Embrace messiness: Let go of control to spark creativity in teaching

I’ll never forget the moment that sparked my book Getting Messy: A Guide to Taking Risks & Opening the Imagination. I was teaching in the teacher credentialing program at UC Berkeley, and one of my students—a soon-to-be teacher—asked if I had any tips for “keeping things under control” in the classroom. 

She wanted things to be neat, polished, and, as she put it, “safe.” Her question was one I’d often heard from new teachers eager to create a sense of order. But in that moment, I realized that focusing on control would keep us from something far more valuable—creativity.

Creativity allows us to step beyond the tidy and predictable, to prioritize the present moment over our own neat thinking. 

I encouraged her to allow for a little messiness, to step into her role as a learner and let the unexpected unfold. When she did, we both witnessed the creativity that emerged. 

Rather than trying to follow a set plan, she let herself experiment, respond, and engage with her students in a more dynamic way. 

Suddenly, the classroom wasn’t a place for rules to be followed but a vibrant space where new ideas and connections could come alive.

I saw firsthand that this embrace of messiness—of learning to be a little unpolished—sparks creativity and magic. Beneath the surface of each class, new possibilities were waiting to be discovered, not because we’d planned for them, but because we were open to the unknown.

Check out Getting Messy: A Guide to Taking Risks and Opening the Imagination for Teachers, Trainers, Coaches and Mentors on Amazon