Rethinking Creative Teaching and Teaching as Research: Mapping the Critical Phases That Mark Times of Change and Choosing as Learners and Teachers of Music

This article describes the use of a visual-based construct elicitation tool developed from the use of critical incident charting for the purpose of reflecting on our creative learning journeys either at significant points as music learners in childhood, in adult life, or as preservice or experienced teachers. In this article, I introduce diverse applications of this reflective tool called “Rivers of Musical Experience” that can help us to represent, construct, and reconstruct significant milestones or significant events in our creative learning journeys. It also considers what we can learn from each other's reflections on and about our learning journeys that enable us to reflect on the assumptions underpinning our own practice. In this article, by creative teaching or teaching for creativity, I mean creating a positive learning environment in which both teachers and students can take risks, engage in imaginative activity, and do things differently.