Read about our work with Educators in TIME magazines Special Edition on The Science of Creativity

Beyonder Educator Programs

In 2006 Sir Ken Robinson sent a strong message to educators in his TED talk titled Do Schools Kill Creativity? While his talk was compelling it was incomplete. He talked about the critical need for creativity in education but there was no guidance on how this was to be accomplished. The Beyonder Educator program was first launched in 2009 in response to this need and provides training and materials for educators in the K-12 domain who wish to integrate creativity into their classrooms and curriculum. This program has been delivered on four continents over the last 10 years.

In 2019 Beyonder partnered with Creativity and Education to create a five-step approach to weaving creativity into education. This approach is based on the Star framework created by Dr. Cyndi Burnett founder of Creativity and Education. This framework offers five pathways to creativity in education:

1. Understanding Creativity: Recognizing creativity in the classroom and valuing creativity as an essential life skill.
2. ​Embodying Creativity: Educators recognizing and developing their own creativity in order to serve as role models for their students.
3. Supporting Creativity: Creating a classroom environment that supports and fosters creativity.
4. Integrating Creativity: Weaving creative skills into existing curricula.
5. Teaching Creativity: Introducing Creative Problem-solving as a stand alone curriculum and using creative thinking tools in the classroom.

Learn more about this framework by visiting Creativity and Education.

All Beyonder offerings for educators are connected with one or more of the five pathways mentioned above.

ONLINE COURSE

Creativity in Education: Going Beyond

We offer an online course which is a resource for those educators who are looking to weave creativity into education. It introduces three of the five pathways from the Creativity and Education Star framework:

• Understanding Creativity
• Embodying Creativity
• Supporting Creativity

The course is designed to serve as a stand-alone or as part of a more comprehensive course, which includes a face-to-face training following the completion of this online course. The lesson activities are based on best practices for creative approaches to education and are designed to engage and spark curiosity and learning. The objective of this course is to present opportunities for educators to embrace new ways of thinking about creativity, their creative leadership, and ways to ignite creativity in their classrooms. This course also hopes to create a community of practitioners who will continue to support and motivate each other.

Contact us to sign up for this course. We recommend that you recruit three or more educators to join you on the course as it helps to have a community of practitioners to lean on for support and to benefit from the collaborative nature of the exercises.

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PUBLICATIONS

Teaching for Creativity

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This publication is a resource for Teaching Creativity in the Star framework and is based on approaches that have been tested in several educational settings around the world. With Teaching for Creativity  teachers will be able to:

1. Define Creativity
2. Understand the components of Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
3. Use Creative thinking tools from all stages of the Creative process
4. Plan and develop ways to incorporate creative tools into their curricula

This publication Is available as a free downloadable resource in the store.

Weaving Creativity into Every Strand of the Curriculum

Creativity is a key skill for your students, both within the classroom and outside of it, so we interviewed more than 100 teachers and creativity experts from around the world to gather their favorite techniques for bringing creative thinking skills into any curriculum. With Weaving’s selection of useful language and 750 tips and ideas, you will be bringing creativity into your classroom in no time! This book will help you deliberately weave various creative thinking skills into every one of your lessons. And best of all, it won't take time away from the subjects themselves. From kindergarten through college, Weaving Creativity into Every Strand of Your Curriculum is the go-to book for a more creative classroom environment! This publication is a resource for Integrating Creativity in the Star framework and answers the questions:

1. What is creativity?
2. How can you foster it in your classroom?
3. How can you incorporate it into your lessons without falling behind on your curriculum plans?

​​This publication Is available as a free downloadable resource in the store.
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Being Creative: Transform Yourself One Card at a Time

Our research and experience shows that an individual with a Creative Operating System exhibits a certain mindset and heartset that contribute to their Being Creative. In our work with educators we find that one of the key aspects of bringing creativity into the classroom is the need for the educator to model creative behavior. This card deck was designed to facilitate the reawakening of the educator as a creative leader. This deck contains more than 50 different activities and prompts for reflection designed to develop the 9 critical elements of a creative mindset and heartset:​

1. ​Being Open
2. Being Curious
3. Being Original
4. Being Playful
5. Being Optimistic
6. Being Mindful
7. Being Deliberate
8. Being Driven
9. Being Courageous

This card deck is a resource for Embodying Creativity in the Star framework and can be purchased from our store.