Creative Teaching Philosophy

This culminating assignment serve

s as your final exam for the course and is intended to help you

articulate your beliefs about the role of creativity in teaching in order to document/identify where

you are by the end of the course and to set goals for your future teaching practice. Through this

assignment, you will be demonstrating what you learned throughout this course and how this

learning impacts your ongoing understanding of early childhood education and the changing notion

of yourself as an educator.

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Blake Spring 2026 ECPK 316

You will address the essential questions:

What is your definition of

creativity

?

What do you

believe

about creativity and young children and how are those beliefs

supported through research/evidence-based sources?

How is creativity involved with who you are becoming as a teacher?

How can you advocate for creativity in education?

How can you use creative pedagogies to address inequities in education?

The assignment consists of

two parts

: an artifact and a written reflection on your decisions in

making your artifact.

Artifact:

You will create a creative artifact of your own design that will serve as a statement of your

teaching philosophy. It needs to be:

Meaningful to You! Ask what will best remind you of your beliefs about teaching in

six months time? In a years time? In 5 years time?

Complex. It needs to reflect at least some of the many concepts we cover this

semester. Ask whether you can write a 3-5 page explanation/reflection of the ideas

youre representing.

Well-Crafted. While I will not be grading you on your drawing ability, for example, I

expect that this is something that you put time into. Do not expect that you can do

this entire project the morning it is due. Ask whether this is something that you

would want to see/experience five years from now.

You will create a brief video presentation in which you share your artifact with your classmate and

me and explain your design decisions (think of it as a brief video version of the personal statement).

You will respond to your classmates video with brief feedback.

Personal Statement:

You will write a 3-4 page reflection/statement on the ideas contained in your

artifact. Depth, analysis, and critical thinking are essential components of this assignment. While

reflection is not about generating one right answer, it is important to note that not all reasoning is

equally valid. In this sense, your opinion is merely a starting point. You should be informed by the

ideas and concepts presented by the scholars we have studied in our inquiry into early childhood

education. Statements and claims must be supported with evidence, readings, and/or resources from

the course and, in some cases, independent research that results from consideration of multiple

perspectives. You are asked to cite a minimum of 5 of the materials from the semester using APA.

This is where youll describe your reasons for designing your artifact the way you did. This is also

where youll describe how youve grown in your understanding of the concepts covered in this

course.

Consider the following questions:

Have I adequately referenced course materials to support my ideas using both in-text

citations and a corresponding reference list?

Have I clearly explained my reasoning behind why I chose to do my particular artifact?

Have I clearly explained the ideas represented in the artifact in verbal form?

Have I explained the reasons behind the conclusions I make about

creativity/teaching/learning/children/etc. make and acknowledge the complexity of issues?

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Blake Spring 2026 ECPK 316

Have I addressed how our learning impacts my ongoing understanding of early childhood

education and the changing notion of myself as an educator?

Have I made any revisions to the project based on my peers and/or instructors feedback?

here’s how I want the book cited Cohen, M. (2018). Educated by Design: Designing the space to experiment, explore, and extract your creative potential. Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.

here is the other 4

1. https://www.weareteachers.com/nature-deficit-disorder/
2. https://www.newsweek.com/creativity-crisis-74665
3. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/apr2018/conversations-with-children
4. mayesky
5. Educated by design-this is the book for the class