If you hear the phrase “knowledge-rich classroom”, what do you picture? You might imagine the use of direct instruction, regular testing and spaced practice, with a strong focus on retention of facts.

The use of such pedagogical methods has increased in recent years in conjunction with the knowledge-rich movement. And, leaving aside broader debates about what types of knowledge should be prioritised in the curriculum, research has demonstrated that these techniques are useful for learning and remembering key information, and therefore can be beneficial.

But could a prevailing focus on these fact-based models of teaching lead us to forget about other, creative ways of developing forms of knowledge? It is an especially pertinent question in an environment where creative subjects are being squeezed from timetables - or even removed altogether in many schools.

I firmly believe creativity can be at the heart of a knowledge-rich curriculum because it has been the focus of my recent research and has proved very successful indeed. I’ve sought to discover some of the benefits of creative pedagogical approaches in practice. As an English teacher, many of my examples are drawn from this area, but the broader questions about the value of creativity within the classroom are applicable to other subjects.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines creativity as “the use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness”. More broadly, creativity across the curriculum might involve “playing with ideas”, conducting experiments or investigations, and creative writing, dramatic or artistic expression.

In psychology, creativity has also been found to coexist with greater tolerance of ambiguity or uncertainty (Zenasni et al, 2008). And, hypothetically, students who are given opportunities to be creative may have an increased capacity to analyse and deconstruct information because of their experience of viewing situations from multiple perspectives.

Make a drama out of lessons

However, creativity and “play” tend to be used less and less as we progress through the secondary curriculum. This is unfortunate, as research has demonstrated the pedagogical benefits of creative approaches. For example, in English, drama can be utilised to facilitate effective writing as students engage in the refining of their ideas prior to engaging in the writing process (Cremin, 2014).

In my own research, I have found dramatic approaches can be used to develop students’ empathic responses; immersing themselves in character roles can enable students to learn to think from characters’ perspectives, enabling them to later translate this into effective written responses.

Giovanelli (2015) explains how embodied learning - where children are physically and actively engaged in the lesson - can be used as a vehicle to teach grammar, enabling students to develop understanding of grammatical and linguistic concepts, and my use of this backs up that research.

I also found embodied learning to be a successful tool in the teaching of poetry, with students developing astute dramatic representations of a poem, which were later translated into written responses (Mansworth, 2016). As well as this, it can ensure that the young person in the class who isn’t necessarily the best writer or the best reader can have a rare chance, through engaging in alternative modes of expression, to be the most successful student in the room.

While intangible and difficult to measure, my experiences have indicated that using creative approaches can facilitate the development of students’ self-esteem and enthusiasm for learning, too.

Creativity need not be physical, of course. Activities across the curriculum can also involve creative immersion through writing or speaking in order to consolidate learning and develop empathetic engagement. For example, writing from the perspective of a historical figure in history, or from the viewpoint of someone with a certain belief in RE, or role playing a migrant in geography.

Engage students emotionally

Psychological research has indicated that emotional events are remembered more clearly than non-emotional events (Tyng et al, 2017). Therefore, it stands to reason that activities which engage students emotionally can ensure information is remembered, alongside facilitating their ability to consider alternative modes of thinking.

Overall, my experience in using creative approaches leads me to question the tendency by some educationalists to state that they are committed to either direct instruction or a “child-centred” approach - the two do not need to be viewed as diametrically opposed philosophies.

A typical successful lesson involving creative approaches might involve: a short lecture and questioning; followed by a speaking-in-role activity; then the teacher providing a model response; and, finally, students completing a writing task.

Further to this, as I have explored, creativity does not need to involve the construction of something tangible but can mean the construction of new meanings and interpretations as the teacher provides questions with more than one possible answer (Mansworth, 2016).

Creativity can be found even in the encouragement of exploratory responses, or in a teacher sometimes allowing discussions to deviate from a set path and to veer in unexpected, yet productive, directions.

If we remember that curricula largely mandate what to teach rather than how to teach, it is clear that creative approaches can be used to teach some of the body of knowledge that students are required to learn for the new GCSEs.

Having a knowledge-based curriculum need not mean that we become drawn into exam-technique drilling from Year 7 onwards. Creative approaches can be immensely worthwhile in enabling students to develop new knowledge, ideas and ways of thinking, as well as consolidating existing learning - while having the additional benefit of facilitating the development of confidence through self-expression.

And while my examples have been largely drawn from the English subject area, the potential uses of creative methods across the curriculum are worthy of consideration.

Megan Mansworth is achievement leader of English for Nova Education Trust in Nottinghamshire

This article originally appeared in the 14 June 2019 issue under the headline “Let’s get creative about being knowledge-rich”