Tamas Kiss

Network Analysis of Research Papers on Creativity in ELT

Using the frameworks of complex dynamic systems and network analysis, this chapter seeks to show how the 62 papers reviewed in Chap. 13 are interrelated. This is done by examining the relationships among the references they cite, including citations to each other. This information is then run through Gephi, a network analysis software, to create a visual representation of the network and to identify ‘communities’ and significant papers. These revealed the six papers most central to creativity research as indicated by the references and their position across communities. Important facts to emerge were the relatively little inter-reference, the preponderance of quantitative studies, the focus on Person creativity and the poor research design of half of the most connected papers. Clearly the research is fragmented and researchers appear not to read each other’s work.

Becoming a Creative Teacher

The main contention of this chapter is that most training programmes on offer focus on preparing teachers for predictable outcomes, whereas most classroom situations are unpredictable. We therefore need to help teachers acquire a state of preparedness to meet the unexpected and assert that leaving it to chance and ‘experience’ is not good enough. We discuss the work of Scrivener (demand-high teaching), Fanselow (using heuristics and close observation: small changes—big results), Underhill (developing improvisational skills), Dogme (focus in the quality of the evolving learning conversation) and Farrell (teacher reflection). We then offer 12 practical ways of developing a more improvisational, spontaneous teaching style. In anticipation of negative reactions to this radically unorthodox agenda, we provide responses to the more commonly raised objections.

Pre-conditions for Classroom Creativity

The chapter sets out some of the pore-requisites for more creative teaching. It first outlines what creative teachers do and moves on to list the relevant motivational strategies described by Dornyei. It also reviews the eight key factors of Read’s Reflective Teacher Wheel. It then presents our own key, practical strategies for achieving a creative climate in the classroom. These reflect the discussion in earlier parts of the book: the importance of atmosphere, using task constraints, offering variety, using aesthetic inputs, using humour and surprise, publishing student work, developing observation and curiosity, giving helpful feedback, ensuring activities are done regularly, offering a role model, setting high expectations, applying the principles of Acknowledge, Listen, Challenge, Support. Many of these are intangibles but no less important for that.

Research into Creativity

The chapter offers an overview of research papers organised according to the four Ps: Person, Process, Product and Press. Under Person, studies are cited on the effect of creativity on language acquisition, and vice versa. There is also discussion of research on teacher creativity and its effects. Under Process we note the difference between the cognitive emphasis on Person-oriented and the affective bias Process-oriented research. We also note a degree of confusion in research design and interpretation of results. This section presents a set of ‘affordances’ which appear to facilitate creativity. Product seems to be less well researched, focusing mainly on error analysis and studies designed to measure creative outcomes in writing, video production and so on. Methods are again sometimes poorly designed and results inconclusive. Press discusses research into factors facilitating and inhibiting creativity, including teachers’ perceptions and attitudes and the role of institutional constraints. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the research in the four areas.

Creativity and Methodology

The chapter first reviews major shifts in thinking about methodology—from the Communicative Approach, through corpus influences, the impact of discourse analysis and lexicology, extensive reading, humanistic currents, Prabhu’s procedural syllabus and task-based learning—and to more recent developments in Dogme and CLIL. We consider the questionable creative contributions of testing, technology and materials on the domain of methodology. The designer methods of the 1970s are also discussed. We consider why such highly creative methods have so little impact. We then present some more personal contributions, including Graham’s jazz chants, drama, positive psychology and so on. Finally we relate the factors of person, process, product and press to creative methodology.

Creativity and Education

The chapter explores the uneasy relationship between institutional education and creativity, contrasting the prevailing ethos of educational control with the ideas of educational innovators. It begins by discussing the views of earlier educational thinkers, such as William James, John Dewey and Carl Rogers, and moves on to review the work of more recent figures, such as Elliott Eisner and Lawrence Stenhouse. It goes on to discuss more radical educational rebels such as Paolo Freire, John Holt and Ken Robinson. Some educational experiments, such as Rudolf Steiner’s, Maria Montessori’s and AS Neill’s, are also discussed. It then relates this discussion to research reported in Kaufman and Sternberg. It concludes with references to some autobiographical accounts, such as McCourt’s Teacher Man, which throw additional light on the tension between institutional educational practice and creativity.

Suggestions for Further Research

The chapter attempts to identify potentially rewarding new areas for research. These include investigating group as opposed to individual manifestations of creativity; probing the links between complex dynamic systems and creativity; exploring the connection between critical pedagogy/literacy and creative processes; clarifying the apparent contradiction between creativity and institutional constraints, such as syllabus and curriculum; critiquing the complex relationships between testing and creativity; exploring learner reaction to creative approaches; researching creativity in teacher education; investigating how rewards, praise, feedback and evaluation relate to student motivation and creativity; and teasing out the ways in which competition and collaboration influence and are influenced by creativity. We argue that the better we understand these factors, the more chance there is of operationalising creativity in our classrooms.

What Is a Creative Teacher

Teacher effectiveness is often associated with knowledge and skills. We focus instead on the attitudes and awareness: personal attributes, authenticity and atmosphere. We present data from our own survey of 185 teachers worldwide, analysed by NVivo coding, thematic coding and matrix coding, resulting in 21 key concepts. We compare our results with earlier surveys (Richards, Coffey & Leung, Ur, Prodromou, Maley) finding similar results. Overwhelmingly, these results show that teachers’ personal qualities, rather than pedagogical knowledge and skills, are what count most for learners.

Creativity in Materials and Resources

Materials can exhibit creativity through their content and through their processes. Under content we review creative exploitation of visuals, literature, creative writing, storytelling, drama and voice, and translation. Under processes we cite work explicitly aimed at developing creativity among students, and work on specific areas of language, including games, vocabulary and memory. In conclusion we relate these resources to some of the factors already noted in the earlier chapters: bi-sociation, re-framing, noticing, use of heuristics, rich and varied inputs, appeal to the senses and opportunities for imaginative engagement.

Becoming a Creative Person

Given the importance of personal qualities which emerged from Chap. 7, we consider how teachers can develop their own creativity as a basis for teaching more creatively. We present 13 possible avenues to explore, including learning a new skill, developing meditative practices, practising exercise routines for the body and the voice, reducing stress through walking and fishing, reading to spark new ideas, keeping a commonplace book, building networks, developing close observation, experimenting with changing habits and re-discovering physical awareness through the five senses. These ideas are intended to open teachers to extending personal experience as a precursor to creativity.