Creativity and pedagogical innovation: Exploring teachers’ experiences of risk-taking

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to share the results of research into the experience of teacher risk-taking in the classroom. The development of children as risk-takers is featured prominently in curriculum documents and reports calling for the competencies of 21 st century learning. Teachers are expected to become 21 st century learners who model risk-taking. The repeated calls for the development of risk-taking students through the modeling of risk-taking teachers makes the experience of risk an important pedagogical question. However, 21 st century learning documents do not take up substantively the meaning of teacher risk-taking.Research Design: Phenomenological research is concerned with the unique and the individual and in that regard each teacher-participant represents particular perceptions of risk-taking experiences and responses to risk in the classroom. The six (6) teacher-participants responded to a call distributed widely to teaching staff in a Canadian school district. The inquiry relied on phenomenological interviews and experiential life world material. In this paper three phenomenological themes are described: risk and readiness; risk and the in-between spaces of pedagogy, and risk as exploration and finding a way. This research allows us to understand teachers' lived experience rather than assume the meaning of the terms risk and risk-taking.

Collaboration as a New Creative Imaginary: Teachers’ Lived Experience of Co-Creation

“…The teachers were trained as artists/researchers and encouraged to experiment with emerging pedagogical practices and design thinking to support innovation within their school communities and within their own professional practice. While space will not permit a full explication here of the a/r/tographic process undertaken with the teachers, it has been described elsewhere (see Howard et al, 2018).…”

“…As teachers at the research sites engaged in the creative processes of artmaking, important themes began to emerge (Howard et al, 2018). At the author's research site, the participants chose to collaborate to design something that would be useful to their day to day practice.…”

“…The teacher recounts "to stand in front", "to share", "to express" in the moment of the collaborative opening-of-oneself-toothers. There is great risk involved in the moment, a vulnerability in the presence of peers, of collaborators as co-creators (Howard et al, 2018).…”

“…The courage and anxiety are nested within each other in the moment, the pre-reflective lived instance of acting; the ground of trust aligns with our expectations and we are unaware of its existence. At other times, the vulnerabilities and risks delineate the anxiety and courage demanded of us (Howard et al, 2018). And yet, we most often get on with it and summon up the enthusiasm and optimism required.…”

The sustained value teachers place on outdoor learning

“…External accountability instruments have been seen to present a challenge to normative values of the teaching profession (Day, Elliot and Kington, 2005) and can devalue or suppress more creative and interpretive aspects of teachers' work (Galton and MacBeath, 2008) and the opportunity for pedagogical innovation and their attitude to risk taking (Howard et al, 2018).…”