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1. Encouragingcreativityin
Englishlanguageteaching
Theactionresearchtitled"EncouragingcreativityinEnglishlanguageteaching"wasa
professionaland emotionalchallenge.Professionalbecause Ibelieve thatstudying
creativityisaveryimportantstageintheprocessofprofessionaldevelopmentofteachers,
emotionalbecauseIhavestudiedthenatureoflearningandthetypesofteachingthat
havelednotonlytoknowledgebutalsotothefeelingsofsatisfactionamongstudentsand
inme.Tomakethestudentscreative,theymustdeveloptheirownideasandinterestsand
mustbemotivated.However,inordertodevelopsuchskillsinastudent,weneedtolearn
hohowtodevelopit.Teachercreativityisaprerequisitefordevelopingpupilcreativityandis
atraitthatcanbeacquiredanddeveloped(Bognar&Zovko,2008).Asaparent,asa
teacher,andasacriticalfriendIoftenhadtheopportunitytoseethatachievingcreativity
foraveryeasystepisaminimumeffort,whileothersarearealeffort.Everyoneiscapable
ofcreativeworkintherightenvironmentandiftheyaremotivatedenough,buttheydiffer
inthedegreeandscopeofcreativity.Ihavebeenworkinginprimaryschoolfor20years
andIhavebeenteachingstudentsintheageof11to14years.Iconductedanaction
researchresearchwithfifthgradestudents,elevenboysandelevengirls.Fromthebeginningofthe
researchIhadgreatsupportofmyEnglishlanguageadvisor.Herideawasintroducedto
twenty-fiveleadersoftheCountyCouncilofExpertswithActionInvestigation.She
dividedusingroupsandIwasassignedtoagroupledbyDr.Smithalongwithfourother
leaders.BeinginthegroupofDr.Smithwasmyhonorandopportunityforlearningand
advancementin professionaldevelopment.Allthe participants ofthe group later
renounced,soIcontinuedtocooperatewithmanyfromtheteam.Mosthavebecomemy
ccriticalfriends.During the process,action research became apparentto me asa
collaborationbetweenmyresearcher,mycriticalfriendsandmoderatorDr.Smith.She
gave structure,systematics and discipline to the whole research.She has been
constructivelycriticizingmystepsintheprocess,readingmyresearchdiaries,writing
feedbackandadvisingandrecommendingliterature.Sheencouragedmeandatthesame
timeencouragedmetothink,read,writeandcometomyownideasandconclusions.All
thesepeoplewereveryimportanttomeduringtheresearchandtheyrepresentedthe
socialcontsocialcontextofactionresearch.

2. The question thatinitiallywasproblematicto me referred to the understanding of
grammaticaltimeinthefifthgrade.Childrenunderstandtimeoneatatime,problemsmake
themdistinguishbetweenthetwopresenttimes.Childrenstarttomixauxiliaryverbsand
sequins,aswellastheiruse.Simplepastasathirdtime,evenmorecomplicatesthe
distinction.Somyfocuswasontryingtoteachgrammartimeinamoreefficientand
creativeway.ItwasnoteasytoconductresearchasIthoughtandneededconstant
collaborationwiththemoderatorandcriticalfriends.Dr.Smithhelpedmewiththestrategy
ofofcreativeapproach,sheandthegrouphelpedmestepbystep.Notonce,butseveral
timesDr.Smithwarnedmetostayfocusedonthemainchallengeofmyresearch:
however,itisinterestingthatyouhaveleftoutthequestionagainaboutthepossibilitiesof
encouragingstudentcreativity.Iremindyouthatthisistheproblemyoustartedfrom,and
everythingelseisanimportantaddition,butnottheessenceofyourresearch(from the
researchjournal,April8,2010).Creativeapproachdidnotworkrightaway;ittooksome
timeformetochangemypractice,tounderstandwhatthecreativityinteachingmeans-
notnottodecideabouttheactivity,butthestudents.CreativityhadmuchgreaterscopethanI
thoughtandappliedinclass.IknewIhadtobringmorecreativityandrealizedthatitwas
asourceofcreativityinchildren,thatmyjobwascreatingtheconditionsforthereleaseof
creativity.Ihadtolearnhowtoorganizetheteachingprocessthatgivesstudentsthefifth
gradeenoughtime,space,andfreedom tohavetheimaginationandoriginality.Ihadto
learnandthenshowthatthereisnotjustonecorrectone.Theansweristhatthereare
manypossiblesolutionsthateveryideaisgoodandvaluable,andespeciallyatthisstage
ititisnotimportantiftheymakeamistake.DuringthecorrespondencewithDr.Smith,atone
pointrealizedthatIshouldnothaveproblemswithrecognizingandcreatingconditionsfor
thedevelopmentofcreativityinchildren.Irecognizedthem asaparent.Mysonisvery
creative,setsthoughtfulquestions,andIencouragehimtorespond.Asachildheusedto
playLegodiceforhours,neverworkingaccordingtothepaintings,ratherthancreating
theirownimaginativecreations.IwasplanningtoconductasurveyfromJanuary2009to
May2010oneschoollessonaweek.SoonIrealizedthat45minutes(thelengthofone
schooltime)isnotenoughschooltime)isnotenough.Weneededablockhour.
Myresearchwasreflexiveandsystematic.However,Iwasquiteflexibleandtherefore
spontaneousandcreative.Spontaneityandcreativityhaveprovidedmewithnewinsights
andideasduringtheprocess.AtfirstIwasawareofonlythreestagesofmyresearchand
Ididnothaveafirmplanonhowtointegrategrammarintocreativeactivities.

3. Iwasexpectingproblemsandquestionsanddecidedtoleadmyreflection-in-action(or
"on-the-go"class)andalotofreflection-on-action.Theresearchprocesswasnota"one
waystreet",itwasaprocessofthreemutuallyinterwoven,successivesteps,eachofwhich
developedandopenednewquestionsandviews.Theywere:PresentContinuous,Present
Simple,andPastSimplePhases.Istartedwithacreativeapproachsomewhereinthehalf
ofthePresentContinuousdesignandroundedoffthefirstphaseofTheNappingHouse.
IhaveusedthestimulustechniqueofSubstitution,wherebytheteacherasksthequestion,
"What"WhatotherwordscanIuseinsteadofthegivenwords?"ThenIdidnotyetknowthat
SCAMPER(Eberle,2008,p.3)wasacronym foralistofwordsthatcouldbeusedas
stimuliincreativeThinkingabouttheproblem:Substitute,Combine,Adapt,Modify,Put,
Eliminate,andReverse.InadditiontothistechniqueIusedthetechniqueofstormofideas
(Osborne,2008,p.269).Thepurposeofthesetechniquesistostimulatedivergent
thinkingandconsistoftheabilityofadultsandchildrentomakeasmanyideas(fluency),
asmanydifferentideas(flexibility),moreunusualideas(originality)andmorewaysto
oovercomeexistingideas(elaborativity).Duringtheincubation,weusedthestormofideas
most,or,asStarkocallsit,the"popcorn"roast.Iaskedstudentsabout"Whatotherideas
canyourecall?","How manydifferentideas?""Sofaryourideashavereferredtothe
house,trytofigureoutsomethingthatnooneelseeverhas.""Whatcanwestilldo?"isto
writeanewcumulativestoryandinsteadofTheNappingHousewehadthegreatThe
MummyHouse,TheHauntedMuseum andothersinPowerPointpresentations.Each
memberofthegrouphadthetaskofwritingapresentation,preparingapresentation,
readingreadingthepresentationandpreparingquestionsforothergroups.Allthepreparations
weremadeatschool,groupsthatwantedtoaddsoundorpicturescoulddoitathome.In
thepreparatorystageIwasateacheradvisor,duringtheincubationandpresentationI
wastheteacherobserver.Iwastryingtoachieveanewwayofteaching:notsomucha
traditionalteacheroratleastnotthewholetime.
Thefirstprobleminvolvedgroupformation.IdecidedthatatthisstageIwouldhavetoform
heterogeneousgroupsoffourstudents.Thegroupscoulddecideontheroleofeach
studentwithinthegroup.Starkostatesthatmostoftheliteratureoncollaborativelearning
emphasizestheimportanceofgroupheterogeneity:Studentsinsuchgroupslearntohelp
eachother,toagreewiththosewhodifferfrom oneself,andtounderstandthevalueof
diversity.Ifheterogeneous groups should provide motivation,the challenge,the
interdependenceofallstudents,thenthecollaborativetaskshadtobecarefullyplanned.

4. Fortunately,therearemanyfactorsthatcharacterizeeffectivetasksinheterogeneous
groupsassociatedwithcreativity(Starko,2005,p.395).Beforewestartedthetask,Iwas
thinkingaboutoptionstoencouragegroupstolistentopresentationsfromothergroups.I
chosecompetitionamongthegroups.Oneofthestudentsineachgrouphadthetaskto
askquestionsthatrelatedtothepresentationofhis/hergrouptoothergroups.Iam an
experiencedteacherandIhaveneverappliedcompetitionwithinagroup,onlybetween
groups.Dr.Smithcommentedonagroupcompetition:Someresearchsuggestsanegative
impactimpactofcompetitiononcreativity.Itislessnegativetousecompetitionbetweengroups,
ratherthan within a group (more on "Creativity in the Classroom").(Personal
Communication,3February2010).
REFERENCES
Bognar,B.&Zovko,M.(2008).PupilsasActionResearchers:ImprovingSomethingImportantinOurLives.
EducationalJournalofLivingTheories,1.1.1-49.
Eberle,B.(1996).ScamperOn:MoreCreativeGamesandActivitiesforImaginationDevelopment.Waco,TX:
PrufrockPress.
Starko,A.J.(2005).CreativityintheClassroom:SchoolsofCuriousDelight.NewYersey:LawrenceErlbaum
Associates,Inc.,Publishers.
Whitehead,J.&McNiff,J.(2006).ActionResearchLivingTheory.London,ThousandOaks,NewDelhi:
SAGEPublications.