Creative Learning

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING CONSIDERING 

STUDENTS' NATURE AS CREATIVE BEINGS

by Jan Hjalmarsson

* Students are creative spiritual beings, or co-creators with God, by nature, as we all are. As such they find joy and they grow in being creative. Being creative means making their own choices and using their own discernment in how to act in a situation or perform an activity, for the best outcome. It means taking responsibility. As we know, a central aspect of the spiritual path consists of sharpening our discernment by learning to make better choices, in a creative way. In this way knowledge and skills are internalized.

* For best learning, it's important that there are choices involved for students in how they find it best to learn something. Everyone is an individual, and as such will not learn something optimally in the same way as someone else will learn it. If students are not motivated or able to make a relevant choice in how to learn something, then the teacher will make the choice for them. This will also apply for many areas of subjects or topics that are intended to be taught in a specific way, which the teacher knows best. But it's important that students are encouraged to learn to make constructive choices themselves, to take responsibility. It's a growing process.

* The main reason students find school boring is because of lack of creative involvement, and because of lack of responsibility on their part. Education often becomes boring if students are presented with all the details of a subject, which they are expected to learn, by following an outer instruction. It can become something that they feel is imposed on them, and it may seem overwhelming. They are not in charge of their learning, because everything has already been decided for them. On the other hand, education can get much more interesting and stimulating if students are in charge of their learning. This can happen if they are given a basic structure only of a subject, in the form of objectives, and then they use their creative power of choice, inspiration and discernment to discover and create the details, which they thereby learn and internalize in the process. In this way students are working in alignment with their spiritual nature, as co-creators with God, and this is inspiring and enjoyable, because they connect to their higher being in the process. This can be called "creativity-based learning".

* Taking responsibility for and managing their own learning creatively will never be forced on students. Lack of creativity comes from lack of motivation or interest. In this situation it's important that the teacher provides inspiration and guidance so that motivation can be ignited. If students are not ready to make a relevant choice in a given situation, then the teacher will make it. And, in many areas of subjects, which don't lend themselves to students making choices, the teacher will decide as well.

* Making creative choices constructively can only take place when someone is in alignment with their higher being, or Christ Self, to the extent they are able to. This alignment means that an individual has a generally positive attitude and is motivated to work to the best of his or her ability with the teacher and others in the present situation. If a student is out of this alignment, then the teacher needs to address this before the teaching or activities of the actual subject take place. If students attempt to make choices based on lower motives than their best, then the teacher addresses this, and will limit or revoke their right to make choices.

* Higher consciousness earns more freedom (of choice). Lower consciousness will limit one's freedom. This is a universal spiritual principle of life, which is extremely important for students to learn. In a school, this will mean that the more students understand what they need to learn, and the better their motivation and inspiration to learn is, the more freedom they can have in deciding how to learn it. Students with very high consciousness can to a large extent design aspects of classes themselves. High consciousness will mean high alignment with the teacher and the teacher's intent, since there is Oneness in Christ. The less understanding and motivation students have, the more the teacher will have to decide for them. In classes where students' consciousness is low, in terms of motivation and understanding of what they need to learn, the teacher may have to exclusively decide the entire structure and content of the class. The teacher will know where the right balance is between outer structure and freedom of choice for any given student or class.

* The only way students truly can call a school their own, and feel personal ownership of it, is that they create aspects of the school. This will primarily consist of how they design their classes, and the details of the projects they create, within the greater foundational plan and structure provided by the teachers.

* It is important that there are elements of spontaneous and free discovery, without goal-oriented structure, in any subject. This helps students find joy in learning. The element of surprise is important as well for inspiration and interest to come alive in learning. 

ASPECTS OF CLASSES CONTRIBUTING TO 

RICH AND FRUITFUL LEARNING

* In applicable subjects or topics, students can be invited to take responsibility for their learning by being given a basic structure only of a subject, and they find out and create the details of the content they need to learn. They can choose to accomplish this in different ways, which are presented to them as choices by the teacher. For example, they can find and study information from books, the internet, ask the teacher, ask others, or find it out in practical ways, for example by experimentation. They are not left on their own by the teacher and asked to do what they may not be able to do. They can ask the teacher to lecture about, and describe all the details of the subject matter for them. But the point is, that they take the initiative to this process, and take responsibility for it. They make the choice that they want to learn it this way. Some students may learn it best this way. Others may learn it best by finding all the facts in various ways through their own discovery.

* Examples of ways for students to learn and gain skills in a subject: listening to lectures and explanations from teacher or other people, asking teacher questions, reading text, taking notes, summarizing topics, answering questions, problem solving, being tested, creating questions and answers (tests) for each other, making written compositions, investigation, research, doing experiments, making models, working with digital models, compiling relevant information, viewing videos, visiting relevant locations, vocational training.

* Examples of aspects of a subject to learn and be skilled in: terminology, problem solving, composition of written material, oral presentation and discussion, drawing pictures of topics, artistic illustration, spiritual perspective, exemplification of principles, finding principles behind events or situations, making models and real constructions, application in everyday life.

* To the extent that students are able to make relevant choices in how to creatively approach their learning, classes are designed openly to achieve the objectives for their skills and knowledge. In scientific subjects, a large part of classes can be used for experiments. In other subjects, class activity is designed to use the resources of the school, including the teacher, for optimal learning. One important purpose of classes at school is to inspire to interest in the subject that they learn. Work, which doesn't need the teacher or the resources of the school, such as answering questions, can be done at home.

* Applications of a subject, such as model building and experiments, will be more interesting if such are designed to inspire the students' imagination to come alive, for example by using figures of people etc., which can "experience" what is happening in the experiment. This will apply as well in other applications, for example in composition of sentences or math problems. Creativity needs imagination. If students are invited to use their own imagination creatively, they will find learning much more fun. Students will often not find applications interesting if the main purpose is presented as illustrating principles, or to "learn". They also usually find activities more interesting if they can create examples of applications themselves, using their own imagination, than if the teacher provides the examples.

* Seeing and experiencing processes concretely is very important for children to learn. They have not yet developed their abstract faculties as adults have. So, just describing something with words to students is often not enough for them to understand it well.

GRADING AND EVALUATION OF STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

* On their spiritual path, it's important for students to learn what the consequences of their actions will be. This will help them to make right choices creatively, to take responsibility for their life, including gaining skills and knowledge at school. In school, students get their grade by their performance in a subject. There is a choice involved here, in how they apply themselves, but their performance is also dependent on their capability. To help students take responsibility for the outcome of their learning, it's important that they can make choices in what grade they can get by how advanced approach they take to the subject. So, if they know, before they take on a subject or unit, what the requirements are for Grade "A" or "B", for example, then they can prepare themselves and take responsibility for their learning, by choosing the amount of work they are able and willing to take on in order to produce the desired outcome of what grade they will get. Students who find a subject difficult, and are only able to produce a "C", for example, should not have to be presented with the same amount of material as those who aim for an "A". That would likely be experienced as overload, and would not result in efficient learning.

* To enable students to take charge of learning a new subject unit, they need to have a clear vision of what it consists of, in terms of objectives and the requirements for what grades they can achieve. If students are motivated to learn, they are usually only interested in the requirements for Grade "A". Lower grades can be included or not, at the teacher's discretion. The teacher can tell what they are if students ask. The objectives for topics to understand and apply are written as comprehensive statements, not as questions. In applicable subjects, each objective can have space for students to fill in the details of what the general objective consists of. The objectives that students are presented with describe the foundational structure of the subject. It is up to the students' creativity what they make of the details. To the extent that students are not creative in their approach to their learning, by motivation or ability, the teacher will help them.

* The reason students find it enjoyable to work this way is that they are in charge of the process of learning, and they have an active and creative approach to discovering and precipitating what they need to learn. They can choose and design the exact form of the content within the larger framework of the objective. In this process they use inspiration coming from within themselves, or from their higher being. They learn the content of the objective in the process as they create it. On the other hand, if students are presented with all the details they need to learn, they are not working creatively, and they feel as passive learners, which is not in alignment with their true nature. And added to that, if they don't have a clear vision of what is ahead in the subject, or what the requirements are of them for their grades, then they feel out of control. They become unmotivated students.

* When students experience themselves as active discoverers, and creators, and are in charge, they will work much more efficiently and faster then if they experience themselves as passive learners. So, often they will be "done" with the objectives ahead of time, and will then be free to pursue other, even more interesting activities within the subject. This is in alignment with the spiritual law of consciousness in relation to freedom.

* When students fill in the details of written objectives, their "study guide" for tests and exams is also created by themselves at the same time. This will make the students very familiar with the content of the subject and their study guide.

* In education, it is important that intellectual knowledge in itself is not overemphasized, or rewarded to the exclusion of other skills. In real life, it is rather the creative application of knowledge that will make a person successful, and it is important for students to learn this. So, in school, students must find it rewarding to apply what they learn in various ways that they can come up with. Teachers make this rewarding for students by inviting them to be creative in class activities, and by reflecting in their grades the quality and originality of their work and other contributions, for example in discussions.

* Demonstration of understanding, skills and knowledge, as the basis for students' grades, can and should be done in various ways, for example as: written or oral tests, written reports or essays, presentations, speeches, dialogues, constructions, drawings, creations on the computer, drama. It is important that students learn to use and develop a broad range of faculties of their being when they demonstrate their skills and knowledge. This prepares them for optimum performance in their life. So, for example, if written tests are used exclusively for evaluation of what students know or can do in a subject, then the development of their creative faculties will be held back, and their grades will not reflect a complete picture of their skills and knowledge. In real life, people are tested in many different ways, and it's important that their school experience will reflect the reality of how they will be evaluated in life.

* Grade "A+" is only achievable through extraordinary application, meaning application that is above and beyond what is formally required and stated by the teacher as Grade "A". There is no upper limit for what this application can consist of. The teacher doesn't have to state a specific standard for Grade "A+", if there is no specific way for students to achieve it, and if no specific performance automatically will guarantee them an "A+". It's valuable for them if their highest possible grade can be up to their creativity. This principle will motivate students to a creative and multi-faceted approach to the subject, and to not put a limit on themselves in what they are able to accomplish. It will help them learn that, in real life, they will only achieve real success and fulfillment by doing more than what is formally required, and by finding new ways of approaching things, or, in other words, by being creative. It will help students transcend themselves in terms of what they are, and think they are, capable of achieving. It will help them to tap into the infinite resources of their being, and help them find that God in them is infinite.