4 Ways High Schools Can Promote Creative Expression in Their Students 

With the constant budget cuts reducing the availability of artistic electives, and the intensified focus on standardized tests, it can be hard to feel as though there is any room left for creative expression in school districts. For students, this can be discouraging and result in boredom and disinterest in their academic efforts, and for those who are part of the administration, it can be disheartening to not be able to offer students the same opportunities that were available to them. 

At an age when personal development is at its peak, it’s important to give a little leeway and freedom to help students have time to think about the kind of person they’d like to be in the world. It might seem hopeless with the way things are going, but despite the obstacles, there are ways that schools can actively promote free expression. 

Be Broad in Assignment Objectives 

When it comes to assignments and projects, it would help promote divergent and creative thinking if teachers would focus more on ensuring that the students understand the basic concept and less on if the students followed the guidelines detail for detail. For example, if the assignment was to demonstrate how a specific biological concept worked, teachers could allow students to demonstrate their understanding in whatever manner they choose (video, essay, PowerPoint, etc.) instead of insisting that everyone writes an essay that has to be so many words and highlight x, y, and z.  

This allows students to arrive at the similar conclusion after experimenting with a few different paths. While it’s important to have some structured assignments to help students prepare for college classes, it’s also important to push innovative thought processes in order to help them develop adequate problem solving skills for life outside of the classroom. 

Get Students Involved in Decorating the School Classrooms, Hallways, and Lockers 

Most schools change the décor of the hallways, the library bulletin boards, and even the classrooms a few times a year. Instead of giving all the responsibility to the teachers and administrators, encourage the students to help out and even pitch some of their own ideas. By taking a more hands-on approach to helping plan out the aesthetic layout of the school, students will feel more involved, and having their ideas heard and even possibly followed through on will increase their confidence when it comes to decision making. 

When school districts are extremely limited in their funding for art classes and projects, it’s important for them to work with what they have. Locker decorating can be an open resource for students to be able to exert some of their creative ideas, and if schools took some time every so often to allow their students to solely focus on that, it would help get some of their creative energy out. Just as the students vote on the classmate who has the best hair or the one who is most likely to be president, a similar vote for the person with the most creative locker would help encourage them to really put thought into making their locker represent their own personal voice. 

Allow More Freedom of Choice in Literature 

There is nothing wrong with pushing classic novels into lesson plans, but if schools would allow for more free choice when it comes to writing book reports and analyzing literature, it would help students determine what their personal interest is when it comes to reading. With the short and snappy style of web videos and blog posts, the attention span of the general public is going down, and in turn, so is the amount of individuals  who take the time to read through a book. By letting students pick out novels that are of interest to them, it will help inspire them to seek out creative works of fiction on their own as well as allow them to dive deeper into what areas and topics in life really grab at them. 

Create More Discussion Time in the Classroom 

To really help get students’ minds ready to think freely and adapt easily to the outside world, it’s important for administrators to encourage open discussion in the classroom. Instead of a teacher lecturing on a topic and then assigning book reading, create an open form of discussion where the students can voice their thoughts on how a topic relates to them and their everyday life. By making connections about broad topics and getting comfortable with letting their voices and ideas be heard, they’ll have a much better transition when it comes to leading and creating their own lives. 

The lack of creative expression and thought processes in schools has been a public concern for years, and while budget cuts and standardized tests are partly at fault, there are other ways that members of the administration can make progress by using the resources they have and by implementing various approaches to teaching. While structured classroom methods should never be completely thrown out the window, it’s important to find a balance in order to help students develop their creative thinking skills as well as an idea of who they want to be and what they wish to contribute to the world.

James Anderson is a freelance writer who enjoys giving insight on how to make schools a better place for students to learn and grow. When he’s not spending time with his loving wife in the great outdoors, he writes for School Lockers, a provider of storage lockers.