Aud Berggraf Sæbø

Creative Teaching—Teaching Creativity

This paper explores the concept of creativity in education. Through a study of recent literature on creativity and creativity in education, we will identify various definitions of creativity, and then examine how the concept is discussed and concretized with reference to education. Later, we will consider how the literature describes the distinction between creative teaching and teaching creativity, and present some of the tensions and dilemmas that have been raised in relation to creativity in education. This paper represents the first step in what is planned to be a three-year journey into explorations about creativity and teaching creatively in drama/theatre classrooms internationally.

Connecting With Their Inner Beings: An International Survey of Drama/ Theatre Teachers' Perceptions of Creative Teaching and Teaching for Creative Achievement

As the first phase of a multinational exploration of the nature of creativity and its relationship to drama/theatre education, a mixed methods survey was given to 100 classroom teachers in four countries: Canada (Ontario), the United States (Arizona), Jamaica and Norway. Teachers were both elementary generalist and secondary specialists; most had some drama education. This article documents the following: a brief review of the related literature; survey results with an emphasis on the qualitative data; and a brief overview of the next phases of the research. Survey results suggest that teachers of drama/theatre believe in the importance of teaching for both creative achievement in their students and in themselves as creative teachers—especially when solving teaching problems. Examples of their practice indicate that teachers implement a variety of student-centered drama/theatre approaches in their classrooms. However, teachers do not perceive support for their creative work from their schools or the school system, nor do they have confidence in their capacity to assess student achievement in creativity.

The Relationship Between The Individual and the Collective Learning Process In Drama

The individual and collective aspects in the learning process will always be present at the same time in the classroom in drama in education. The individual aspect is represented by the individual student’s or teacher’s experiences and perspectives, while the collective aspect is represented by the community that the students and the teacher create together. This collective aspect is all the experiences that the students and the teacher have in common in the same social and cultural context of the classroom.

“Creativity Really Comes by what’s Inside of You”

A secondary student in a Canadian performing arts school articulates one of the interesting dichotomies when it comes to promoting creative achievement in young people: For the individual student, it is likely that creativity is perceived as a form of self-expression, something that happens within themselves or in their group. While, for the teacher, promoting creative achievement depends on the structuring of the class and assignments and observing student growth as s/he masters an art form. This comment from an elementary teacher in Jamaica illustrates, “In teaching creativity, teachers need to provide opportunities where students are allowed to give their own idea and present what they are feeling which also will help to develop critical thinking skills” (, McCammon, O’Farrell, & Heap, 2008, p. 51).

Review of the Praxis series

This series of four books presents a dense and multifaceted exploration of teachers’ work and teacher education in four different parts of the world. The writings of 60 scholars and educators in nearly as many chapters examine praxis in terms of historical epistemological traditions, socially constructed conceptualisations of what is wise, ethical and effective, the knowledge and skills base of teachers, contexts of learning, constraints of government policy and funding, and expectations of universities about research. The structure of the series provides a platform for cross-national reflection and discussion at the end of each volume. This layering of reports, ideas and reflection to an extent parallels the cycles of action research, which is one of the recurring topics in the series. This review adds a further layer to the embedded reviews of each volume’s discussion of praxis. We have selected themes that have particular resonances for us, identified some possible gaps, and finally offer our own opinion of how this series aligns with existing understandings of action research. As reviewers we also come from antipodean perspectives. While we are both teacher educators and engaged in practitioner research, Janinka is from New Zealand and Aud is from Norway, and so our own dialogue has involved negotiation of understandings and explanations from different contexts.