Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/hiring-for-professional-creative-imagination/5016158/
The room was vibrant. The children were engrossed; Julie was enchanting as an educator. I was observing Julie and her children making a dinosaur as part of my Ph.D study in a small center in Brisbane, Australia. I was simply entranced by her work. There was a buzz of activity �" learning and life going on as I sat enthralled by her almost magical and certainly inspirational involvement with her children and their learning. It was one of those moments we all cherish in our work as teachers �" a time we just want to hang onto forever �" the smell of glue, the chatter, the creativity, the mess, and the smiles and laughter. All this combined to make something unique, special, and simply beautiful.But why was it so unusual? The same scene is played out in early childhood programs all over the world every day. Children and their teachers are intertwined as they explore a myriad of activities together. And yet my experience has been that really creative, imaginative, and enchanting programs for young children are the exception.
At another center, I felt a sense of dismay as I observed an all too familiar table of organized collage and paints ...