Structure and Improvisation in Creative Teaching

With an increasing emphasis on creativity and innovation in the twenty-first century, teachers need to be creative professionals just as students must learn to be creative. And yet, schools are institutions with many important structures and guidelines that teachers must follow. Effective creative teaching strikes a delicate balance between structure and improvisation. The authors draw on studies of jazz, theater improvisation, and dance improvisation to demonstrate that the most creative performers work within similar structures and guidelines. By looking to these creative genres, the book provides practical advice for teachers who wish to become more creative professionals.

Dr. R. Keith Sawyer is internationally known as an expert in the learning sciences and in the psychology of creativity. He is editor or author of more than seventy scholarly articles and ten books, including The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences (2006), Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation (2006) and Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration (2007).