The great twentieth century Spanish artist Pablo Picasso once said: "There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence transform a yellow spot into sun."

It's an eloquent line that captures, better than any definition could, the notion of what it is to be creative.

Moreover, it also expresses the power of creativity because, as anyone who has seen an original Picasso in person can testify to, the application of paint to a canvas in an imaginative and unique way has the power to move you. And, there is something majestic in that.

Creativity is vital in education. It excites, it engages, it inspires and it takes what is perhaps considered to be rather mundane and transforms it into something more engaging.

Everyone wins. Teachers feel empowered to re-imagine their subjects and offer new, distinct ways of passing on knowledge and skills. Students benefit from a better quality of education that not only challenges their preconceptions, but gets them to really engage in the learning process.

The significance of this cannot be underestimated because the state of being creative is all about going above and beyond what is required. As the French artist Henri Matisse and contemporary of Picasso once said: "Creativity takes courage."

In this guide we look at five ways in which teachers can transform the classrooms into creative hubs.

Take lessons out of the classroom

While the familiarity of a space offers you and your pupils a sense of safety, over the course of an academic year it can become quite formulaic. While teaching in the same space at the same time helps to instill a sense of order, it can become rather perfunctory.

Every now and again, break up the repetitive nature by changing the environment. Take your lesson outside, into another classroom or beyond the school gates. Contextualise what will ultimately be a trip with the lesson. Visit a museum, gallery or lab and bring to life your subject matter.

Always try to be active

One of the biggest concerns teachers have is ensuring that they communicate everything in their subject curriculum and this pressure can sometimes manifest itself in a didactic approach to teaching. In short, the focus is on teacher-led instruction.

While this approach has its place in education, it can nevertheless have a negative impact on students because ultimately they're passive partners in this style of teaching. Instead, get your pupils involved in their own learning through active exercises and regular discussions that do away with you standing at the front of a class.

Call in the experts

Whether it is a musician talking about their career in the industry or a scientist recounting an experiment gone wrong or a footballer talking about just how demanding their profession is, there is something special about learning from an expert.

The ability to relate what your pupils are learning to the real world is invaluable and moreover, it offers youngsters precious insight into what possible careers they can eventually end up in. It is often the case that students feel unsure about the relevance of what it is they're learning – this helps make sense of it.

Get your pupils to teach

It may sound like a bit of a copout but it is anything but. This approach is about empowerment and moreover, peer to peer learning can be a fun, engaging and effective way of learning.
Assemble your class into different teams and over the course of a term, get each one to run the lesson. You'll need to be involved to ensure they cover everything and fill in any gaps that may emerge, but, for the most part, you have to let them take charge. Out of this will come some innovative ideas to say the least.