Imagination and Creative Writing: Setting Teachers and Students Free

Mary Harris-John
Marshall University Graduate College, Leadership Studies

     Full text: PDF
     Last modified: October 18, 2007
     Presentation date: 07/21/2007 11:20 AM in Coast Hotel Denman Room
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
The news media in the U.S. bombards us daily with disturbing news about how students are not measuring up on standardized achievement tests, and
imagination appears to have little or no place in the highly-structured curriculums, teaching strategies, and assessment methods of the public school systems. As many teachers have told me in the graduate courses I teach: "We just don’t have time to do anything outside of the prescribed curriculum, to expand on concepts and really allow the students to immerse themselves in creativity and imagination, and we certainly don’t have time for fun or enjoyable learning activities".

Creative writing is one of those areas of the curriculum that has suffered under these conditions. For class assignments, as well as assessment writing prompts, students in grades 3 through 10 are faced with meaningless generic writing prompts, about which they are expected to develop creative, imaginative stories. Students have no choice about content or direction, and often have had no experience with the topic selected for them. They are taught how to construct sentences, rather than to exercise their fertile imaginations.

In this presentation, I will frame my discussion with an overview of several theories of imagination, challenge participants to reflect on how creative writing is taught in their schools, and invite them to actively participate in a demonstration of letting their imaginations ‘run wild’ using a simple prompt or object.