Category Archives: Training Programs Tips

Creativity and Innovation in Teaching and Learning

Creative thinking and innovation are indispensable elements that are a must in both personal and professional lives. However, many people feel they are lacking in innovation and creativity. What most of you do not realize is that you are creative on a daily basis, whether it’s selecting what clothes to wear in the morning or managing family time with a tight budget at work. While such tasks are not normally associated with creativity, there is a great deal of creativity involved to get these jobs done.

You keep on hearing the statement ‘Think out of the box’ while you are at work. It can be a difficult thing to do: after all, your modes of thought are fairly well ingrained when you enter the workplace, and opening up new channels and ways of thinking might be a hard task for some. There are many people for whom a job is not need much of creativity. But for industries, where a good idea is worth ten bad ones, being able to think outside of the box will help a career go further. Fortunately, creativity and innovation and creativity training are available for businesses and employees that need new ways to think about and approach any problem at hand.

The Need for Creativity and Innovation and Creativity Training

Most people do not pay attention to learning creativity and innovation during school time or during the other management training programs. You need a training experience that is engaging and impactful. Leaders need to develop their innovative leadership skills and respond to the challenges that are always emerging. The need for creativity and innovation and creativity training is:

• Create, develop, and launch new idea, strategies, products, and services.

• Respond to the rapid pace of advancement.

• Such training programs help you develop creativity & innovation skills and learn what you didn’t in school.

• Learn to utilize advancing technologies instead of just getting disorganized by them.

Employee moral in any workplace can be elevated with creative training. Training, like team building exercises, is better helped with creative hosts than with a impassive manager. But, again, it is not about just the person who is teaching, but is about how it is being taught.

Just by setting up an inspirational environment, supporting creative thought, and offering the right accolades, you can get the creative juices of your team members flowing like never before.

Here are some examples to get started:

1. Creative environment: First, create an environment that boosts creativity. You could brighten and dress up one area of your office and designate that area to your employees, giving your team some sense of ownership.

2. Work hard, play harder: Allow your team to play with creative thoughts. You can have flip charts, Lego, play dough, colored markers, paint, music and anything that sparkles the creative process during brainstorm sessions.

3. Brainstorming: Set a meeting every biweekly where you can brainstorm and work on a project or any problem. This gives the employees the right objective before entering your meeting.

4. Goal board: Create a board where you have goals or strategies that your company is striving for and each week you can focus on one goal or problem to solve or work on.

5. Homework: You may assign the employees some pre-work where you have one agenda for the meeting and the employees have to come into this meeting with one good idea to company’s goal or problem.

6. Reward creativity: Of course, if the best suggestion or solution is given a reward, will eventually encourage employees to think creatively. A reward could be in the form of movie tickets, a Thai massage, a bottle of wine, a voucher or money.

Thinking outside the box is what Mad Men is all about (well, that and a tragic character). Don Draper shows the advertising industry, what it is like to be on top of popular culture while remaining classy. Creative training comes from advances in culture, popular or not, and if the thinkers do not take heed of what is new and exciting, someone else, possibly a rival, will.

Professionals who take care to attend creative training on a regular basis are able to stay on top of their game, teach their teammates or coworkers in an engaging way and offer new solutions to problems within the business.

What’s the Point of Professional Development Workshops for Teachers?

Professional development for teachers is crucial for their career growth as well as successful learning outcomes for students.

Body Content:

Learning can empower individuals to perform well in their professions, participate in endeavors to advance their professional goals, and objectively analyze their growth. One of the best ways to continue learning is to participate in workshops where you can meet your peers from different locations, engage in creative activities, and really advance your professional training. One profession where continuing learning is critical for many stakeholders is that of educators.

Here are some ways professional development training can help educators from all walks of life.

Nurture Talent and Build Skills

Professional development workshops for teachers can be optimal learning environments to nurture talent and skills. Educators can participate in various exercises to test their existing knowledge and develop new skills. Teaching professionals can focus on their specific talents to develop them even more.

Learning methodologies are continuously changing. To keep pace with new teaching guidelines, teachers require to not only brush up on their existing knowledge but to also learn fresh techniques to perform well in their jobs. With new skill development, teachers can gain more confidence – both as individuals and teaching professionals.

Enhance Creativity

Professional development workshops for teachers are perfect to build or enhance creative capabilities. Such workshops often include fun exercises to awaken or sharpen creative abilities of teachers.

Creativity is important for educators as without it learning can become rote and teaching can be boring. No good can come off a teaching session where there are no inspiring thoughts and no exchange of ideas. Through professional development training, teachers can learn new tools to infuse creativity in their classrooms.

These tools can be teaching (and learning) through storytelling or analyzing concepts through various angles. Some workshops also teach strategies such as creating learning maps or utilizing outdoor settings to complement lesson plans.

Develop Leadership Qualities

Teachers need to be leaders. They also need to help their students realize their leadership potential. With new skills, renewed confidence and enhanced creativity; teachers can feel more assured about leading their students towards a brighter future. They can guide students to realize and reach their full potential. With leadership skills, teachers can present themselves as better authority figures.

When teachers are ready to put in time for advanced training, it shows a commitment to their profession. Students look up to their teachers. When teachers are leaders, it can inspire students to become leaders as well.

Transfer the Learning Optimally

Without knowledge of new teaching tools or confidence to lead a class; educators are not equipped to teach their students. Teachers need to invest time in continue with their learning by attending workshops, seminars, and collaborating with their peers. Professional development workshops for teachers can enable them to reach every student by applying new learning methodologies. Each student learns at a different pace. Teachers need to be ready to address the learning needs of each of their students.

With access to advanced teaching tools and strategies, teachers can help students learn in a more fun and nurturing environment.

Gain Job Satisfaction

When classroom learning is fun for students, it can only mean greater job satisfaction for educators. When teachers enjoy their work due to their advanced knowledge and their students’ better performance in classrooms; it can lead to a feeling of fulfillment and pride.

Professional development workshops for teachers can also help them unwind and refresh their minds through creative exercises. Participation in professional development training can prevent burnout and help teachers perform well in their careers.

At these workshops, teachers also get to meet other educators from different locations and with various skills. A healthy exchange of ideas and sharing of knowledge is paramount for professionals. A lack of community participation is not good for any individual who wishes to succeed professionally. Participation in training workshops provides educators with opportunities to update and upgrade their skills in fun and creative ways.

The Bottom Line

Professional development workshops for teachers ultimately help the students. But there is no undermining its importance for the betterment of educators, schools, and communities. When teachers are happier individuals with advanced career skills and adequate job fulfillment; the benefits transfer to students and the community.