Creativity and Special Needs Students

Article by rosy (3,036 pts ) , published Feb 13, 2009

Diverse form of creativity is expressed knowingly or unknowingly by special needs students. Creativity must be identified and nurtured to help students magnify their creative potential. Identification of their creative potentials can help in encouraging students to make better leaps in learning.

Tips to Identify Creativity in Special Needs Students

  • Creative students will exhibit diverse interests and will also show interest in different hobbies.

  • Students will show greater enthusiasm in creative problem solving and draw out creative solutions to the problems.

  • Students will try to express their original ideas and attempts to transform them into creative works.

  • Creative students show more curiosity in the creative works of others. They look at things with new perspectives and feel anxious to apply new thoughts and create something novel with self initiated action.

  • Creative students are more imaginative, think differently and creatively.

Role of Teachers

Teachers should show respect towards student’s imagination and the unusual ideas expressed. They should try to create an atmosphere in the classroom for creativity. Students should feel that their ideas are valued. Students should be helped to develop creative thinking as a habit that maximizes their learning goals.

Teachers should provide maximum opportunities to develop student's creativity. Teachers should find ways to weave creativity into the curriculum of their special needs students. Fostering creativity among special needs children will help them in really understanding the lesson objectives. Teachers should provide students with as many different opportunities as possible to develop creative skills.

Teachers should encourage group activities so that by each other’s efforts students can synthesize their creativity into a better product and learning outcome.

Teachers should realize that creativity has relationships with many areas of academic study. When their creative works are purposefully used, they can provide life long benefits to special students in a multitude of directions and other coursework.

Teachers should hold various competitions and seminars to enhance the creativity. It will also help to build student's confidence in their creative abilities.

Teachers should talk with parents about the creativity of the child so that they can promote his/her creative activities at home as well. This will give a boost to their talent and sharpen student's skills in a more refined manner with greater creative practice.

Finally, teachers should praise and reward the creative works of their special needs students so that they get stimulated to scale the higher targets of excellence and creativity even more in the classroom.

 
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