Nurturing creativity within the teacher education program

While analytical and critical thinking play an important role in the development of teacher education programs, the emphasis on creative and divergent thinking are sometimes overlooked. Teachers who have experienced the creative process through a well-developed course of study can develop the ability to teach with fluency, flexibility, originality as well as reorganization and elaboration to adapt to a new environment. The aim of mis symposium is to discuss the significance of teacher creativity as a criterion in teacher competency and as a major component in the objectives of teacher education programs. Teachers undergoing such programs will equip themselves with skills in solving problems and making independent judgments which often arise inevitably during their teaching in the classrooms. A group of colleagues in the HKIEd will share their experience in developing programs that aim at stimulating and nurturing teacher creativity and report the feedbacks from the pre-service and in- service teachers. Other proposed curriculum designs in the form of courses or units of study will be discussed.