What is creative teaching?

Irish Dale M. Galacan

CREATIVE teaching is employing methods that will cause a learner to desire to learn. Once the learner experiences small successes in learning, he will eventually learn to love learning. One of our goals as educators is produce transformed lives in our learners. This can start with igniting interest in one learner at a time and eventually influencing others to be lovers of learning as well.

Creative teaching is the art of combining one’s knowledge of the lesson and the learner in lesson planning. It is the appropriate use of varied methods that elicit participation in order to meet the needs and bring maximum impact upon the learner so that he will understand, accept, and apply what is learned.

According to a Professor Anavic Bagamaspad of UP Baguio City; “Creative teaching is effective, innovative in approach and student-centered.” Creative teaching is not a boring teaching; it is not…

B – beginning the lesson as it began yesterday but in a different style, with freshness and newness

O – overnight preparation but preparing in advance to have enough time to imagine new things

R – result of other ideas but reapplying existing ideas

I – ideas proven only but trying anything different

N – negative attitudes but having an adventurous mind and complexity of outlook

G – grades “failing” but grades “passing” marked with excellence. Creative teaching is teaching to eradicate boredom and monotony in order for learning to be fun and effective. It is a unique way of presenting the same lesson to the same learners in the same classroom by the same teacher, with the use of exciting techniques and innovative ideas to help learners with varied learning styles learn with enjoyment.

Creativity in teaching means the ability to be flexible and versatile to meet the needs of the learners. One may need adjustment in content, methods, treatment of learners or activities, to Prof. Bagamaspad; creative teaching is a way of tapping the potential of a learner for learning. It also allows different ways of developing their thoughts, skills and talents.

Creative teaching is keeping up with today’s educational expectations by making use of resourceful, participatory and innovative instructional materials and methods that involve active learning without much depending on high technology. It is “hands-on” so that learners become participants, not just listeners, observers or merely occupiers of desk inside the classroom. Creative teaching motivates the learners to develop their interest in learning and encourages them to enhance the activity through their own ideas.

Creative teaching is only possible by a creative teacher, a teacher that cares about the welfare of the learners, he/ she must see things beyond what other people sees and that is the potential that rests in each learners, the teacher must inspire the learners to use multiple senses and has a contagious good and positive personality. The teacher must encourage the learners to be creative too. Creative teacher is not limited to the availability of the modules and textbooks, but rather has a clear understanding of the learner’s level of grasp and understanding, and thus can provide more avenues of growth in learning by maximizing and maintaining the stimuli affecting the learning skills.

For us teachers teaching may be compared with preparing a meal for the family. We plan what food to prepare, consider the individual needs, the likes and dislikes. We select the best affordable food in the market, take time to prepare our menu wee and cook it just right. We also think of a good presentation to make the vegetables look attractive to the eyes and the meal exciting. We do all these thing for our love ones to satisfy them and to make them healthy and strong. We don’t just mix all the ingredients together, boil the until they are cooked and never mind the taste. The same is true with teaching. We have to spend time, energy, money and ingenuity in lesson preparation to bring maximum results in the lives of our learners.

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The author is Teacher II at Masantol High School, Masantol, Pampanga