together | Because they’re not friends |
| Trees with no leaves | I’m scared | Because they’re not pretty |
| Swans behind the trees | They’re hiding | They’re hiding from their family |
| 3 lonely swans | They don’t want to be together | Because when they play together, they always fight |
| A family of swans | They are afraid of the man | Because he wants to captivate them |
| A man | He’s sad | Because he has no friends |
| 3 swans | They don’t like each other | Because they are different |
| Elephants | They are together but not a team | They can’t do team-work |
| A man near the lake | He is an outsider | Because he’s alone |
| Everything is dry around the lake | I feel sad | Because no one wants to live in that ugly place |
| The reflection of the trees in the water | It’s like a garden under water | The painter shows the contrast |
| How elephants are standing and how swans are standing | The swans stand far away from each other but the elephants stand close together | The swans are too pretty and selfish but the elephants need each other |
| The elephants | How does the reflection of a swan become an elephant? | The swan is small and the elephant is big but it doesn’t mean they don’t belong together |
| The swans | The fairy tale Swan Lake | Because one swan is trying to help the couple make up again |
| The trees | They are lonely | They are different and don’t want to get to know each other |
| The trees | They look so lonely | They are alike but don’t like each other |
| The swans | They are beautiful but they don’t care | Because only the one in the middle wants them to a team |
| 3 swans | They are fighting with each other | Maybe they think they are better than the others |
| The man | He is disappointed | Because he can’t feel happiness in nature |
| The elephants | I would like to get in the lake with the swans | Because it’s amazing: how can a swan become an elephant? |
| The reflection of the picture under the water | It’s dark and scary | Appearances don’t matter, things are never what they seem |
After having given their individual interpretations of the painting, students formed groups and each group tried to relate the painting to the problem initially posed to them. These are the students’ attempts to view their problems in cooperation through the perspective opened up in front of them by studying the painting.
‘People are like swans, we are selfish and don’t work well together. It’s not easy to change from a swan and become an elephant. But Dali put the two different animals in the same picture, so it is possible.’
‘This painting I beautiful because the swans reflect elephants. It’s a big surprise, that’s why it’s beautiful.’
‘The painting is like nature. Every animal is different and special in nature. We are all special and different and we are a team. It’s good we don’t always agree- that’s boring.’
6th stage: Students returned to the individual answers they wrote at the beginning of the lesson and chose
whether to change them or not.
Most students altered their initial answers and referred to the possibility of working with their classmates without complaints, even if their views are not identical. We all agreed to be more tolerant towards each other and made a deal to try and remember Dali’s swans and elephants every time we felt unwilling to cooperate with our classmates.
This practice has actually worked, with few unpleasant exceptions, and has, in fact, inspired us, students and myself, to put art a little bit more in our everyday lessons. Students definitely enjoy their contact with the beauty and the possibilities for imaginative and creative thinking provided by art works, so that alone is a very good reason for the implementation of art as a creativity stimulus in class on a standard basis.
Holt, J. C. (1982). How children fail. New York: Delatorre Press/Seymour Lawrence.
Keddie, J. (2010). Using Art in the Classroom. MacMillan Publishers Ltd.
Mezirow, J. (2009). An overview on transformative learning. In K. Illeris (Ed.),
Contemporary Theories of Learning (pp. 90-105). London / New York: Routledge.
Perkins, D. (1994). The Intelligent Eye . Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Rogers, C. & Freiberg, H. J. (1994). Freedom to learn (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Methodology & Language for Primary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the How the Motivate your Students course at Pilgrims website.
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