Journal Article

Creative Practice in Higher Education

Hash, Peaches, Luetkemeyer, Jennifer, Davis, Jewel, Adams, Tempestt, Redmond, Theresa

2021

Overview

This article reports on the preliminary results of a pedagogical experiment instituted by a community of practice (CoP) called the Creativity Collaborative, which is composed of scholars from varying disciplines, backgrounds, and scholarship interests: library and information science, technical education, academic librarianship, media literacy, and rhetoric and composition. In a desire to broaden approaches to teaching and research, the CoP came together around the shared interests of visual methodology and arts-based expression and embarked on a journey to infuse creativity in their professional practice. Through the methodology of self-study, including the CoP acting as a critical friends group, the Creativity Collaborative engaged in individual research activities and then brought data from those projects to the group for discussion and reflection. The results thus far indicate that providing students with opportunities for creativity and arts-based expression lead to a welcome and positive disruption of traditional teaching and learning, increased student engagement, meaning making and real-word connections, and collaborative risk taking that decenters traditional pedagogical systems. Together with students, the Creativity Collaborative discovered the freedom to depart from the normative traditions of higher education pedagogical practices.

• Publisher: Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE),University of Toronto Press,Association for Library and Information Science Education
• Subject: Art Activities / Art Education / Art Expression / Collaboration / College Faculty / College Instruction / Communities of Practice / Cooperative Learning / Course Content / Creative Activities / Creative Teaching / Creativity / Diaries / Direct Instruction / Education, Higher / Educational Innovation / Educational Practices / Educational research / Empathy / Faculty Development / Freedom / Higher education / Information Science Education / Innovations / Learner Engagement / Learning / Learning Processes / Libraries / Library and information science / Library Education / Library Science / Media literacy / Nursing education / Nursing Students / Opportunities / Outcomes of Education / Painting (Visual Arts) / Pedagogy / Peer Teaching / Professional practice / Professions / Reflection / Reflective practice / Reflective Teaching / Self study / Student Journals / Student participation / Students / Study and teaching / Teaching / Teaching Methods / Technical education / Vocational education