Creative writing for creative teaching

Storytelling is a human need that occurred since our ancestors used to live in caves. While storytelling is a way of communication it is also a way of cultivating creativity, transforming ideas, discovering things and transmitting knowledge.
Tompkins (1982) suggests 7 reasons why children should write stories (these reasons, of course, also apply to writing poetry): 1) to entertain; 2) to foster artistic expression; 3) to explore the functions and values of writing; 4) to stimulate imagination; 5) to clarify thinking; 6) to search for identity; and 7) to learn to read and write.
Creative writing is one of the best ways to engage students in science as it helps students to make ideas their own. This way they understand their subject as a result of their research—and are able to explain it in a way that makes it fresh

Purpose
"The teaching of writing," Wallace Stegner could not say often enough, "is Socratic." By this he seems to have meant that, like Socrates, the writing teacher is a midwife, assisting at the birth of a student’s creation and checking it for signs of life. The method behind such teaching—what is now called the workshop method, was described by Plato 2,300 years ago as "benevolent disputation by the use of question and answer without jealousy." The teaching of writing, in other words, is Socratic in being an invitation to participate in a conversation. The writing workshop can further the kind of critical thinking skills that students are already being encouraged to use in other aspects of their learning.
Making up their own stories helps students learn material in fresh ways. By being actively involved with, and actively interrogating their involvement with the elements that make up our written and oral communication, these young writers of fiction will gain an intuitive and intellectual understanding of its operations. Simply put, one can best understand how something is constructed by attempting to put it together yourself.
Creative writers are asking us to believe in their dreams, and this requires that they "get the details right." Even stories that are based on fantasy or science fiction, with monsters and space aliens, need to obey various rules of logic; they need to "make sense." For instance, what might the monster eat? What kind of planet would the alien come from? This kind of questioning can open up many new areas of intellectual and emotional interest for student writers of fantasy or science fiction. These are areas that they might not have as easily accessed through other types of writing. Thus, their understanding of their world is deepened.

Objectives
- Understand the importance of creativity in education.
- Discover ways of developing students creativity and self confidence.
- Get familiar with the philosophy of creative writing.
- Promote games, simulations and role-play as tools for encouraging participation in writing activities.
- Train in the “Socratic workshop method”.
- Become able to design a creative writing workshop.
 Learn how to teach different subjects through creative writing.

Course Language
English
Note: Participants must have at least a CEFR level B2 knowledge of English in order to be able to participate actively.

Target Groups
Teachers: primary, secondary, vocational, adult, special needs; Teacher trainers; Head teachers; Principals; Managers of schools
Methods & Tools
Lectures, workshops, discussions, teamwork, role-playing.

Agenda
Day 1
- Introductory meeting, explanation presentation of timetable of practical arrangements
- Information about course
- Icebreaking venue activities
- Introduction in Creative Writing
Day 2
- Developing children’s ability to learn how to learn
- A rabbit in the hat: The importance of creative thinking
Day 3
- Creative writing: brief history and methods
- Write what you know and the importance of self release
- Where do ideas come from? A pin in a box
Day 4
- Write – research – write: Knowledge as the core of the story
- 5Ws and a 6th sense: adding some salt (Workshop)
Day 5
- Creative writing workshop: The Hero of Myself
- Designing a creative writing workshop for teaching
Day 6
- Presentations of workshops designed by students – Feedback from the team and the lecturer
Day 7
- Erasmus+ program: objectives, priorities, actions, forms, budget, tips for applicants
- Planning follow up activities, dissemination and exploitation of learning outcomes
- Course Evaluation
- Certifications
- Discussing possibilities for future cooperation among participants