Encourage Team Creativity

“The most important developments in civilization have come through
the creative process, but ironically, most people have not been taught to be creative.”

Source: Robert Fritz, The Path of Least Resistance, 1994

How to Encourage Team Creativity and Innovation?


Inspiring team creativity in your students is always a worthwhile endeavor. Finding creative ways to accomplish team goals and milestones can not only make a project more fun, but it can also help improve your classroom morale and productivity. With a little planning on your part, your students can feel comfortable sharing their innovative ideas to help your project (or your courses) thrive in no time at all. In addition, through use of the Internet, and other technologies,  creativity can be enhanced in ways unimaginable a few years ago.

Remember that creativity requires 4 important things:

1. Unhurried time to explore and do their best work.

2. An inviting and exciting classroom environment.

3. An abundant supply of interesting and useful materials and resources.

4. A classroom climate where students feel mistakes are acceptable and risktaking is encouraged.

Some students are naturally creative and just cannot help exploring new territory and concepts, but some others need an outlet to channel their creativity. So it’s up to you  to create contexts in which your students can best suited to the exercise of their creative talents. 

Here are some techniques that can help you identify and facilitate creativity in your classroom...  

Creativity Encouragement Techniques

1. Hold regular brainstorming sessions. Brainstorming is a great way to get lots of new ideas.

2. Listen to new ideas. Make sure that you are open to new ideas, and that you suspend judgment during the idea generation phase. If people see that their ideas are encouraged and accepted, they will be more likely to be creative.


3. Strengthen relationships. Creativity is generated when you have a collaborative environment and trust between team members.

4. Establish clear outcomes for teamwork and write down creative ideas. Writing down your students' ideas gives encouragement and assurance that their idea is valuable.

 

5. Encourage risk taking. Encourage your students to take risks, recognizing that at times mistakes will be made.

 

 

6. Use of the five senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling.

7. Have fun. Encourage laughter and play but also trying to maintain respectful interactions.

8. Trust your students. As the teacher, you need to expect the best from your students, keeping your expectations high and realistic. All students have the capacity to be creators and to experience the joy associated with making something new, but first you must give them a strong base for creativity.


 

 

9. Be patient. Remember that people often give “safe” ideas first and only offer the more creative ones when they’ve gauged the climate to be open-minded.

 

10. Encourage information seeking. A typical response at this level is "why don't you look it up in the encyclopedia?" Active learning helps students develop skills in seeking information.

The most important ?
 
Be creative yourself and set an example. The most powerful way to develop creativity in your students is to be a role model. Share positive thoughts with your students, and expect the same in return. Everyone has a creative spark, but many factors can inhibit its ignition. Part of your role is to see the spark the people and then harvest the success. Focus on creating a supportive environment by breaking routines so that creativity can flourish.
 

Some obstacles you might encounter and how to overcome them

  • The belief that creativity is only for some people, not everyone
  • Fear of failure
  • Ideas with no practical application

You can overcome the obstacles by:

  • Learning to listen
  • Encouragement
  • Reward innovative thinking
  • Track ideas
  • Don’t judge ideas too early don't overanalyze
 
It is very important for you after your team has developed a creative idea, to put it into practice.
 
Nothing kills creativity faster than fear of rejection, and if your students have worked hard to give you a creative idea only to see you reject it, they will not want to think creatively in the future.



IDevice Icon Optional reading
Teachers play a crucial role in the development of school students’ creative potential in either a positive or a negative way. Especially, teachers’ role in the development of primary school students’ creativity is very important, because they act as role models and mentors and spend a considerable amount of time with their students. Read more about the role of primary education teachers on fostering students' creativity (click the yellow button).



« Previous | Next »