Why this approach is important

Brainstorming allows you to find out lots of things about your students. By listening carefully to their ideas, you will find out what they already know about a topic you are about to teach, what they remember about something you have just taught, how they might approach a problem, and what things are important to them. It also provides an opportunity for them to think creatively and to make connections between ideas and topics.

Fast-growing economies need people who can think creatively and solve problems. Students who can think creatively are considered to be desirable employees. Creativity is not just about remembering, but also applying knowledge. It is about suggesting, extending and offering alternatives. It is about making links between different topics and subjects.

For students to be creative thinkers they need to be encouraged to think differently to produce original ideas. It is really important that they need to feel safe that these ideas will be welcomed and openly received.

Brainstorming’s main benefit is that it develops creative thinking skills in you and your students. Figure 1 illustrates the other benefits that brainstorming can bring into your classroom.

Figure 1 Classroom benefits of brainstorming.

Brainstorming is a very versatile technique because it can be used with any subject and can be done quickly. Because it is a group-based activity it can also be done relatively easily with large classes. It also gives your students the opportunity to talk about their ideas, and to learn from each other. Read Resource 1, ‘Talk for learning’, to find out more.

What you can learn in this unit

1 How to brainstorm