A ‘creative’ curriculum for excellence

1. A ‘creative’ curriculum for excellence Libby Curtis Programme Director - Design & Craft

2. The Big Picture - Creative Futures ?

3. Concluded that the lack of awareness and understanding of the role that greater creativity can play in business is a key barrier to SMEs making greater use of creative skills. Why creativity?

4. Creativity and Innovation Centres • Design for Business programme support • Increase understanding of creativity and innovation in the boardroom • Educate Senior business people • Use broadcast media to encourage creativity and innovation Why innovation?

5. Creative and Entrepreneurial Spirit - Science and Design Clockwork Radio - Trevor Bayliss

6. This is what artists and designers do…………………... and are……… Thoughts on creativity or Thoughts on Innovation or Thoughts on entrepreneurial spirit or ………. Curriculum design? ‘The art of Looking Sideways’ P30. Allan Fletcher.

7. A key thinker is E Paul Torrance, teacher and psychologist, distinguished professor emeritus, University of Georgia. • Torrance thinks that the goal of education should be to produce people who can ‘make new scientific discoveries, find more adequate solutions to impelling world problems, who cannot be brainwashed, can adapt to change and maintain their sanity in an age of acceleration’. • To achieve this, he believes that the focus of education should be not so much on what pupils learn as on what they can do with their learning. He is particularly concerned with addressing all aspects of cognitive development, especially children’s capacity to think, and to be happier – able not only to ‘fulfil their potential, but to go beyond what is normally accepted’.

8. According to Torrance, creativity involves forming ideas or hypotheses, testing them and communicating the results, adventurous thinking(a step into the unknown), invention, discovery, curiosity, experimentation and exploration. • Torrance argues that pupils need to be able to see clear links between school learning and their current and future lives outsideschool. He sees the school’s role as enabling pupils to enlarge, enrich and make more accurate images of the future.

9. Learning in the ‘arts’ and learning through the ‘arts’. Creative situations Taking risks Meaningful and relevant contexts Active engagement Achievement Self-esteem building confidence Problem-solving and critical thinking Enterprising Working collaboratively and independently Communication Using technology Sounds very much like the goals encapsulated in………..

10. a curriculum for excellence ? Successful learners CONFIDENT Individuals EffectiveContributors Responsible Citizens Critical Thinkers - Core ability for every individual

11. How others have brought change and enhanced creative learning opportunities ‘Champions for Change’ The American Arts Education Partnership and the Chicago Arts Partnership Education (CAPE) commissioned seven teams of researchers to examine arts education programmes. Key findings were that learners attain higher levels of achievement through their engagement with the arts. Researchers found that the arts provide authentic experiences that are engaging, real, and meaningful to them and that cognitive, social and personal competencies were developed. 1999

12. www.capeuk.org • CAPE UK was established in 1997. Its chief executive is Pat Cochrane and the director is Arnold Aprill. In the United States, the incidence and quality of arts provision can vary from school to school. The original CAPE was established in 1992 to capitalise on renewed interest in arts education in Chicago schools and the availability of funding. • The CAPE UK project was initially established in two major UK cities: Leeds and Manchester. The European Social Fund’s Youthstart programme has provided much of its funding. Its initiatives have mushroomed in many ways.

13. CAPE UK is based on a a series of partnerships between a high school, feeder schools, practising artists, the community, local businesses and creative organisations. In each partnership, a high school–based coordinator has a pivotal role to play. There is no prototypical partnership. Each cluster has a great deal of freedom to evolve in its own way.

14. CapeUk - independent development agency focusing on creativity and learning.Working with partners to explore and develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning which prepare children and young people in a rapidly changing world. • To develop the creative potential and capacities of young people • To transform teaching and learning by placing creativity at the heart of the curriculum • To develop approaches to leadership and management which support creativity.

15. How……. By exploring innovative approaches to learning and teaching in both the informal and formal education sectors. By sharing practice and ideas, collaborating with national and international agencies. By working with a wide range of partners including schools, museums and galleries, creative and community organisations, businesses, universities, childrens’ services, and school improvement services and individual practitioners.

16. Creativity is good for you !

17. To recap Creativity is…….. What are the implications?

18. Creative thinking is ‘risky thinking’ for pupils and for staff. Creative approaches may not lead to ‘expected’ outcomes and indeed may challenge them. Daring to be different, having independence of mind is vital to creativity and innovation. Teaching creative and critical thinking is part of all disciplines within the curriculum - not just art & design. In being an individual creative thinker - the pupil may certainly ‘achieve’ but will they ‘attain’ in the desired format? Creativity takes time and is sometimes difficult to ‘box’.

19. Changing perceptions Challenging ‘labels’

20. What if……….. What would a creative environment look like; feel like, for a pupil? Real creativity leads to discovery, adventure, innovation, and independence. How do we value/asses this as educators; how do we encourage pupils to reflect upon this and appreciate this as important in their learning. How could the school integrate creativity across the curriculum? Cross discipline teaching? (Language/Expressive Arts, Expressive Arts/Technologies.Expressive Arts/Social Studies, Science/Expressive Arts, Expressive Arts/Health&Well-being) How can the school link with external partners to create meaningful contexts for pupils to work within? University / business / arts practitioners/ organisations - how can they be involved in projects?

21. How would we integrate creative and critical thinking within the curriculum? What methods are employed to do this currently? How could these be developed? Does school timetabling/school structures affect the way that a creative curriculum could be developed. Can these change if they are? Can we free up whole days for cultural visits with over-arching projects that join up to identified curriculum areas? Can we block time to spend on creative projects at appropriate stages. How would exam requirements affect the development of creative approaches to learning?

22. ? So……….how to make creative, dynamic and flexible learning environments for the future. What are the key issues for us to look at?