The definition of insanity is doing the same thing time and time again and getting the same result. Teaching students creative writing is hard work. It can leave teachers frustrated that they can’t teach someone to be “creative.” Some teachers feel like a fraud teaching creative writing. English teachers are experts at analysing a narrative. We can identify “good writing” versus banal nonsense, but this does not a writer make. If teachers don’t view themselves as a writer, it’s challenging to create writers.
Experiential teaching transforms the role of the teacher to a facilitator, rather than directing the student’s progress. It’s a semi-structured approach, requiring students to cooperate and learn from one another through direct experiences tied to real-world problems. It adopts a holistic philosophy, encouraging students to bring their knowledge of the world, past experiences, and individuality to the learning cycle.
The proposed “problem” in the classroom full of bored teenagers “learning” or being “taught” to be creative is that often they don’t have the confidence to know they can be a writer. It is challenging to teach creative writing without a blend of Experiential strategies and Positive Psychology Principles underpinning the process and classroom environment.
It is impossible to have creativity without vulnerability – just ask Brene Brown (or do yourself a favour and watch her Ted Talks and then head to a library and borrow some of her amazing books – thank me later). My classroom is highly conceptual, covering the syllabus content creatively, modeling the creative process for students. How can anyone hope to teach creative writing without a bit of creativity and flair? Take a risk.
I begin the lesson with an excerpt from Brene Brown’s vulnerability and shame Ted Talk – the part about the man in the arena. She uses Roosevelt’s famous speech, which advises us not to listen to the critics who aren’t also trying and taking risks. If you ain’t in the arena also getting your ass kicked, Brene and I aren’t interested in your feedback. Nor are my students who know that the motto in our classroom is that we Dare Greatly. Do we take risks? You betcha. Do we sometimes fail? Of course! There is no creativity without failure. I teach in a gifted and talented setting. Many don’t know the bitter taste of failure as they are very bright and stick to the safe options. They hate failure, but this avoidance of failure can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Indeed playing it safe ensures a lack of growth.
The richness of experiential learning is in the features that make it stand out from other learning approaches. The exciting and unique aspect is that it fosters an authentic need for students to self-evaluate their learning process. This is achieved through constant reflection. Students must critically reflect on their experience, not only in real-time as it is unfolding but subsequently when they consciously create meaning and conceptualisation from the experience.
The best part about Experiential Teaching is that it is a perfect opportunity to embed Positive Psychology principles into your lesson without making it obvious. It creates a natural flow between Wellbeing and Learning.
A couple of ideas about how to embed Experiential Teaching into the English classroom are below:
- Create a sensory experience for students – a Mindfulness practice of Mindful Eating can force kids to check in with their bodies, and they can taste foods more richly. This influences their ability to describe the act of eating – the mouth opening, anticipation of the first bite, the way their teeth rip into different textures, how chewing feels before finally working their way onto describing the taste as the food dances on their tongue.
- Have students brainstorm the different parts of their body that would be involved in various activities e.g., walking – which foot do you start with? What are your arms doing? What is your breath doing? Can you feel your heart? Have students then go for a walk while taking notice of how walking feels. (Often the issue with student writing is having them extend their ideas with enough description to develop the concepts, this ensures they understand that describing someone as “walking down the sunny road” is not adequate. They can use their own experiences to describe it in more depth and detail).
- Read a piece of poorly written prose to them (either find one on the Internet or write it yourself). Have them decide on the criteria they would use to assess a good piece of writing. They annotate the sample, deconstructing where it does something well and where it needs a little work. They rewrite one or two sentences, using the weaknesses of the piece to drive the improvement.
Can you think of more examples of using Experiential Teaching in your classroom? If you’re interested in uncovering more about teaching Creative Writing and embedding Experiential Teaching and Positive Psychology into your classroom craft, send me a message for a mentoring session.