Creative language teachers as bridge builders : the value of bisociative thinking

Abstract

Like most first-time visitors to San Francisco, I was most impressed by the Golden Gate Bridge. Crossing the bridge on my way to Sausalito, I was astounded by this marvel of 20th-century engineering. The day was uncharacteristically free of fog and this allowed me to fully appreciate the grace with which this suspension bridge spanned the one-mile-wide Golden Gate strait, a three-mile-long channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Whilst crossing it the words of Joseph B. Strauss, the bridge’s chief engineer, reverberated in my head: “Our world of today…revolves completely around things which at one time couldn’t be done because they were supposedly beyond the limits of human endeavour. Don’t be afraid to dream.” Strauss managed to build the bridge that was deemed impossible to build. His exhortation is inspired by his capacity to dream and his belief that dreams can come true. In this I see parallels to the stance of creative language teachers whose commitment to nurturing creativity in themselves and their students through bisociative thinking might at times be considered visionary in an assessment-driven educational climate.