There's an article published on our Web site at work with a rather confusing, in my opinion, title, Teaching out of the box. My first thought on seeing the title was that it was about teaching using ready-made lesson plans and materials. In fact, it was only when I saw the article itself that I realsied that it was in effect about the total opposite: using creative approaches to learning. "Out of the box" is of course a reference to "thinking outside of the box" which has become a cliché even in managementspeak.

Am I alone in failing to make this connection?

I'd read your whole post before considering the question so that may influence me but it certainly seems open to two opposite interpretations.

My initial reaction was that it means an open-minded, creative approach. It was not until Bob's post that I saw the second possibility, thereby showing my own mind to have been "boxed in" by the former interpretation..

I assumed it was related to thinking outside the box, but, as a literalist, I wondered about the other meaning as well.

I think the confusion comes because the article itself expresses ambiguity. Despite its title, the main message seems to be an admonition that one had better not stray from the "box" unless one has long experience and has thoroughly prepared for all eventualities. The sole concrete example offered was drumming to assist in rote memorization of multiplication tables. It's an example of good materials and planning-- using musical intelligence to assist memory-- but not an example of creative exploration.