Teaching Models to Develop Creativity in the Classroom

Teaching models include plans and patterns that can be used to develop curriculum, design instructional materials, and guide instruction in a learning environment ( Joyce & Weil, 1972 ). Teaching models are often thought of as instructional designs that produce a particular environment that influences students&s; interactions and behaviors toward the desired learning outcome. Specifically, teaching models have guidelines for developing challenges and activities through which student work can achieve specific goals. Models are beneficial in that they can provide a unifying element for curriculum and instruction. For instance, a common language arts model is the Six Traits Writing Model developed by Education Northwest (2012) . When schools adopt the Six Traits Writing Model, the teachers use common formats for instruction and assessment. Resources (e.g., rubrics and visual cues) are developed and shared across multiple disciplines and grade levels. Moreover, the use of a model of teaching allows school systems to collect data on student achievement to evaluate the model&s;s effectiveness.