Integrating Creative Thinking Skills into the Curriculum with Tanya Knudsen

How can creativity help students learn a new language? In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Tanya Knudsen, an educator, world traveler, polyglot, and PhD candidate for creative leadership. Tanya’s currently teaching a TIM-based curriculum, Creativity Through English, via zoom to students at Wings of Change, a vocational hospitality school and hotel social enterprise in Madagascar. She teaches for creativity with an expanded and self-designed curriculum squarely rooted in the Torrance Incubation Model (TIM) for Teaching and Learning to combine Creative Thinking Skills with subjects.   Listen in to learn Tanya’s art-based framework for integrating creative thinking skills into her ESL classroom, simple strategies for keeping students engaged while teaching remotely, and how English teachers can use kinesthetic teaching to bring more creativity into the classroom.    “The thing with language is it has to be a subconscious skill, ultimately, so how can I pass the concepts into the subconscious most quickly? And I believe that to be through physical because that’s how it will resonate.” – Tanya Knudsen   Plus, Tanya describes “the language of creativity” and speaks on the immense value that creativity can bring to ESL students.   “That’s really what we want to pull out in the creative thinking skills is what is your process for developing your understanding or ability to think through the information that you’re learning so that you can evaluate, sift, and formulate your own original thought.” – Tanya Knudsen   Tanya’s Tips for Teachers and Parents: Try! Just do it. Whatever you want to try, go for it, because everything leads to something else. Ask questions. That’s how you learn, figure out where they are, and how to teach them more effectively. Have fun! Kids are bored at school and humans seek play at every age, so it’s important to have fun throughout learning.   Recommended Resources: Wings of Change – Madagascar GoNoodle Listen to The Idea Gym Podcast Weaving Creativity into Every Strand of Your Curriculum by Dr. Cyndi Burnett (contributions by Tanya Knudsen) 20 Lessons to Weave Creative Thinking into Your Curriculum by Dr. Cyndi Burnett (contributions by Tanya Knudsen)   Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!   Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?  Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.   What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?  Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.    Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at [email protected]!   You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!   About Tanya Knudsen: Tanya is an educator, polyglot, world traveler and PhD candidate for creative leadership. Tanya teaches for creativity with an expanded and self-designed curriculum squarely rooted in the Torrance Incubation Model for Teaching and Learning to combine Creative Thinking Skills with subjects. Tanya’s first creative curriculum, Creativity Through Arts, received scholarly recognition in 2021. Tanya now teaches her second TIM-based curriculum, Creativity Through English, via zoom, to students at Wings of Change, a vocational hospitality school and hotel social enterprise in Nosy Be, Madagascar. Tanya is headed to Nosy Be in the new year to conduct research for her dissertation. For Tanya, creativity is new new lingua franca and she’s on a quest to expand creativity to the far reaches of the planet.   Visit Tanya’s website Connect with her on LinkedIn Listen to The Idea Gym Podcast