4th Malta Conference: Creativity in ELT
Malta, 22-25 October 2015
PLENARIES
Malta, 22-25 October 2015
PLENARIES
ALAN MALEY
Creativity: What? Why? How?
Creativity: What? Why? How?
Creativity is at the heart of learning - but rarely at the heart of institutional education. One reason for this is the fear of losing ‘control’ in a culture of measurement based on the cult of predictable outcomes. I shall first explore what is meant by ‘Creativity’, focussing particularly on the element of play and curiosity, the factor of unpredictability, finding new connections between things, the role of constraints and the need for relevance as well as novelty value. I shall then discuss the reasons why we need creativity in education, and why we so rarely find it. I shall then suggest a number of ways to stimulate both more creative teaching as well as learning. These will include using heuristics, applying the random principle, harnessing the power of constraints and drawing on improvisation within a framework of more artful teaching. I shall also suggest that as teachers, we need to focus on presence and relationships as well as on technique. In closing, I will make a plea for the promotion and nurture of more creative teaching and learning in the current context, and refer to the mission of the new ‘C’Group.
CHAZ PUGLIESE
Jazzing it up: The creative teacher
In this participatory talk I will suggest that teaching creatively may have an impact on the students’ enthusiasm and may fuel their interest and curiosity to learn. I will firstly look at the different types of creativity and debunk a few myths, I will then outline strategies that may enhance our creative potential, and finally, I will illustrate with examples how these can be implemented in the classroom. The ultimate goal is for the teacher to come up with teaching ideas that are engaging both affectively and cognitively, are simple to use, require little or no preparation and are fun and challenging to do in the classroom.
LUKE MEDDINGS
Learning space: Creative ideas for self-study
We all want our students to take more responsibility for their own learning, but it isn’t easy - for them or us! Self-study materials are often based around uninspiring gap-fills and sentence completions, but it can be hard to capture language from more stimulating sources like movies and music. In this talk I’ll propose a range of spaces, large and small, from which we can learn. This means thinking of familiar things in creative ways, and asking ourselves - as teachers and learners - what patterns can I see? We’ll take our inspiration from spaces like the night sky, city streets and the local café - I’ll suggest ways to get your students really engaged with their learning outside the classroom, and we’ll try out ideas you can take into the classroom tomorrow.
WORKSHOPS
SYMPOSIUM ON CREATIVITY IN ELT
Chaz Pugliese, Daniel Xerri, Alan Maley