Developing Creativity, Finding Humor, And Encouraging Alternative Solutions
Developing Creativity, Finding Humor, And Encouraging Alternative Solutions
The creative thinking assignment or task is for students to think and develop a new policy for a diverse community that would foster relationships between the police and the community itself.
The assignment meets the guidelines and allows creativity in various ways. The task will require students to conduct their research about any policies in existence for a diverse community and come up with a new policy that is more effective and efficient in promoting relationships between the police and the community. By researching for the best approach, the students will employ creativity through brainstorming with fellow students, friends, and people outside the school, such as law enforcement officers. Brainstorming is an effective strategy for helping students with difficulty with tasks as they can pick on the brains of those who better understand the concepts (Landmark Outreach Staff, n.d.). The research will also expose them to new ideas, expanding their minds and creativity. In addition, since each student has a different task, they will employ their best creativity sense to ensure they come up with better policies than their fellow students. The task also meets the guidelines for developing assignments as it will allow students to think critically as they will have to consider the policy’s implications and its restraints to make it viable and workable.
Students approached the task in different ways. Some students preferred policing strategies that are community-oriented, such as creating a feedback loop for input from citizens, holding monthly meetings with the community members as well as the police, department increasing transparency on its operations. Other suggested policing programs that provide resources for the community to build their trust with the police. Others suggested the implementation of a watch program for the neighbourhood whether they will be able to detect suspicious criminal activities and report them before they escalate. Others proposed a technological application that will make communication with the police easier through which the police will receive feedback, and the community can make complaints. All the approaches are great ways of creating a policy and demonstrating creative thinking for the assignments.
I attempted to help students find humour when confused or frustrated with their assigned task by encouraging them to think outside the box and take risks to come up with creative solutions. Through having the students lacking behind to find innovative solutions, I encouraged them to brainstorm and come up with ideas, even the ones considered silly. In other instances, I would provide a funny scenario and have them think of a creative solution for it to help guide them if they are stuck. The incorporation of humour in classroom settings lessens the tense atmosphere allowing the minds of students to think more openly and creatively (Costa & Kallick, 2008). I would also encourage them to think of ways citizens and the police can become friends and use funnies to bridge the gap for those with negative attitudes towards law enforcement. I also asked them to come up with funny nicknames for law enforcement officers that would increase the sense of camaraderie and create a more relaxed atmosphere between the two.
Some students found the task easy, while others found it challenging. Those who found it difficult claimed that the brainstorming sessions helped them develop better solutions. Other students stated that they had to interact with law enforcement officers, and most of them claimed that the police were kind and helpful to them. Others noted that upon interacting with law enforcement officers, they realized that there was a need for the police to undergo diversity training to be able to foster better relationships with the community through being culturally sensitive.
