SOCIAL CHANGE CREATIVITY: Dovetailing Pedagogies for Justice

Social justice and creativity are embedded in cross-content curricula and include a variety of similar teaching strategies and pedagogies. This chapter explores parallel human rights and creativity pedagogies through the lens of human rights and justice theories. One way to supplement existing tolerance-based programs is to dovetail classroom strategies for social justice with ongoing efforts to increase creativity in public schools. The same systems that foster creativity are also thought to support acceptance of people who come from different backgrounds. These mechanisms include aspects of personality, cognition, and life experience. Likewise, learning about difference, justice, and human rights may increase student creativity through exposure to new experiences. This chapter examines ways to leverage classroom creativity to promote social change and vice versa.