Education Commons^™

An Interview With Susan Loesl: Pioneering Adaptive Art For Students With Disabilities, Sedigheh Fatollahzadeh Dizaji, Jennifer Elaine Smith

Journal of the Arts and Special Education

Abstract

While art education, which often focuses on skill development, and art therapy, which typically centers more on personal expression and client goals, are two different areas of art, they have many benefits when used together. Susan Loesl is an art therapist and art educator with over 40 years of experience. In this article she shares her expertise in art therapy, art education, and adapting art tools for students with disabilities. Her work highlights the importance of creativity, collaboration, and the need for more art therapists in schools. She also shares advice for those considering careers in art therapy and …

Putting Creative Thinking At The Core Of The English School Curriculum: An Exploratory Study, Sladana Krstic

Assessment and Reporting

Across much of the world, in more than 20 educational jurisdictions, the ability to think creatively is seen as a core aspect of what it is to be a successful learner today and, consequently, it has been included within various national curricula (Taylor et al., 2020). In England this is not yet the case, despite strong arguments being made for creative thinking being a core part of the curriculum in the Durham Commission on Creativity and Education (2019). In 2023 Rethinking Assessment and ACER UK conducted an exploratory study to examine the feasibility of integrating creative thinking into five subjects …

Catching Up To Yesterday: An Argument For A Practical Application Of Creativity For Inspiring Change From A Content-Based Course Delivery To A 21st-Century Skills-Based Delivery, Darren Chapman

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project is a creative vision for how college-level courses could be changed to deliver the most important skills students need in the 21st century—moving toward an essential employability skills-based delivery process while training vocational (content) skills. Technology is outpacing humans' ability to adapt and adopt to it, making it increasingly difficult to keep pace with technological change. This has wide-ranging effects on each of us – productively, emotionally, and perhaps physically. Colleges are at the forefront of educating citizens about the working world to improve their productivity, incomes and their sense of intrinsic motivation. However, these same colleges are …

An Analysis Of Traditional Pedagogical Practices With Innovative Strategies For Beginning Band Students With A Focus On Assessment, Higher-Order Thinking Skills And Differentiation, Cole Woods

Music Theses

Instrumental education is a field rich in tradition, with a strong foundation of methodology being codified in method books used by band directors around the country. Equally rich is the vibrant research community found within music education, and innovative techniques for teaching band are being presented yearly in both journals and conventions. These new strategies and additions to curriculum supported by recent research could potentially deepen the learning taking place in the instrumental music classroom. Nowhere is this more visible than in the wealth of new research, curricula, and literature that has been published regarding beginner instrumental music instruction in …

A Digital Qualitative Ethnographic Study Of Preservice Teachers’ Perspectives And Experiences Of Teaching From To-Be Teachers, Mohamed Abdullahi Ali

Journal of Research Initiatives

This digital ethnographic study aimed to understand how and why college students decide to be teachers while many trained teachers leave the profession every year in the United States. A purposive sampling technique enabled 30 prospective teachers in a college of education to participate in this study. The research questions that guided the study were: 1) How and why did preservice teachers choose teaching as a career? 2) How did preservice teachers' perception of the drawbacks of teaching and the opportunities to support them in becoming teachers influence their decisions? The conceptual framework to understand the phenomena came from educational …

Transforming Mathematics Education With Creativity, Natalie M. Zielinski

Culminating Experience Projects

Mathematics achievement in elementary and middle school students has decreased across the United States since 2019. Research has shown that moving away from traditional lecture-style teaching and implementing creative and application based learning can result in higher academic achievement and engagement. By utilizing challenging curricular tasks, Project Based Learning, and arts integration, students can be presented with more authentic and engaging academic content to deepen mathematical understanding and success. This project explores the benefits and effects of integrating creative teaching strategies into the mathematics classroom as an equitable teaching approach. Through the use of non-scripted curricular tasks, Project Based Learning, …

A Novel Jazz Music Curriculum For Young Children: Results Of A Pilot Study, Jazmin D. Ghent

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Jazz improvisation is known as the highest-known art form concerning improvisation due to its frequency and development of creative ideas (Feldman 1964). Research shows that the art of spontaneous creation can contribute to children’s ability to problem-solve, social and emotional well-being, and academic success into adulthood (Biasutti, 2017; Heble & Laver, 2016; Kiehn, 2003; Kuzmich, 1980; Solis, 2009). Improvisation is crucial for developmentally comprehensive music programs; however, improvisation is scarce in elementary music classrooms and curricula. For this pilot study, a group of 31 children aged 5-8 and considered at-risk participated in a study where they were randomly assigned to …

Creative Learning With Music And Mathematics: Reflections On Interdisciplinary Collaborations, Graham Johnson, Alesia M. Moldavan

The STEAM Journal

Culturally responsive content, accessible and inclusive tools, and meaningful interdisciplinary tasks can aid in developing equitable and creative learning environments. Music and mathematics are ideal disciplines for interdisciplinary creative learning. In this article, we reflect on our experiences engaging in interdisciplinary music and mathematics tasks with preservice teachers. In particular, we highlight specific efforts taken to design and implement a creative music and mathematics workshop for use in a mathematics methods course. Guided by these experiences, we offer examples of tools and practices that have helped preservice teachers collaborate, engage in inquiry, improvise, develop empathy, and take intellectual and social …

Mindful Artmaking In Elementary Classrooms: A Path To Emotional Regulation, Christine Gober

Mindfulness Studies Theses

Abstract

In an era dominated by technological advancements and mounting external pressures, the emotional and mental well-being of the younger generation is a growing concern. This research paper explores the intricate relationship between mindfulness, art-making, and emotional regulation within the context of elementary classrooms. The modern world, filled with a plethora of stimuli, has escalated stress levels among individuals, especially children, leading to a surge in mental health issues. Mindfulness, deeply rooted in ancient traditions, teaches individuals to stay present, fostering a non-judgmental awareness of their thoughts and emotions. Art-making, on the other hand, serves as a medium for emotional …

Creating The Pause: A Theoretical Approach To Helping Students Achieve Creative Independence, Amanda J. Anderson

MSU Graduate Theses

This paper will detail how the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic revealed the need for a modification of our current educational best practices. This modification asks that teachers create an intentional Pause where students can spend time dwelling on content and making their own meaning before teachers intervene through scaffolding and front loading. It uses a combination of personal experience, review of best practices, and Covid-19 data to show that best practices did not transfer well during the pandemic. It will then provide evidence for the addition of the Pause as well as addressing anticipated counterarguments.

Arts-Based Interdisciplinary Music And Mathematics Tasks: Exploring Conceptualizations Of Equitable Creative Learning In Teacher Education, Alesia Mickle Moldavan, Graham Johnson

Georgia Educational Researcher

Preservice teachers need opportunities in teacher education courses to explore arts-based interdisciplinary learning that can inspire connections between communities of practice and allow learners to integrate concepts and imagine creative possibilities. This study reports on preservice teachers engaged in a workshop on arts-based interdisciplinary music and mathematics tasks. Data included surveys, task-related artifacts, and participant observations to examine how preservice teachers conceptualize and engage in such tasks. Three resonating themes were identified, revealing that preservice teachers generally thought (a) music and mathematics are more engaging and relatable in interdisciplinary contexts than when taught alone, (b) interdisciplinary music and mathematics tasks …

Curriculum Adaptations To Teach For Creativity Using A Published Language Arts Curriculum, Barbara T. Prendergast

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to examine a published language arts curriculum, determine how Anna Craft’s possibility thinking framework could be integrated into the curriculum, and then observe how students responded to the implementation of lessons integrating the elements of possibility thinking. The findings revealed that a teacher can use the possibility thinking elements to encourage creativity while still teaching the objectives of a published curriculum. Creativity development can be encouraged by using a variety of supports that build possibility thinking. The data demonstrated a connection between life experiences and the curriculum through possibility thinking. The …

Writing Workshop And Creativity Despite Standardization: An Exploration Of Elementary Teachers' Practices, Darcie Kress, Matt Townsley

Journal of Research Initiatives

The focus on formulaic approaches to writing in today’s classrooms can be problematic, for it may inadvertently cause the quality of students’ writing to decline. The National Writing Project (NWP) provides teachers with professional development to learn how to effectively incorporate evidence-based practices into their writing instruction. The aim of this study was to explore the practices of three elementary teachers who received professional development training from the NWP. The researchers investigated how these teachers navigated the tension between creativity in a workshop approach and accountability for teaching the Common Core writing standards. Findings suggest participants navigated the standardization of …

Leadership In Sustainability: Collective Wisdom, Conversations, Creativity, Contemplation And Courage, The Five Pillars Of A Master’S Teaching Unit, Mike Mouritz, Peter Newman, Renée Newman, Jayne Bryant, Aimee Smith, Elaine Olsen

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper provides an overview of insights and lessons learned from nearly 20 years of running a Master’s unit called Leadership in Sustainability and how it has been used to foster change agents in small business enterprises, as well as other parts of our economy and community. The unit is based on five ‘C’ pillars, which are discussed in this paper to show how the teaching was able to assist potential leaders in their journey towards sustainability. Collective Wisdom is the theory of how leaders have used their imagination to solve collective ‘wicked problems’ and how sustainability requires such wisdom. …

Impact Of Traditional Versus Alternative Assessment On Student Achievement, Beth Lustgarten

Honors Projects

The focus of this study looks at the effect of alternative assessment on student achievement in a high school science classroom. Within this action research, students have choices and are able to demonstrate creativity in their alternative assessments. By comparing student results from traditional and alternative assessments, the impact of assessment showed students had an overwhelming preference for completing alternative assessments, and a majority of students did better on the alternative assessment when compared to the traditional assessment.

Teaching To The Test Or Limiting Students?, Victoria Rivera

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

The purpose of this paper is to shine light on the way the school systems have been teaching and how it is affecting students in a negative way. It focuses mainly on teaching to the test and how it stops students from learning creatively and also does not let teachers teach the way they might want to. It also shows how this is a wicked problem and is more than a small school system issue. This impacts students, teachers, and the society we live in. The results of this research was that there were a lot of other authors that …

Neuro-Compostion: Developing The Creative Brain In The Classroom, Tara D. Scarola

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation raises the question of how educators can incorporate research about the human mind to foster and support student growth throughout writing processes. In understanding how our minds process, interpret, and generate writing, valuable insights can be learned about the process of composing. Valuing the varying perspectives students possess and the types of texts with which students engage aid in developing not only what Paul Joy Guilford calls “divergent thinking,” but also a sense of empowerment and ownership over the writing process. In disrupting what Robert Thatcher calls “the phase-lock mode” and guiding students through reworking the writing process …

Fostering Mathematical Creativity Among Middle School Mathematics Teachers, Ceire H. Monahan

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The purpose of this research was to understand in-service teachers’ experiences with and ideas about mathematical creativity after participating in a targeted professional development program. The professional development program encouraged participants to think creatively and foster students’ creativity. In this study I present the results from the main unit of analysis, 12 participants in a professional development program, along with a deep analysis of three exemplar teachers from each of the identified groups, adherence to traditional teaching practices (traditional), appreciation for teaching for creativity (creative but hesitant), and teaching for creativity (creative). The findings of this study highlight the combination …

A Program Evaluation Of Immersive Devised Story Drama: Process And Impacts At A Summer Creativity Camp, Amy Ressler

Dissertations

This utilization-focused evaluation examined the relationship of a devised drama program at a summer youth camp to the campers’ social-emotional learning (SEL), creativity growth, and character development. Methods used in the study included surveys of parents, interviews of teachers, and focus groups of campers. Results indicated that the devised drama provides durable, effective enrichment in SEL, creativity growth, and character development. Data also suggested that engagement in the drama contributed to an enhanced ability to manage anxiety. Concluding recommendations propose the overt use of the vocabulary of SEL competencies and grade-level appropriate SEL curricula. Professional development in Applied Improvisation for …

A Study Of Problem Posing As A Means To Help Mathematics Teachers Foster Creativity, Deborah Moore-Russo, Amanda A. Simmons, Michael J.D. Tulino

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Research suggests that mathematical creativity often results from extended periods of mathematical activity and reflection based on the use of deep and flexible content knowledge [14, 15]. This implies that instruction can influence creativity. However, for teaching to foster creativity in mathematics, there should be purposefully designed instructional tasks. It is doubtful that routine, mechanical exercises would foster creativity. Moreover, mathematical creativity may neither be explicitly promoted, nor fully appreciated, by students when a learning space involves only problem solving, even if the problems are challenging and engaging. For students to get an authentic sense of mathematics and to develop …

Fostering Creative Thinking Skills In Young Children Using Design Thinking Challenges, Tom R. Gannon

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

For this master’s project I developed a set of resources (guidebook, videos, and presentation deck) which provide child development professionals with a framework and set of skills to facilitate design thinking challenges (open-ended problem-solving activities based on design thinking’s phases of: creating empathy, problem identification, ideation, prototyping, and idea testing) with preschool age children. The centerpiece of the project is the guide book titled Save the Gingerbread Man: Understanding & Supporting Creative Thinking Skills in Preschoolers. The videos are interviews with preschool age children in a series called From the Experts. The presentation deck incorporates can include the …

Working 'Failure' Into Your Learning Design, Nilanjana Saxena Ms.

The Emerging Learning Design Journal

The world is grappling with education failing to meet industry demands for skills. We’re constantly striving to design for learning that is able to meet with the emerging societal and Industrial needs. Against this background what should the learning design strategy be?

Of particular relevance is Productive Failure (PF) a deeper learning design strategy, which runs counter to a traditional Direct Instruction methodology and demonstrates the affordances of experiencing and learning from failure. This brief elaborates on PF, select use cases and applications as well as key design features in operationalising PF.

Narratives Of Creativity Among Social Care Educators In Irish Higher Education, Louisa Goss

Theses

Research on creativity in the delivery of social care highlights growing evidence of its importance for the wellbeing and quality of life of those in receipt of care, as well as benefits for the workforce. However, what is less well understood and overlooked in the literature is how creativity is conceptualised and operationalised in practice and education. This thesis attends to this gap in research from the perspective of social care educators. With the aim of deepening understanding of higher education teachers’ construction of creativity, the study explores small stories about creativity from six educators teaching into an undergraduate degree …

An Investigation Of California Classroom Teachers' Beliefs And Ratings Of Creativity In Dance, Patricia R. Reedy

Doctoral Dissertations

Creativity is a fundamental aim of art education. Because classroom teachers are responsible for teaching the arts at the elementary-school level, how they perceive and recognize creativity effects the quality of art education their students receive. This study investigated California teachers' beliefs about creativity in dance and the relationship of their beliefs to their ratings of student dance compositions. It also investigated the extent of agreement in creativity ratings across teachers and between teachers and dance experts. Classroom teachers’ beliefs were collected through a research-constructed questionnaire, and classroom teachers (n=74) and dance experts (n=35) rated students’ creative-dance products using a …

Be Creative Now: Seeking Creativity, Sam Kulla

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A self-guided framework for professional and personal creative development including a series of five lesson activities geared towards developing a personal concept of creativity, with links to creativity videos, inclusive design features, and an annotated bibliography. In addition to guiding self-study, this document could be adapted into a syllabus for an online course.

The Demise Of Creativity In Tomorrow's Teachers, Elizabeth Alexis Bloom 4345947, Kjersti Vanslyke-Briggs

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

In the last several years a good deal of public discourse was devoted to describing the effects that more than two decades of education reforms, the last iteration of which was known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), has had on teaching and learning. It is widely argued that coupling teacher evaluations with students' test scores, enforced standardization, and over-reliance on testing for measuring achievement results in a deadened curriculum hyper-focused on math and ELA achievement, divorced from lived experience, the arts, sciences, and history (Ravitch, 2013). The specific focus of this study was to examine the consequences of …

Editorial: Arts Integration Allows Students The Opportunity To Be Original, Ksenia S. Zhbanova, Audrey C. Rule

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

This editorial explores the other six articles in this issue 2 of volume 3 of the Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions to examine how originality is displayed and supported by art projects. Originality, is a quality or a characteristic of an idea, approach or product. Originality can be defined as newness or novelty. To be classified as original, an idea must be new. It does not have to have a utilitarian value, which is a requirement for an idea to be categorized as creative. Helping students develop originality is important because it allows the freedom to make any …

Video Composition, Creative Discourse, And Facilitated Freedom: A Teacher's Journey To Reveal Student Potential, Michael A. Brinkmeyer

MSU Graduate Theses

This research project was conducted in response to students’ lack of engagement in traditional modes of instruction and composition in a high school English Language Arts course. In order to better understand students as creative composers of knowledge, this research project asked students to engage in the video production process in collaborative groups. The research was conducted over the course of eight class periods in three different sections of Junior-level English Language Arts courses. Analysis of the data from this study reveals three important findings: 1) students respond well to creative and relevant performance assessments; 2) students’ collaborative conversations, or …

Mucp 183-983: Applied Music Composition--A Course Benchmark Portfolio, Gregory Simon

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

MUCP 183-983, Applied Music Composition, is the core of the music composition course curriculum for students at all levels, from freshman to doctoral candidate. Like all applied lesson environments, it is a one-on-one, individualized study that principally involves the instructor giving students feedback on their musical works-in-progress. This time-honored paradigm for teaching composition has produced brilliant artists, but is rife with pitfalls and traps that can tarnish a student’s growth: composition pedagogues can coerce students into writing music like their teachers, or can prescribe a curriculum that makes composition accessible only to students who have already played classical music for …

Creating Steam With Design Thinking: Beyond Stem And Arts Integration, Danah Henriksen

The STEAM Journal

This article suggests the value in a broad view of STEAM beyond arts-integration, as well as the potential of design thinking for STEAM. Despite much interest in STEAM it is often challenging for many teachers to integrate into their teaching of school subject matter. I suggest that as an interdisciplinary crossroads, design thinking provides a natural bridge between the arts, sciences, and other subjects. In this it can offer guiding flexible structure and in-road for teachers to design STEAM-based lessons, and to incorporate as an integrated aspect of students’ STEAM learning. I discuss an example of an elementary Spanish teacher, …