Creativity within Education
Hello Bloggers!
Today we will
be looking at creativity within primary education. We will focus on a number of
questions such as; what is creativity? Why is creativity important in primary
education? Should creativity have a bigger impact on the curriculum? And how
can schools enable creativity?
There are many definitions of creativity, I have chosen to identify two in particular. Koestler (1964) sees creativity as being able to make connections between ideas that had not yet been linked. However, I disagree with Koestler, as I believe that creativity involves much more than just linking ideas. Sharp (2004) combined a number of theorist’s ideas about creativity and came to the agreement that imagination, originality, productivity, problem solving and producing an outcome all contributed towards creativity.
There are many definitions of creativity, I have chosen to identify two in particular. Koestler (1964) sees creativity as being able to make connections between ideas that had not yet been linked. However, I disagree with Koestler, as I believe that creativity involves much more than just linking ideas. Sharp (2004) combined a number of theorist’s ideas about creativity and came to the agreement that imagination, originality, productivity, problem solving and producing an outcome all contributed towards creativity.
In terms of
education, it can be argued that creativity is a very important aspect of
children’s education. Nichols
and Berliner (2008) believe that the joy has been taken out of
education, as the curriculum has been narrowed and there is less room for
creativity.
I recently
attended a lecture delivered by a teacher at a local primary school, he
highlighted the importance of experiential learning. He explained that he used
his own creativity to design a particular history lessons that re-enacted, to an
extent, history. The example he used was taking the students to a PE storage
unit, closing the door and creating loud noises outside to show how children
felt during the blitz. The picture above shows me and my peers being creative within our University seminars, creating music using drums. Donaldson calls for teachers to work creatively.
Although quite scary for the pupils, all the students remembered this lesson
years on. Helm (2008)
states that engaged pupils can still have enjoyable learning experiences while
following the curriculum. Robson and Rowe Webb (2012) argue that creativity is
initiated by the students need to learn and directed by adults, just as the
teacher in the lecture demonstrated. Kolb’s experiential learning cycle shows
that learning from creative experiences creates more memorable information that
students are more likely to remember (Englewood et al.1983).
Vygotsky argues that teaching is an artistic event. Teachers
must be creative in their approach, just like the teacher illustrated in the
lecture I had attended.
Connors (2013)
argues that children should have opportunities to share creative ideas within
groups. Donaldson’s recommendations for the Welsh Curriculum supports Connors
argument. Donaldson recommended in the successful futures document (2015) that
children should be ‘creative contributors’. Donaldson proposes the idea of
project based learning, teachers should deliver cross-curricular lessons in the
form of a project. Project based learning will allow students to work
creatively and as part of a group. Donaldson also highlights the confidence and
personal satisfaction students can gain from creative expression, this is seen
to enrich the quality of students’ lives long-term.
Donaldson also
recommends that within the foundation phase there should be seven areas of
learning, one of these being creative development. The document states that
school experiences should ‘stimulate imaginations, in a way that creates
excitement, are fulfilling and encourages students to think creatively’ all
enhancing learning within the school environment which helps to create the idea
of the inspired individual (Feist, 1998) however, the term inspired individual
has been labelled as an elite view of creativity (NACCCE, 1999).
The inspired
individual, makes me ask the question is everyone creative? Duffy (2006) argues
that there are two types of creativity that people have. The first, named ‘Big
C’ which is the highly creative people, who portray excellence in particular
fields, are able to challenge ideas and change ideas. Whereas ‘Little C’ is
just an ordinary person rather than extraordinary like ‘Big C’. With creativity
comes an aspect of labelling within the classroom, as Duffy suggests some
learners are labelled as more creative than others. Does this mean that they
will do better in school? Creativity can be seen as a social process (NACCCE,
1999) linking this to Duffy’s ideas suggests that ‘Big C’ and ‘Little C’ could
work together to be innovative. Glaveanu (2010) supports this view,
highlighting that there are ‘expanded types of creativity’, collaboration is
seen as the key to creative processes.
The
Open University (2016) highlights the need for collaboration in order to be
creative. The Open University highlight that community’s work together to create
activities for the public and teaching skills. Similarly to the Open
University, Tanggaard (2011) describes creativity as a social construct. The project I took part in, in Spain was a great example of how working creatively can have links to the community. The video below shows a group of students working together to create gifts that we could then give back to the people of the village for creating the summer project that both the students and volunteered benefited from. Sharp et al. (2006) supports this, arguing
that partnerships allow creativity, just like my Spanish summer camp did. Students are able to visit cultural sites
and work with people in the community which is a creative way to learn. Also, it is experiential linking back to Kolb’s experiential learning cycle.
References
Duffy, B (2006) Supporting
creativity and imagination in the early years. 2nd Edn. Berkshire:
Open University Press.
Feist, G.J. (1998) ‘A meta-analysis
of personality in scientific and artistic creativity’. Personality and Social Psychology Review,
2(4), pp.290-310.
Glaveanu, V. (2010). Principles for a
cultural psychology of creativity. Culture
and Psychology, 16(147),
147–163.
Helm, J. H. (2008). Got standards? Don’t
give up on engaged learning. Beyond
the Journal, Young
Children on the Web. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200807/BTJJudyHarrisHelm.pdf
Koestler, A. (1964) The act of
creation. London: Hutchinson & Co
Kolb,
D. A. Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and
development. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall, 1983.
N.A.C.C.C.E. (1999) All our
futures: creativity, culture and education. London: DfEE
Nichols, S., & Berliner, D. (2008).
Testing the joy out of learning. Educational
Leadership, 65(6),
14–18.
Open University (2016) Available
at: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/creativity-community-and-ict/content-section-2
Sharp, C. (2004) Developing young
children’s creativity: what can we learn from research? Topic (32) pp.5-12
Sharp, C., Pye, D., Blackmore, J., Brown,
E., Eames, A., Easton, C., et al. (2006). National evaluation of creative partnerships final report.
United Kingdom: National Foundation for Educational Research.
Tanggard, L. (2011). Stories about creative teaching and productive learning. European Journal of Teacher E
I enjoyed reading about your trip to Spain and how the children and the community linked in collaboration. Research shows how children gain many skills from activities and working together (Gillies, 1996). Could you tell me some of the skills the children gained from this activity? As you mentioned previously, there are two types of creative people. In your thoughts, do you think both ‘types’ enjoyed this activity and benefited from it academically?
ReplyDeleteGillies, R. (1996) 'Teaching collaborative skills to primary school children in classroom-based work groups', Learning and Instruction, 6(3), pp. 187-200.
Hi Chelsea, thank you for your comment.
ReplyDeleteThe focus on the activity was less about gaining skills but allowing the children to be creative and express their creativity together by sharing ideas and looking at others work. The focus was also on giving back to the village, the students were very thankful for the opportunity they were given and were very keen to in some way thank the members of the village. I support Gillies view, although the focus on the task was not about skills, the students still used social skills to work together and also were able to express existing skills in arts and crafts.
When planning this activity, we considered the view that some students may not enjoy creative activities. We ensured the session was relaxed and emphasised that it did not matter about how creative they were but it was about creating something to give back to people that had given them a great opportunity which was the summer camp. Hicks (2012) highlights the need to explore the wider society when being creative.
Hicks, D. (2010, July). The long transition: Educating for optimism and hope in troubled times. In 3rd annual conference of the UK teacher education network for education for sustainable development/global citizenship (pp. 1-28). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication 285232652_The_Long_Transition_Education_for_optimism_and_hope_in_troubled_times. Accessed: 15th October, 2017