New

Met
hodology
Contents
1.THE PROJECT 4
1.1.A prologue 5
1.2.Preface 7
2.INTRODUCTION TO A NEW METHOD 9
2.1.Cretivity 10
2.2.Learningo 12
2.3.Education-Teaching-Knowledge-Pedagogy 13
2.4.Learning Environments 15
2.5.Creative Learning 21
2.6.Why Crative Learning 25
2.7.General principles of Creative Learning process 26
2.8.Arts and Creative Learning 27
2.9.Theater and Learning 28
2.10.Creative Learning and Socialization 29
2.11.What the children learn from art and learning through 36
Creative Methods
2.13.The Importance of play in Creative Learning 38
2.14.Dramatic Convetions 40
3.THE TEACHER IN CREATIVE LEARNING 43

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3.1.Teacherss role 44
3.2.The teachers role -The New teacher-student 46
realationship
3.3.The teachers role at the Nursery and Primary School 47
3.4.Teachers role and Element of drama 49
4.THE NEW METHOD 53
4.1.Approaching the new Method 54

4.2.Theatre and Creative Learning 56

4.3.Theatre in the Classroo 57
4.4.What a teacher need to start off a Creative Learning 59
Lesson
4.5.Actors Art and Function 60
4.6.Creative Learning like a story telling 62
4.7.The story of a lentil 64
4.8.In a few words what should i do 66
4.9.Evaluation in Creative Learning 68
4.10.Criteria Concerning the development of Students 68
4.11.Particular critiria for Evaluation of a Lesson 71
4.12.Example of possible Evaluation for subject of Maths 73
4.13.Self -Evaluation 74

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1.THE PROJECT

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1.1.A prologue
The project is aiming to introduce a new innovative method that
will make use of theatre techniques in order to make more
attractive the teaching of the school subjects in the Through the
improvement of the attractiveness of these subjects and through
the active participation of the students in the classroom, the
project aims to improve the educational achievement of the
students in these subjects.
The project aims also to develop innovative resources for the
teachers embedded in the digital era. It is aiming to develop an e-
learning course for the training of the teachers as well as a portal
whichthrough the interactive resources of the project. In this way,
by creating open and innovative resources, accessible in different
European languages, it aims to expand its impact all over Europe
and develop resources that will be widely used and accessible to
all elementary school teachers interested.
The use of theatre techniques in the elementary school is proven
to be very effective for the improvement of the school
performance (see for example the work of Kieran Egan, Dewey and
Jean Piaget).
It addresses at the same time linguistic spatial, logical, bodily-
kinaesthetic intelligence.
It makes the class more attractive and it promotes the active
participation of the students in the class improving in this way the

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educational performance of the children.
The project is aiming to produce a comprehensivey for the use of
theatre techniques for all the subjects of the school curriculum and
for all the classes of the elementary school. This will be a very
useful resource for all the elementary school teachers in Europe
who will be able to find suggestions and tools in order to
implement artistic techniques for teaching the curriculum.
The scarcity of teacher training in this field is another need
addressed by the project. Throughout Europe, there is scarcity of
teacher training seminars on the subject and when they are
organised, they are usually concentrated in the big cities. The
material that is available online is usually fragmented and limited
in “tips” that could be used by the teacher in order to teach specific
subjects in specific classes. The project is aiming to develop
interactive online resources that will be comprehensive; they will
cover the whole curriculum of the elementary school (adapted in
different national realities) withimplemented by other teachers
that would be practical and easily implementable by teachers all
over Europe.

Nicholas Kamtsis

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1.2.Preface

Creative learning is the title. (Clear)

It aims to become a useful tool for all those involved in the
educational process and provide material for significant
experiments at school.
CLEAR addresses mainly to teachers and concerns primary
education.
It has theoretical and practical character.

It attempts to redefine philosophical and pedagogical concepts

such as learning, creativity, imagination, and suggests ways so as
the school become a field of creative forces and fertility source for
teachers and students.
It aims that the school become a space vivid and attractive so that
the teacher and the student, can love and support it. The student
could link the knowledge with the pleasure and the teacher could
reassess its role in the educational process. The teacher-student
relationship can reveal its true meaning and magic power.
The goal is the school community to become a creative interaction
field where both individual advancement and collegiality will be
promoted equally.
To hunt these grand objectives,
CLEAR suggests as weapons theatrical techniques, technology
(multimedia, etc.), game, creativity and arts.
The arts-music, visual arts, Theatre-do not constitutes independent
fields of knowledge or “supplements” of education. There are not
“lessons” that can be put roughly in the jam-packed train of

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program so as to provide an alibi for an education sterile and
mechanistic.
Art can be a driving force to the “vehicle» of treatment, can provide
the key to a comprehensive and essential education; can become
the missing link between learning and creation.
CLEAR focuses especially on the relationship between drama and
learning.
It is based on the common pedagogical place where imitation,
action, role play are the ways that the child spontaneously chooses
to communicate with its environment and learn from it.
Theater, as the meeting place of diverse forms of artistic
expression, gives the child the opportunity to explore its
inclinations and interests, to unfold its personality.
As an activity, eminently collective, it favors the socialization of the
child making the child an “addict” to the communication and team
spirit.
CLEAR can be an alternative for children with learning difficulties,
who are unable to respond to the traditional teaching methods
and as a result, they placed in the margin of the educational
process.
CLEAR and its creators put a great deal:
that drama can work as an effective method of teaching all kind of
courses. Maybe not as exclusive method, but as an option, so that
the learning process can become colorful, charming and funny.
CLEAR is one of those ideas that need the right conditions to
thrive. We need the right framework and planning, we need
support, logistics and above all, teachers with inspiration broader
education and –especially- political will.
Otherwise, it is doomed to be lost in the ocean of good intentions
of confusion and babble talking.

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2.INTRODUCTION TO A
NEW METHOD

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2.1.Cretivity

Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize

ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving
problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves
and others.

Three reasons why people are motivated to be creative:

Need for novel, varied, and complex stimulation
Need to communicate ideas and values
Need to solve problems

In order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in new

ways or from a different perspective. Among other things, you
need to be able to generate new possibilities or new alternatives.
Tests of creativity measure not only the number of alternatives
that people can generate but the uniqueness of those alternatives.
the ability to generate alternatives or to see things uniquely does
not occur by change; it is linked to other, more fundamental
qualities of thinking, such as flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity or
unpredictability, and the enjoyment of things heretofore
unknown.

Characteristics of the creative personality:

1. Creative individuals have a great deal of energy, but they are

also often quiet and at rest.
2. Creative individuals tend to be smart, yet also naive at the same

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time.
3. Creative individuals have a combination of playfulness and
discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility.
4. Creative individuals alternate between imagination and fantasy
at one end, and rooted sense of reality at the other.
5. Creative people seem to harbor opposite tendencies on the
continuum between extroversion and introversion.
6. Creative individuals are also remarkable humble and proud at
the same time.
7. Creative individuals to a certain extent escape rigid gender role
stereotyping.
8. Generally, creative people are thought to be rebellious and
independent.
9. Most creative persons are very passionate about their work, yet
they can be extremely objective about it as well.

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2.2.Learning

We define learning as the transformative process of taking in

information that—when internalized and mixed with what we
have experienced—changes what we know and builds on what we
do. It’s based on input, process, and reflection. It is what changes
us.

1.Term coming from Greek philosophy and history culture.

Education usually holds two meanings: the narrow one is the
school education. The broader one is, according to the ancient
Greek beliefs, the creation of a good, decent, conscious citizen as
well as the creation of a culture which equals the spirit of the
cultivate human.
As Richard E. Mayers mentioned1 learning is the relatively
permanent change in a person’s knowledge or behaviour due to
experience. This definition has three components: 1) the duration
of the change is long-term rather than short-term; 2) the locus of
the change is the content and structure of knowledge in memory
or the behaviour of the learner; 3) the cause of the change is the
learner’s experience in the environment rather than fatigue,
motivation, drugs, physical condition or physiologic intervention.”

2. Learning also is the complex psycho-physical function of

familiarisation and assimilation of knowledge and development of
skills. The learning process requires the use of a complete
methodology that involves all aspects of the person’s personality
(physical, mental, emotional)
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2.3.Education-Teaching-Knowledge-Pedagogy

EDUCATION

The act or process of imparting or acquiring general or particular

knowledge, developing skills, for a profession or the powers of
reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or
others intellectually for mature life.

TEACHING

Teaching is the on purpose and by planning transfer of knowledge

that aims at the students’ education. Teaching is the teacher’s
supply of knowledge, is the student’s introduction to the current
culture, is the exercise of the physical and mental powers and skills
within the educational system.

KNOWLEDGE

The fact or condition of being aware of something or of knowing

something with familiarity gained through experience or
association. Acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art,
or technique the fact or condition

PEDAGOGY

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Pedagogy is the discipline that deals with the theory and practice
of education; it thus concerns the study of how best to teach
(transfer the knowledge). Spanning a broad range of practice, its
aims range from furthering liberal education (the general
development of human potential) to the narrower specifics of
vocational education (the imparting and acquisition of specific
skills).
Instructive strategies are governed by the pupil’s background
knowledge and experience, situation, and environment, as well as
learning goals set by the student and teacher.

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2.4.Learning Environments

Education is considered to be necessary for the physical, emotional

and intellectual development of man. For this reason, the
functioning of the means (the learning environments) that educate
the man is considered to be vital. These means are:
The natural environment, the family, the school, the church, the
mass media, the society and the state.

The Natural Environment

The natural environment plays a vital role in the learning process.

The climate, the ground, the weather, not only do they affect our
emotional and physical world but also give us the first
substantiated examples. Within our natural environment we can
find the basic learning structures (biological, mathematical,
chemical, social etc.) and it offers us plenty of stimulus and for this
reason the environment is an endless source for learning.
Consequently the kind of the natural environment we live in
(forests, heat, lack of green etc.) can affect not only the quantity of
learning but the quality as well.

The Family

The family factor plays a very important role because it is the first
and the basic cell of social life. The child formulates its first
attitudes towards the social situations in the family life. The child is
affected by the parents the family circle and familiarize the human

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relationships and tests its first social behaviors andknowledge. The
first foundations for its character and personality are put in the
family.

The School

Schools and every kind of educational institute exert a very

decisive effect on the children not only through the people that
are involved in the teaching process (teachers, students) but also
through the organization and the way of life of their members. The
educational philosophy (a result of state and social philosophy),
the educational relationships and the material taught (to what
extent it applies to the children’s needs and society’s needs) affect
the learning process decisively. School is the first organized, basic
educational cell within which the learners adopt or question the
knowledge they acquire.

The Church-Religion

Although these two terms are strongly interrelated, they havetwo

different aims. Religion refers to the philosophical level offers
answers to philosophical and existential questions. Church teaches
the principles and morals not only of religious life but also social
life and formulates specific views and attitudes. Depending on the
philosophical frame of each religion, we have different emphasis
on learning and education. Christianity kept the faith on the power
and meaning of education that the ancient Greek had. According
to the priests the teaching of the Christian beliefs plays an
important role by affecting and altering the person’s beliefs.
Christianity also stressed the importance of the person’s
responsibility. To the extent that church affects learning by its
organisation and its teaching of morals on every level (social,

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intellectual, emotional and philosophical), it consists a very
powerful learning unit.

The Mass Media

The mass media are an integral part of our life from the first steps
of our life. Their power as a learning environment is found in their
presence at children’s life daily and for many hours every day. As a
social means it is considered to have the most powerful effects on
society’s members because it affects directly and indirectly on
every level of personal and social life, on language (supports, or
formulates linguistic forms), on religion, on arts, science, on
economy, on morals.

The State

Aristotle was the first to recognize the main characteristic in man’s

nature: that he is a “political animal”. Man can only live, create and
survive within the society’s limits. Politics as the utmost art in
action ensures the people’s bliss and in theory it defines what this
bliss is. The effect of the state of government is placed within this
frame. All the social structures (and therefore the educational
structures as well) reflect in a way the kind of the governmental
system and vice versa (liberal, authoritarian). A liberal, democratic
environment creates a way of life that respects the personality of a
developing person. On the contrary an authoritarian environment
resigns the family and every social element to the state, supports
the authoritarian relationships between the children and the

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parents and is in favor of a despotic domination. The state and
governmental system as well as the politicians of a country have a
great impact on the development of the youth’s personality. The
state affects education and school system with its laws. It
intervenes dynamically and in many ways, directly and indirectly,
not only as a carrier of certain beliefs as to what education is and
which its aims should be, but also as an indicator as to how the
teachers, the students, the parents should function and what
attitude they should have.

The Society

When we refer to society as a means of learning what exactly do

we mean? What is the society? Society is the total of people, their
relationships, of institutions, of principles and all the factors
mentioned above (state, family, church etc.). By the term Society
we mean a big, autonomous and organized form of people and
social groups that affect each other in the frame of a common
culture within the specific geographical limits and have common
goals and interests. The child’s personality is a product of a slow
but steady development that is being affected by all the social
factors. Family is the most important unit, the centre of the social
influence. Within the family the first conceptions are developed. It
is the social laboratory to work on beliefs and principles. Then the
school comes to reinforce and develop these influences. The
system of government together with the Mass media and Church
are also vital factors that help the children achieve their goals and
prepare them for the successful adaptation in the society.

Learning Environment in School

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People have spent a great deal of time in the classroom, beginning
in kindergarten and extending for years beyond. They are lucky
those who have a school or classroom where the teacher paid
close attention to the learning environment, or the physical,
psychological and instructional atmosphere.

The learning environment in the classroom is vital to student

success and impacts students in many ways. A negative learning
environment or setting that adversely affects student learning in
many ways, such as low student achievement, poor behavior,
student anxiety, or depression.
The Physical environment in the classroom: The use of space
includes how furniture is arranged and organized, how materials
are stored and maintained, how clean the classroom is and the
overall color and brightness. Bright posters, organized spaces and
cooperative learning arrangements help. Students need a clean,
bright, organized space to strengthen learning experiences.
The psychological environment is how students feel about their
learning. A calm atmosphere helps students to learn, both
intellectually and socially. The students react negatively when they
feel things are unfair, unclear or are worried about getting in
trouble.
The instructional environment is the setting for all teaching. She
plans her instruction to make sure her students are able to
comprehend by using different teaching practices, such as lecture,
hands-on activities, cooperative learning groups and plenty of
games using theater, role playing, narrating. All these various and

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different methods make the school an attractive environment and
the students to be focused, engaged end efficient.

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2.5.Creative Learning

Learning is a complicated psycho-physical human functioning

(inner and exterior factors are both involved) , thanks to which
humans obtain knowledge and develop dexterities. The capacity
of learning appears on the very same day a person is born, lasts for
life, and is considered as a critical condition for one to fulfill his
personality. The quality, as well as the aim of learning follows one’s
personal evolution. Thus learning, instead of being a simple
psychical phenomenon-a reflective reaction to environ-ment-
progressively becomes a deliberate action pursuing the farther
goal-Creation.
Learning offers the necessary equipment for a person to use his
creativity in a meaningful way. There is a dynamic, interdepen-
dent relation between creativity and learning. Learning is by
definition a creative process, while every form of creative
expression is an important learning source.
In creative learning, creation serves both as a mean as well as a
motive for learning. In other words, creative learning is the
conquest-through a process of creative interaction- of knowledge
and dexterities which can be used for creative purposes.
The creative character of learning in school is nowadays an object
of argument among experts, politicians, teachers, parents and
students. The quality of learning provided within the school
environment is doubted and the educational system as we know it
seems to have reached a dead end.
The creative learning theory and practice includes all the attempts
towards a radical reform of the school institution based on the

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philosophy of making school a field of creativity and a source of
euphoria for both teachers and students
Aims

Creative learning is aiming on the following:

To make school, especially public school, an attractive place where
teachers and students would really invest their energy and their
dreams.
To connect knowledge with pleasure, so that students will learn to
love learning.
To encourage teachers to re-evaluate their part in the learning
process.
To build a new kind of teacher-student relationship
To help students explore their talents and inclinations
To develop judgment and non-conventional thinking
To develop social values encouraging communication,
companionship and cooperation
To make the school community a field of creative interaction
where personal and collective evolution will be equally promoted.

Means and instruments

To cover the distance from traditional to creative learning some

new methods of teaching should be invented and applied. To
make creative learning from attractive theory educational fact,
teachers need to enrich their teaching resources. Technology
(multimedia), play and art-especially theatre-might be proved
valuable instruments towards this direction. In our opinion, the
arts-music, fine arts, theatre-are not independent areas of
knowledge. They are neither “supplements” nor “subjects” to be
added in the curriculum as an alibi for an education basically sterile

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and mechanistic. On the contrary, we strongly believe that art
could serve as a moving energy, as a key for an olistic education, as
the link between learning and creation. We are especially focusing
on drama based on the pedagogical common place that imitation,
action and role playing are the ways a child impulsively uses to
communicate with its own environment and to learn from it.
More specifically:
Drama, as an area of cohabitation of several different forms of
creative expression, gives a child the chance to explore its talents
and inclinations, to develop his or her personality
As a group activity, drama encourages communication and
companionship
Drama may be also used as an alternative for children with
learning disabilities who do not respond in the traditional teaching
methods.
The challenge is to prove in practice that drama can be applied as
an effective teaching method for all the subjects included in the
curriculum. Not exclusively but alternatively to make the learning
process flexible, multi-colored and amusing.

Assumptions
As an attempt to a radical educational reform, the creative learning
theory and practice seeks suitable ground and adequate
conditions to succeed.
The minimum assumptions to be considered are the following
Scientific planning by experts in cooperation with teachers
Financial support on behalf of the state and the European
community

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Teachers well qualified, talented and with a wide area of interests
A radical change in the politics concerning education
The international community ought to decide upon some
important philosophical and political issues such as:
What is the ulterior motive of learning—the conformation or the
deliberation of the human beings?
In what kind of persons, in what kind of citizens we would like to
trust the future of the humanity?
What are our social visions for the age coming?

Otherwise, attempts like «creative learning» are meant to be lost in

the ocean of confusion and loquacity.

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2.6.Why Crative Learning

The creative learning process as a method at the teaching of the

curriculum brings back the real dimension and the real purpose of
education; the one of searching and understanding knowledge in
order to use this knowledge in the real context of the everyday
human life. The CL offers inexhaustible variety of human situations
that are imaginative (they are within the frame of imagination, “as
if “situations) in which a need is created to use knowledge
provided in school. Working within a frame with content and not
using itemized, isolated, repeatable exercises and activities we
move away from sterile, repetitive learning towards more human,
experiential situations that give life to the trapped in the books
knowledge. Knowledge is closely interrelated with action and
interaction. The children interact in a safe environment where
knowledge is tested and at the same time they create something
they are interested in. It is their creation and they take full
responsibility for that. Whatever is happening in the class is
happening from them, and for them and not for the sake of their
teacher or a mark.

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2.7.General principles of Creative Learning process

Creative learning method is based on 5 principles:

1) All people have an inborn characteristic: the ability to mime

and the ability to play through which people test and learn
(because by miming people are experimenting as well).

2) All people learn when they have the motives and when they
feel that what they have to learn interests them.

3) All people and especially students learn and understand

better in an active environment, full of actions and events. This
means that it is not enough to teach by telling or numbering what
we want them to learn. It is the experiences itself that will help
them learn and experience derives from action.

4) The participants are responsible for their life and the

acquirement of knowledge. The teachers become the enablers to
their effort to learn, they guide and show possible ways of
learning, thinking, operating.

5) Finally, CL sees the process of learning as a process for

change. The emotional and intellectual change leads to maturity
and therefore to knowledge.

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2.8.Arts and Creative Learning

Arts in general target the audience. The people who come to see a
painting or to watch a performance. Everything is happening, is
created by the artists not only for their own satisfaction but mainly
for the sake of the spectator. In an environment where creative
learning is taking place, the source of expression and creativity is
not the recognition by the audience but the satisfaction the
participants themselves take by participating in the situation. The
roles of the creators and the spectators interchange in the
classroom. The creative learning uses the rules and the elements
(roots) of the arts (movement, painting, dramatic conventions,
music etc) but does not necessarily target to a performance for an
audience. Whatever happens during a creative learning lesson
happens from the children and for the children. Arts help them
understand and conceive meanings. Arts may have a more flexible
form but we never forget their elements and main principles and
the teacher helps the children to learn how to use these principles.
It goes without saying that we can use this method of the creative
learning in order to teach art itself. We take advantage of the main
element of the Creative Learning which is creativity to teach art
that is creation and expression.

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2.9.Theater and Learning

The most important and the most immediate relationship between

theater and learning is the one that the Ancient Greek people have
expressed: you are being educated while being entertained.
Children in a drama situation do not remain passive in front of a
presentation-performance (just watching) but they are
emotionally and intellectually involved and they “experience” the
knowledge. Children start to recognise their personal abilities and
understand themselves and their reactions better. Theatre is an
experiential frame of learning, but because it includes the
elements of evaluation, discussion, reflection, it also involves the
intellectual part of the human. Children investigate the different
drama situations that the teacher prepares for them and s/he
makes sure to include the curriculum aims that s/he wants to
teach. In a drama lesson teachers and students are involved in a
collective effort and search to understand and resolve the problem
in the drama situation. By definition drama involves co-operation
and interaction. Learning is more probable to happen if there is
such a spirit of co-operation and active involvement.

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2.10.Creative Learning and Socialization

Forming social values and behavior (sociability, companionship,

communication, tolerance, cooperation, etc) through creative
learning in primary school

One of the main purposes of school education-especially at infant

and primary schools- is the child’ s socialization, its passing from
the world of “me” to the world of “us” , from the protective family
arms to a wider circle of interpersonal relationships, governed by
rules and principles. The emotional climate of this journey is critical
not only for the child’s school progress but also for the building of
its personality.
As it is commonly known-and confirmed by the experts-a child
who passes the school doorstep for the first time suffers some kind
of shock. The effect of this shock (intensity, duration,
consequences) depends on a number of factors, wholesale divided
in two groups.
The first group of factors is related to the child’s background
(character, previous experience, the type of family and community
he lives in, the socio-educational level of the parents etc).
The other one includes all the assumptions concerning the school
itself (environment, the emotional climate in the classroom, the
teacher’s personality etc). For a child, however, to enter the school
community is considered a major change, possibly the greatest
challenge ever faced in its life.
Especially for children who live in big cities, who grow up in
apartments and are used to play on their own, the change is

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enormous. For the first time they realize that they are not “the
centre of the world”, that their needs may be in conflict with other
people’ s needs, that they have obligations besides rights and that
they now have to claim and earn things they used to take for
granted, such as attention, admiration, praise and love. And all this
in a new, unknown environment, with specific rules of functioning,
with strict timetable, with demands of progress. They are expected
not only to adjust in this new condition, but also to conquer
knowledge and abilities, “to learn”.

The creative learning practices are meant to facilitate children’s

adjustment in the school environment and to encourage their
socialization in general.
Taking part in activities alike group games, children communicate
with each other, share experiences, test their limits and discharge
unpleasant feelings.
Children, as we all know, are much more willing to learn and
respect rules in a game context rather than in a “serious”
circumstance. When the kids play, they are usually honest, fair and
disciplined. The group itself sees to bring back “in order” the
cheating “delinquent”!
The interaction within a play context, with rules and goals, impels
children to adopt various roles (leading or supporting ones) and to
enlarge their perception of reality. The self-centered thinking
subsides along with selfish behavior, giving space to tolerance and
sociability. The mutual goals, as well as the mutual difficulties
faced during the process, reduce competition and promote
cooperation and companionship.
The teacher co-ordinates the “game”, guiding it tactfully towards
the learning goal. He/she intervenes whenever necessary to offer
outlets and motives and to ensure the coherence of the team.
His/her calm, friendly and stable behavior forms the adequate

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emotional frame and serves as a model for the little ones.
In modern society, school is expected to respond not only at its
traditional role but also at needs and demands covered in former
times by family and neighborhood. Children, nowdays, have
neither enough time nor space to play with each other, and this
deficiency affects their mental health and their social adjustment.
Modern school should cover this need introducing play into the
classroom, in combination with the curriculum’s purposes.

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2.11.What the children learn from art and learning through
Creative Methods

It might be late but eventually the direction changes in European

education and globally. More and more schools and school
programs give opportunities to creativity in the school program
and to art in general.Universities of advanced countries teach to
the future teachers and educators, courses based on creativity in
the classroom.The four courses with the famous name
STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) became STEAM
as the Art is among Εngineering and Math.
Indeed there are many skills children learn from the arts.
We make highlight to 10 of them:

1. Creativity – Being able to think on your feet, approach tasks

from different perspectives and think ‘outside of the box’ will
distinguish your child from others. In an arts program, your child
will be asked to recite a monologue in 6 different ways, create a
painting that represents a memory, or compose a new rhythm to
enhance a piece of music. If children have practice thinking
creatively, it will come naturally to them now and in their future
career.

2. Confidence – The skills developed through theater, not only

train you how to convincingly deliver a message, but also build the
confidence you need to take command of the stage. Theater
training gives children practice stepping out of their comfort zone
and allows them to make mistakes and learn from them in
rehearsal. This process gives children the confidence to perform in
front of large audiences.

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3. Problem Solving – Artistic creations are born through the
solving of problems. How do I turn this clay into a sculpture? How
do I portray a particular emotion through dance? How will my
character react in this situation? Without even realizing it kids that
participate in the arts are consistently being challenged to solve
problems. All this practice problem solving develops children’s
skills in reasoning and understanding. This will help develop
important problem-solving skills necessary for success in any
career.

4. Perseverance – When a child picks up a violin for the first time,

she/he knows that playing Bach right away is not an option;
however, when that child practices, learns the skills and techniques
and doesn’t give up, that Bach concerto is that much closer. In an
increasingly competitive world, where people are being asked to
continually develop new skills, perseverance is essential to
achieving success.

5. Focus – The ability to focus is a key skill developed through

ensemble work. Keeping a balance between listening and
contributing involves a great deal of concentration and focus. It
requires each participant to not only think about their role, but
how their role contributes to the big picture of what is being
created. Recent research has shown that participation in the arts
improves children’s abilities to concentrate and focus in other
aspects of their lives.

33
6. Non-Verbal Communication – Through experiences in theater
and dance education, children learn to breakdown the mechanics
of body language. They experience different ways of moving and
how those movements communicate different emotions. They are
then coached in performance skills to ensure they are portraying
their character effectively to the audience.

7. Receiving Constructive Feedback – Receiving constructive

feedback about a performance or visual art piece is a regular part
of any arts instruction. Children learn that feedback is part of
learning and it is not something to be offended by or to be taken
personally. It is something helpful. The goal is the improvement of
skills and evaluation is incorporated at every step of the process.
Each arts discipline has built in parameters to ensure that critique
is a valuable experience and greatly contributes to the success of
the final piece.

8. Collaboration – Most arts disciplines are collaborative in nature.

Through the arts, children practice working together, sharing
responsibility, and compromising with others to accomplish a
common goal. When a child has a part to play in a music ensemble,
or a theater or dance production, they begin to understand that
their contribution is necessary for the success of the group.
Through these experiences children gain confidence and start to
learn that their contributions have value even if they don’t have
the biggest role.

9. Dedication – When kids get to practice following through with

artistic endeavors that result in a finished product or performance,
they learn to associate dedication with a feeling of
accomplishment. They practice developing healthy work habits of

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being on time for rehearsals and performances, respecting the
contributions of others, and putting effort into the success of the
final piece. In the performing arts, the reward for dedication is the
warm feeling of an audience’s applause that comes rushing over
you, making all your efforts worthwhile.

10. Accountability – When children practice creating something

collaboratively they get used to the idea that their actions affect
other people. They learn that when they are not prepared or on-
time, that other people suffer. Through the arts, children also learn
that it is important to admit that you made a mistake and take
responsibility for it. Because mistakes are a regular part of the
process of learning in the arts, children begin to see that mistakes
happen. We acknowledge them, learn from them and move on.

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2.12.To play,to learn,to educate

It is commonly accepted that the established teaching methods

have banished creativity and creative thinking from school. The
Shape is so narrow and stereotype that gives no opportunity for
innovation and initiatives. Children are terrified that if they escape
a little bit from the standard ‘street’, they are threatened by
unknown dangers.
The daily official program in school is rigid and this phenomenon
does not happen only in Greece, but in most education systems in
Europe. Machine learning (rote) is prevailing and fatally, children
become “information and data accumulation containers» (and not
real knowledge).
Exceptions are the Scandinavian countries that try alternative
education systems with clear direction to make the school
program and the education systems more creative. Using subjects
such as subjects of constructions and simulation, they encourage
the children to cooperate, to talk, to ask, to use their hands and
generally, their body. They give children the motivation so as to
create a way of thinking more independent, rich and creative.
The view – widespread among teachers, parents and the state-
that the “playing”, -“to play” 2 is a waste of useful time, is incorrect
and with no realistic basis. The playing (the accurate word is “to
play”) is a spiritual adventure for the children. “To play” raises
problems and requires solutions from children, it encourages
cooperation and collective effort, it requires initiatives and in this
way shows talents and skills that children may have. Through
playing, an abstract notion –so blurred and unknown- becomes
specific and the child understands it, conquers it, because this
notion takes shape and form. And with this, we do not mean
something vague and imprecise, but certain things and objects
derived from courses. Notions of physics, chemistry, mathematics,

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that through the eyes of a child are dry and boring, can become,
through the creative process and the playing (in the sense that we
defined above), exciting and fun for students. The only thing
required is the teacher to find ways and give such forms in the
subjects.
For example, when it comes to the English system, three magical
words are spread between the teachers: In free translation, we
would say AUTHENTICITY, AUTONOMY, UNCERTAINTY
And we explain:
AUTHENTICITY: Real problems (even the theoretical problems
they take realistic form) are set and solved in the right way. As a
result there is motivation and interest for the solution.
AUTONOMY:Children have the opportunity to explore their own
ideas and solve problems that they themselves set.
UNCERTAINTY: The problems, raised by any subject, are not
treated as solved (by others) that we have to assimilate with no
negotiation, but it allows questions, objections, complaints and –
as a result- argumentation and discussion.

Problems, obstacles and objections in such a procedure, are

already formulated and summarized in two words: School
Program. Indeed, the real tyrant is the timetable that official
ministry sets. But a crevasse must be found so as to begin the fall
and the demolition of this wall.

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2.13.The Importance of play in Creative Learning

Play and specifically the imaginative play is something that

appears in man’s life in a very early stage. Children experiment
within play, they
adopt different roles, they try to discover new ways of behaving
and they see the actions and the reactions towards those
behaviours. In thecreative Learning this play becomes more
organised (and this is where arts in general contribute) and they
have more specific educational aims.
Furthermore, the Creative Learning takes the frame and the
content of these games and not only does it transfer it to the real
every day life but in the Creative Learning we also look for the
universal meanings of life. Play and Creative Learning are closely
interrelated (a lot of times we use games in the process) but still
have some basic differences. The similarities and differences are
the following:
– Both activities are based on the human need for
playing/enacting, for working I an imaginative context that
suspends the real time, place, roles
and actions.
– The time, place, characters and actions receive a more symbolic
character in both activities and our ability to participate in both
these
activities depends on our ability to forget the reality for some time
and on our ability to read and understand the symbolic actions
and meanings.
– Both activities have rules and principles. However, in games and
imaginative play the rules are clearer cut, while in the Creative
Learning aremore internal.
– Both activities need a physical, mental, intellectual and
emotional commitment and involvement.

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– Both have the elements of tension, surprise and the focus is clear.
But in Creative Learning we need to consider the further elements
that have to dowith the arts.
– The Creative Learning unlike play has specific educational goals
and we use Creative Learning in order to teach our objectives.
– The Creative Learning offers us the opportunity to avoid
repetition, something that is common in the play, and we can
choose from an indefinitenumber of imaginative situations and
human contexts.
– In the Creative Learning there is no superficial imitation where
students just mime actions but they participate with the whole
selves, they work
intellectually and emotionally within a particular context, an
experience that resembles the reality but does have the
consequences of real life.
The children bring themselves in this imaginative context and they
do not try to escape to an imitation.
– In the Creative Learning we have a very conscious
implementation of the dramatic form on the creation of the
meaning.
– Finally in the Creative Learning the elements of the Arts hold a
very high position.

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2.14.Dramatic Convetions

The dramatic conventions are techniques that we use in drama to

structure the dramatic activity. We use the conventions to explore,
to focus on a specific action, to promote drama etc. The following
list contains some but not all the conventions.

STILL-IMAGE: The participants create an image, a picture with

their bodies that looks like a photo or waxworks or statues.
INTERVIEWS: The participants act as reporters or detectives or
historians looking for information. Convention used to promote
drama, or to discover new elements or to understand a situation.
MEETINGS: Formal or informal meetings to present information,
or to take decisions, or to plan the next actions, or to solve
problems. Forms: Assemblies, family discussions, union meetings,
protests etc.
THOUGHT-TRACKING: The revelation of the private thoughts of
the child in role either by questioning or by presentation. To reveal
hopes, fears, deep thoughts about the situation.
GIVING WITNESS: The description of an incident by someone who
claims to have been a witness but not a participant in the situation.
COLLECTIVE DRAWING: We give a physical, collective image to
represent the people, the place, the situation.
MANTLE OF THE EXPERT: Children become specialists on a field;
historians, architects etc. The teacher is not the person with the
most knowledge in the classroom. The power moves, shifts from
the teacher to the children. The teacher explores with the children.
The children have the skills and the know-how.
MAP-MAKING/DIAGRAMS: In or out of role the participants
recreate the place where drama takes place (the factory, the forest,
a village, a town, a laboratory etc).
ROLE ON THE WALL: The children draw a diagram/a frame of the
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human body using their own body on a piece of paper that they
put on the wall, and on this they work the internal and external
characteristics of the character.
HOT-SEATING: Children as a group ask open or close questions to
different characters in the situation in order to discover the
motives or the background of the characters.
TEACHER-IN-ROLE: The teacher adopts a role different from his
teacher role in the classroom in order to move the drama on or to
help the students in a possible dead-end, or to help with
questioning, or emphasise a point.
IMPROVISATION: A spontaneous representation of a specific
situation by the participants who have little time to prepare the
scene. A given set of information is give but the children are left
alone to create and bring themselves in the situation.
REFLECTION: It is a convention used in drama to reflect on events
in role or out of role in order to enhance the understanding, to
summarise or to answer any questions and solve any problems.
THE USE OF OBJECTS AS SYMBOLS: The use of objects to start or
continue a drama.
VOICES IN THE HEAD: When a character in the drama faces a
dilemma or a difficult decision, the rest of the participants become
the second voice representing the contradictory thoughts of the
character, or react as the collective consciousness of the character.
FORUM-THEATRE: A situation or an improvisation chosen by the
children in order to investigate the particular experience is
presented in front of the rest of the participants. While the rest of
the participants, “the audience”, are watching everybody has the
right to halt the action when they think that the action does not

41
lead anywhere and try to take on the role that they think is weak
and try to enact it differently.
CAPTION MAKING: In groups the children create slogans, titles for
the newspapers or magazines, Book Headings, or give titles to
pictures.
DIARIES, LETTERS, JOURNALS, MESSAGES: These are written
texts from the students or the teacher during or before or even
after drama, in or out of role, and they are used for reflection, as
evidence or proof or as a way to bring in new tension.
RITUAL, CEREMONY: The participants are faced with particular
situations that have a traditional, particular, ritualistic character
and which involve rules and codes. For instance, wedding, march,
funeral etc.
ANALOGY: A problem is being handled not in a direct way but
through a parallel situation that reflects the problem. Usually such
situations are the very painful ones or the very familiar ones or the
ones that can bring prejudice. Examples of analogy are the myths
and the fairy tales.

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3.THE TEACHER IN
CREATIVE LEARNING

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3.1.Teachers's role

According to the beliefs of this method, the basis of which is that

the focus of the learning process is the child itself, the teacher’s
role is changing. It is no longer descriptive, corrective,
authoritarian. We give more emphasis on the teacher’s qualities as
an enabler, friend, colleague, facilitator, as person that wants to
help the students in their effort to learn. The teacher trusts his
students enough to let them make their own choices concerning
knowledge and how they would like to acquire it, in a process that
concerns mainly the students themselves. Teachers become more
sensitive towards the social and emotional needs of the students,
they empathise and respond positively. That does not mean that
the teachers do not follow a curriculum programme or that there
are no rules in the learning process. On the contrary, there are rules
and subjects but the students participate in the procedures of
deciding these rules and the way the curriculum is going to be
taught and the teacher makes sure that these rules are going to be
followed. More specifically, the teacher at the nursery and primary
school tries:

– to support the interaction among the students themselves and

between the students and the teacher
– to provoke and cultivate the student’s interest in different
creative ways
– to urge and to give opportunities of expression and
participation
– to show authentic interest in what the student does
– to offer chances so as the child will be able to search and
acquire the knowledge and has the chance to experience a lot of
things

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– to allow and urge the child to do things independently and in
groups.

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3.2.The teachers role -The New teacher-student realationship

In the creative learning process, the nursery school teacher and the
primary school teacher have adopted the basic conception that
learning starts from the children and ends to the children. It is the
so-called Student-Centred method that has as its basis the children
themselves and not the teacher’s power. The teacher has a
facilitating, supportive role in the classroom. The teacher’s -
student’s relationship is based on an environment of partici-
pation, mutual trust, acceptance, co-operation. The teach is no
longer the powerful image in the classroom that knows
everything, the authority, and becomes warm, human and ready to
share the children’s questions. As a true human being the teacher
shares the different human and social relationships andneeds.
There is strong emphasis on the creative, self-discovering of new
knowledge. The student’s self-creativity plays an important role
because at the perception level of learning all types of knowledge
need the child’s activity.

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3.3.The teachers role at the Nursery and Primary School

According to the beliefs of this method, the basis of which is that

the focus of the learning process is the child itself, the teacher’s
role is changing. It is no longer descriptive, corrective, authorita-
rian. We give more emphasis on the teacher’s qualities as an
enabler, friend, colleague, and facilitator, as person that wants to
help the students in their effort to learn. The teacher trusts his
students enough to let them make their own choices concerning
knowledge and how they would like to acquire it, in a process that
concerns mainly the students themselves. Teachers become more
sensitive towards the social and emotional needs of the students,
they empathize and respond positively. That does not mean that
the teachers do not follow a curriculum program orthat there are
no rules in the learning process. On the contrary, there are rules
and subjects but the students participate in the procedures of
deciding these rules and the way the curriculum is going to be
taught and the teacher makes sure that these rules are going to be
followed. More specifically, the teacher at the nursery and primary
school tries:
to support the interaction among the students themselves and
between the students and the teacher
to provoke and cultivate the student’s interest in different creative
ways
to urge and to give opportunities of expression and participation
to show authentic interest in what the student does
to offer chances so as the child will be able to search and acquire
the knowledge and has the chance to experience a lot of things

47
to allow and urge the child to do things independently and in
groups.

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3.4.Teachers role and Element of drama

In the creative learning we use drama as a method of teaching. It is

an alternative way of learning. This method, as it is clear from the
name itself, borrows a lot of the drama art itself, and these may be
used amateurishly or not in a drama lesson, but they are still very
important and vital elements for the frame in which we as teachers
are going to work. These elements should be included in a drama
lesson and considered before planning one. The basic elements
are the following:

Human Context: The basic source through which we derive our

material for the creation of the imaginative frame is the human
being itself. Man with his relationships, his opinions, his prejudices,
and his everyday roles is giving us the source in order to choose
and find on which imaginative context we are going to work. In
drama we have to face “as if” situations that resemble reality. These
situations include dilemmas, problems, questions that need an
answer and a solution. The Human Context gives us the material to
create the drama context.

Drama Context: From this human context which offers indefinite

number of situations, we choose one context, one situation that
fits the imaginative frame that we would like to work on. For
example, a trip to the space where the humans are trying to
convince an alien to return with them to the earth. The human
context here is the situation where someone is trying to convince

49
someone else to do something. The Imaginative context is the trip
to the space.

Roles-Characters: Within this drama context there are characters

that act. We choose the possible roles that are going to be
involved in the action and we give them certain characteristics. In
the above example we do not just have an alien but we have
someone who is afraid, hesitating but still want to meet humans. In
this way we give them more concrete roles but we also leave the
children space to add from themselves. What and how detailed
information we give to the children for the characters depends on
us and what we would like to achieve.

Tension: In the dramatic context we have chosen there must be a

kind of tension, a problem that needs resolving, otherwise the
interest will fade away quickly. As in every kind of drama activity
(performance, film, improvisation etc), we need some kind of
emotional or intellectual tension but not necessarily coming from
a big disaster. The source of tension could be more internal such as
an unexpected event, or a dilemma.

Focus: As soon as we have chosen the dramatic context and the

tension, we need to find a focus on this tension. A specific question
that we would like to investigate through this context.
Imaginative Place: In a drama session we have to choose a place
that fits our situation and holds a symbolic meaning as well. We
can change the settings within a drama lesson but we need to take
care of the coherence. It is important that the students would not
be confused and distracted by the place changes.

Time: A drama lesson takes place during a classroom hour. This is

the real time but in drama context we are also concerned with the
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fictional time which can be more flexible. We can move through
the past and the future with the same easiness that we would
move in the present.. We also have to choose a time frame that fits
the drama situation and place. There is flexibility but we have to
pay attention not to loose the coherence.

Methexis (Participation): This is the part of drama that connects

the art with the learning. While the participants are working in the
fictional context, somewhere in their mind realise the real context
as well, because they work as themselves and they bring
themselves (which is very real) in the drama. This becomes more
evident when the teacher stops the drama and reflects out of roles.
Through this reflection, what they have been experiencing
becomes more conscious. Children as the audience in the
performance live at the same time in the fictional and real world.

Language and Movement: The means of expression in drama is

language and movement. We use them not only to express or
describe our feelings, ideas and so on but also to make sense of
the world around us. What makes these two means distinctive in
drama is that the movements, the words, the expressions, always
hold some kind of symbolic, powerful meaning. The choice of the
ways of expression is more conscious and more powerful
concerning the meanings and reminds of poetry. There is no need
to overload the expression and speech or ask from the children to
move all the time.

51
Symbols: Part of the drama language includes symbols such as
objects, movements, sounds, marks. It is necessary to have clear
symbols in the sense that the implied meaning is given, even if the
children are not consciously aware of that. But we do not need to
have the perfectly designed symbols in order to have drama.
Sometimes children can find implied meanings where we have not
looked. For instance, in a drama lesson that concerns racism if we
have a white journalist and a black employee to give a handshake
that could be a symbol of trust and hope.

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4.THE NEW METHOD

53
4.1.Approaching the new Method

Creative learning is an acquisition of knowledge and skills through

active participation.

It is a combined procedure of a creative exchange between the

individual and his natural or social environment.

Learning is a complicated human function which has roots both in

the psychological, and the physiological part of man. It is the
outcome of internal as well as external operations, aiming at
acquiring knowledge and skills. The process of Learning becomes
more interesting and compound once it moves out of the state of
memorizing , to a state where fundamental human functions are
involved.

Learning can be called creative if it stirs up imagination, memory,

sensitiveness and the sentiment, mimesis, [following the
Aristotelian idea], play, art and creation and also, learning, is
creative, when it gains experience from the above.

CLEAR aims at deciphering the connections between the above

functions for the sake of the educational process .It aims at
introducing a contemporary both in theory and in practice
teaching method, which differing from the existing, will provide
new lively elements to the teacher pupil relation.

This teacher-pupil relation has been undergoing many changes,

and methods. It has taken up the theatrical game, the game of
roles [role playing, or participation theater], or it has used story
telling. However what, the target is always one; the conquering
and evolution of man’s knowledge of himself, of his environment

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and the laws that govern it. Drama in education, theater in
education, development drama. These we could call the ancestors
and the foundations of the method that Clear wishes to cover,
formulate , and take hold of.

55
4.2.Theatre and Creative Learning

Certain things should be made clear from the very beginning.

When we speak about creative learning, it is not implied that we

refer to the theater. Creative learning aims at entirely different
targets. According to Berthold Brecht: the theater’s aim is to
entertain, while the specific concern of creative learning is to grasp
and acquire knowledge through theatrical ways and paths

If the man of the theater wishes to reach the Aristotelian catharsis

by the end of each performance, by the same token, the tutor
working in creative learning, desires reaching an analogous
plateau, such, that only the conquering of acquired knowledge can
provide.

On observing a theatrical play, we see that there is a theme

running, a myth or a story that builds the action and within its
boundaries, the characters communicate, converse, conflict,
sacrifice and live their lives all over again.

We come now to say, that a similar situation is likely to arise in a

classroom while the teacher is dealing with the teaching subject.

All he has to do is to discern the myth and the conflicts, to organize

the plot, and to arrive finally at the end of the road.

In a similar way that whatever occurs in the natural world is likely

to form part of our lives, we could say, that some person, or other
people could have it reenacted and then live through the
experience.

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4.3.Theatre in the Classroom

Creative Learning makes use of Theater techniques while

comprising a methodology for teaching. Creative and practical
elements originating from a range of other arts are likely to be
used. However, the theater is likely to be the main source since,
here we have the action and the experience incorporated, mainly
the collective experience rather than the individual.
Here we have an alternative kind of learning, a methodology
which takes elements from Drama that could serve
amateurpurposes or not, but which however, are indispensable for
creating the setting in which we are to work.
The Art of Theater differs from Creative Learning. In a theatrical
play, our main interest lies in the final outcome that it is integral
and perfect, in other words, that the play is worth attending, In
creative learning our main interest covers the medium, the
techniques, and the various ways we use within the boundaries of
teaching, whereas the final outcome depends on the extend of
learning the students have acquired in other words, how well each
time they grasp the learning object.
Once more we should make clear that creative learning should by
no means get involved in the requirements of a ‘work of art’. The
‘beautiful’ we seek in a work of art, has an entirely different
meaning in the issue of creative learning. In the specific case when
speaking of the beautiful, we make reference to extend of
knowledge gained through playing, acting or creating. Our interest
and preoccupation should delve in the field learning, on how well
we assimilate knowledge, and to what extend we conquer the

57
object of learning.
It is therefore within this scheme which is formed according to our
educational aims and the manner in which the lesson is planned
that we should take into consideration the following:

Human field
Imaginative realm
Roles – characters
The dramatic conflict
The center of interest
Imaginative place
Time
Participation
Language and movement
Symbols

A careful analysis and definition of the above could be

accomplished by using an example from the scheduled
primaryschool program.

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4.4.What a teacher need to start off a Creative Learning Lesson

1) Above all a teacher needs to have WILL and he needs to seek to

make the lesson more entertaining and interesting.
2) To set in motion his own imagination
3) To know what “he carries in his suitcase” meaning to know his
strengths and weaknesses, in order to make use of them in the
creative
process
4) He needs to be aware and to know his class social health and the
children’s abilities and needs ( what their interests are, if and how
they
can work in group, what personal experiences they carry etc)
5) To be able to pose questions and search for the answers with
the students
6) Will to cooperate and accept the children’s proposals.

59
4.5.Actors Art and Function

The actor does not memorize.

Not because he/she has a memory capacity, but because he/she

does not learn by heart in the way that students have to memorize
a mathematical form or a paragraph from the history book.
The actor ‘learns’ pictures, reacts to stimulants and experiences
feelings. With this kind of inner force the actor ACTS. Acts,
internally (lives, feels, suffers) and externally (acts with concrete
actions, movements, speech, etc). Actors, with the help of their
imagination and sensitivity, and of course their experience, read
under the lines and discover the sensitive, emotional material that
exists beyond the words and meanings.

They live this sensation and coherence of the feelings, and this
living of words, makes them say the lines, as the author wrote
them, possibly in another historical period and place.
In this way, they “translate” words into images, stimulants and
experience and then again into words. Only now, the word of a
play is full of emotions and experienced. So, the actors “live”
another “life”. And many times, this life is real (or even more) real
than the real life. The words gain motivations and color, rhythm,
movement and emotional weight and the text is fermented
together with the actor and his/her expression, it is printed into
his/her cells.
In this way, the actor can re-product the words spontaneously and
accurately, whenever he wants, without great intellectual effort.
He/she justhas to find the beginning …. the start of the line of
emotions, then one emotion brings the other, one feeling is born
from another and everything comes naturally. Like the hooks of a
chain ones always brings the next.

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In actor’s case, we cannot speak about memory in the real sense.
But there exists a different kind of memory. The memory of
Emotions. Every feeling that the actor lives, corresponds to a
certain expression. It becomes a speech with structured syntax,
rhythm and intonation.

In Creative Learning, we use all these “ingredients”, to consist a

learning process and not an artistic creation. We form an
environment, an atmosphere in which we choose to exist with the
children that are sensitive to emotions. An environment rich in
stimulants to serve as a ground for children’s imagination.

Motivation is an instantaneous fact that can happen inside us (a

thought, a remembrance) or outside us (something we receive
with our feelings only) and which actually causes changes in our
emotional situation

61
4.5.Actors Art and Function

The actor does not memorize.

Not because he/she has a memory capacity, but because he/she

does not learn by heart in the way that students have to memorize
a mathematical form or a paragraph from the history book.
The actor ‘learns’ pictures, reacts to stimulants and experiences
feelings. With this kind of inner force the actor ACTS. Acts,
internally (lives, feels, suffers) and externally (acts with concrete
actions, movements, speech, etc). Actors, with the help of their
imagination and sensitivity, and of course their experience, read
under the lines and discover the sensitive, emotional material that
exists beyond the words and meanings.

They live this sensation and coherence of the feelings, and this
living of words, makes them say the lines, as the author wrote
them, possibly in another historical period and place.
In this way, they “translate” words into images, stimulants and
experience and then again into words. Only now, the word of a
play is full of emotions and experienced. So, the actors “live”
another “life”. And many times, this life is real (or even more) real
than the real life. The words gain motivations and color, rhythm,
movement and emotional weight and the text is fermented
together with the actor and his/her expression, it is printed into
his/her cells.
In this way, the actor can re-product the words spontaneously and
accurately, whenever he wants, without great intellectual effort.
He/she justhas to find the beginning …. the start of the line of
emotions, then one emotion brings the other, one feeling is born
from another and everything comes naturally. Like the hooks of a
chain ones always brings the next.

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In actor’s case, we cannot speak about memory in the real sense.
But there exists a different kind of memory. The memory of
Emotions. Every feeling that the actor lives, corresponds to a
certain expression. It becomes a speech with structured syntax,
rhythm and intonation.

In Creative Learning, we use all these “ingredients”, to consist a

learning process and not an artistic creation. We form an
environment, an atmosphere in which we choose to exist with the
children that are sensitive to emotions. An environment rich in
stimulants to serve as a ground for children’s imagination.

Motivation is an instantaneous fact that can happen inside us (a

thought, a remembrance) or outside us (something we receive
with our feelings only) and which actually causes changes in our
emotional situation.

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4.6.Creative Learning like a story telling

Creative learning can come in the form of narration. As a story

telling or a fairy tale.

Our aim is that thechildren achievethe best possible

understanding and comprehension. The teacher therefore, is the
one to choose the best possible way in handling each educational
topic. It is known that there is a variety of issues and topics that we
can approach and teach in the form of narration. A lecture could
also come as a combination of narrative and action. It could begin
with storytelling, continue with action, and end with a story.

Teachers know that repetition and routine spoil the children’s

interest and concentration span, and therefore finding new
teaching methods and presentations that could initiate the
unpredictable, the astonishing, or simply the novel, is highly
advisable.

If we are to introduce an instructional proposition to a lesson of

such kind, we could begin by mentioning the following;

DEFINING THE TARGET

What meaning do we want to convey byteaching thespecific

lesson. What do we want to prove?

USE OUR INVENTIVENESS IN CHOOSING ANINTERESTING

FABLE WHICH HAS…

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Conflict in the middle of the plot
An interesting plot
beginning like… once upon a time… ,
development of the theme
and finishing like….they lived happily ever after…
conflict between two antithetical main characters or two
controversial themes
By the end of the story, weshould be ready to have reached our
goal.

DEFINING OPPOSITES FACTORS…

Which battle – discuss each other- so as with the confliction to

reached our final goal (Result-conclusion-message)

DEFINING-BRING OUT MAIN CONFLICT

RESULTS

If our narration was lapidary, children with the appropriate

encouragement will express by themselves their results.

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4.7.The story of a lentil

An example from botany.

A plant is born. The procedure of sowing, growing, and bearing
fruit ,up to the time a new plant is reproduced
We define our target: our intention is teaching the children the
reproduction of the plants, and under what circumstances this
takes place.
We make up an interesting little story , like :
The adventure of the restless spirit of a tiny seed of chickpea that
decided to seek its fortune to unknown world and places.

A beginning that might run as following…once upon a time

( dialogue with mother chick pea and declaration that she wants to
leave)

Development : meeting a number of remarkable people [air, soil,

sun etc]
End (The end could be something like… theylived happily ever
after…)

Repetition of the same story, the same plot, and same dialogue
with the new seed , the outcome of this
We define the controversial factors who talk to each other, fight ,
and (1) so that the outcome brings out the desired final
goal[outcome , deduction, message]
Our first hero is the seed. The other could alternatively be the air [
that picks the seed and carries it elsewhere ]
A lump of soil that happens to be next to where our seed has
fallen.
The water running nearby, that waters the seed.

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A pebble that temporarily obstructs the seed’s roots to expand and
it’s leaves to grow the sun the most indispensable element for

And the story goes on and on until our new plant is ready to
produce seeds of it’s own
DEFINITION – CLEARING OF THE FINAL CONFLICT (1)
In the given example we have many:
Talking with the sun, the air, the soil, with the pebble, etc
CONCLUSIONS
How nature operates, spring, winter, conditions permitting etc.

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4.8.In a few words what should i do

PREPARATION-BEFORE THE LESSON

1.Using your imagination transform the lesson

into…pictures

As if it were a film made up of small static pictures [still of a film].

Create a simple “story Board” sketching an image for every chapter
of the lesson. So, you will have the lesson in an order like a guide in
your hands.

2. Methodically, have at hand whatever materials you will

need.

A few simple, everyday materials that we can find in the house or

classroom. White paper roll, A4 papers, colors, a box or a basket, a
piece of cloth from an old sheet, some thin rope or cord etc can be
very useful and be used many times in different classes.

IN CLASS
3. Excite the children’s interest with a proper introduction.

Find a first element to surprise the children. A strange clue to

excite their imagination and arise their creativity.

4. Who will be the heroes of this story-film

They will be historical figures in a history lesson, or they might be

chemistry elements in chemistry, or numbers, math conceptions
and relations in a math class. It is not necessary a number, a word

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or a chemical element to be played by children. It could be an
object animated and used by the children. Through this animation
the children will have to move, act, and adopt behaviors. In general
to give birth to active roles and “heroes” in the theatrical sense.

5. Personalize these heroes

Direct the children so as to make the action and active roles,

interesting “characters” that act for a specific reason according to
the object of knowledge.

6. Specify the plot and Define the existing relations between

the children and the heroes.

What these heroes are after, what they aim at, what are their fears,
and whatthey wish to avoid, what works towards the action. The
rules are simple. Defined by the teacher and followed by the
children.

7. Choose a simple story

Where the “heroes” can live, be protagonists, develop

relationships, have conversations, or arguments, or simply be with
each other, resulting in the outcome the lesson wishes to employ.

8. Devise or borrow from elsewhere, an enchanting

environment

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(storytelling, theatre plays, mythology etc) where the creative
action will take place. A place that excites the children’s
imagination. Within this place, the children’s imagination will be
provoked enabling them to talkabout things,to have new ideas, to
create a world of their own, contributing to the lesson.

9. Formulate a simple scenario

Make an outline of the basic sequences phase, from where the

action will pass to reach the desired outcome. Action is likely to
build up after confronting various adventures but not to reach the
end very easily. It is up to you to find the right method that will
lead action to the conflict. The “bell sound” can be a “tool” that
allows the teacher to change the action so as to reach the desired
end.

10. After reaching the peak of action, the end should not be far

From the peak, [crescendo], we should be able to reach the

adventure’s end quickly avoiding any superfluous details.
However, makesure to save a little surprisefor the end.

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4.9.Evaluation in Creative Learning

The issue of evaluation and assessment in the Creative Learning

process is particularly sensitive since the child is not being
assessed and evaluated in the traditional way (teaching, studying,
examination, questioning, marking), but his/ her progress and
change is being evaluated in the whole. Let’s not forget that
learning means change and education is the process of change. By
saying all these however, we do not want to reach the conclusion
that there should be no evaluation of the CL process or the
knowledge obtained in this process. Nevertheless, we should keep
in mind three main points concerning evaluation:
1) What the children finally learned or gained in the process could
be exposed mush later than we expect. We could see some or little
change but the true change might come to surface much later.
2) The process of evaluating refers as mush to the knowledge that
the students have acquired as to the evaluation of the teacher’s
involvement in the process, how productive they have been
themselves, if they have used the suitable techniques, if they have
chosen the suitable activities to the theme. All in all, first to
evaluate their own planning before they reach conclusions about
what the students have/have not learnt or why or why they have
so many difficulties.
3) Whatever way we choose to evaluate and assess the children,
they should be informed about the criteria we as teachers have
chosen to use.
Generally speaking, we could say that in order to evaluate the
knowledge that the students acquired, the simplest thing we can

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do is to write down the educational aims and objectives from the
beginningof the lesson and then see how many of them we
managed to achieve. If, for example, I have set two curriculum aims
(development of the use of the persuasive language and
acquaintance with the Asia) and two objectives concerning
learning drama terms, then in the end all I have to see is how many
of these I managed to achieve. Let us see in more details what we
can evaluate and how. There are no set standards and criteria for a
teacher but still we can have some kind of categorising.

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4.10.Criteria Concerning the development of Students

1) Criteria concerning the attendance and the participation of

the students

a) If s/he attends regularly

b) If s/he is punctual
c) If s/he respects the place and what they create in the classroom
d) If s/he follows the teacher’s directions and if s/he respects the
wishes of the rest of the class
e) If s/he works seriously and purposely with self discipline and if
s/he participates in the process without force and pressure
f) If s/he has the courage to risk in the process and accept the
success or failure and take responsibility of his/her actions.

2) Criteria concerning the skills development and

understanding of the process:

a) If and how well he knows the rules that govern the process
b) If and at what extent s/he has assimilated the terminology that
we use in the Creative Learning process
c) How freely s/he can improvise, sustain a role, mimes, or listens to
the other kids
d) To what extent s/he participates actively and s/he is not being
distracted, and of what quality work s/he presents while in role.

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4.11.Particular critiria for Evaluation of a Lesson

These depend on the specific objectives of each lesson. If for

example our goal is to teach maths (sizes, grouping), to help them
take decisions, to discuss and to try to use the persuasive
language, then these are what we are going to evaluate. This does
not mean that we have to forget about the general criteria. The list
of criteria could be indefinite and all we have to do is to decide on
which levels of development we target, and which our particular
goals are. It will be helpful if we divide the criteria into general
aims and particular objectives.
HOW?
We mentioned before that the children should be aware of the
criteria on which they are being evaluated. The first kind of
evaluation through reflection is happening in the classroom but
this in no time involves assessment. The children should not feel as
if they are being tested on what they have learned. The evaluation
in the classroom with reflection could be done in different ways:
1) In role: children express their opinion for the events-actions
while in role
2) Out of role: Either in the middle of the process or during a break
or at the end of the session the children discuss with the teacher
about what happened in the classroom. In this stage the teacher is
able to get the first information on what the children have learned.
3) By writing in or out of role (sending a letter, writing an article,
writing a diary etc)
4) By drawing (in or out of role)
5) By creating still-images for which the children offer their
opinion.
** One of the most important elements to remember is WHAT the
teacher will ask and HOW he will pose the questions.

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4.12.Example of possible Evaluation for subject of Maths

WHAT WE EVALUATE ( COMMENTS)

1) Attendance
2) Punctuality
3) Participation (quality of participation)
4) Behaviour
5) Co-operation
6) Use of the appropriate language (i.e.maths language)
7) Understanding of the main points of the lesson
8) Processing and elaboration of the points the learnt (could they
work on what we gave them?)
9) Way of handling the knowledge they acquired (how they used
what they have learnt to solve the problem within the imaginative
context)

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4.13.Self -Evaluation

After finishing the lesson and before we sit down for our final
evaluation and assessment, we should evaluate ourselves and our
planning because we might have been unproductive because of
our fault. We can ask ourselves a few questions towards this
direction:
1) Have I managed to communicate my expectations to the class?
2) Have I offered satisfying experience to the students? Do the
children come willingly to the classroom?
3) How much has the experience changed them?
4) Have I asked too much or too little form the students?
5) Have I done enough to help them in the classroom?
6) Have I used the suitable techniques?
7) Have I used material that is suitable to my students’ needs and
abilities?
8) Have I asked productive questions?
9) How has the status I chose in the process affected the children?
Should I have taken on the role I took or would it be better if I had
chosen another role?
10) Did I have the power to stop the process if I could see that the
classroom was not productive in the process because of my
mistake and change my planning?
We have to keep in mind that we deal with human beings and
every time that something else, beside the aims and goals we have
set comes up, then it is good to take advantage of the chance and
discuss it. We do not necessarily have to change our complete
planning and aims.

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