Introduction

I am writing this blog for an assignment at my university under the module ‘The Enquiring Minds: Creative Approaches’. In one of the lectures, we were asked by our lecturer to define ‘creativity’, my definition was creativity is an expression of one’s self using their cognitive ability in any forms as they wish to convey a message. From what I have gathered from my course peers, a majority of the peers have said creativity is the ability to do art as you can use many materials to create a picture in your own fashion. We all mutually decided that creativity is undefinable as there are many different theories behind creativity. There is one definition which appealed to me:

“Flaws create mystery, mystery creates fascination and fascination, in turn, it leads to a desire to understand. Therein lies an important secret that all great musicians, artists, and writers instinctively explore or exploit."

(Craft, 2005)

In this reflective journal, there are going to be five key areas of creativity in education discussed along with my own experiences to reflect along with those chosen key areas. The five key areas I have chosen to discuss are:

• Creative Partnership
• Scientific Enquiry
• Creativity and Education
• The Leonardo Effect
• Outdoor Learning

• These five key areas appeal to me as I have partaken in some of the activities relating to these key areas. I will be looking at the whole area of education rather than focusing on one area such as the Foundation Phase.

References

Craft, A. 2005. Creativity in Schools: Tensions and Dilemmas. Oxon: Routledge

Creative Partnership

What is Creative Partnership?

Creative Partnership is a programme funded by the government bringing in different creative approaches into the classroom along with arts and different culture across the curriculum. One definition of Creative Partnership is:

‘Imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are original and of value’

(NACCCE, (1999), cited by Craft, (2005) p.55)

The whole idea of Creative Partnership is to bring creativity to the curriculum as some research shows that the curricula lack creative due to formal education and learning what they have to know. Creative Partnership encourages children to get up and do something to learn, e.g. instead of reading a story, go to the theatre. They also get pupils to relate to what they have been learning about creatively and artistically.

There are many benefits of Creative Partnership as in some schools in situation of deficiency and underachievement, it is shown that one indicator of success in learning creatively may be illustrated and considered not only in terms of knowledge and understanding, but also in terms of ‘achievement, engagement with school, motivation, behaviour and reduction in unauthorised absences’ (Craft, 2005. p.56). Also another beneficial aspect is that creative learning has provided ‘motivation, self-confidence, achievement and working well with teachers and peers were all reported by the young people as having been improved by the experience.’ (Creative Partnerships Slough 2004. Cited by Craft (2005) p.56).

The QCA (Qualification and Curriculum Authority) (2005) has defines the evidence of learning creativity as:

1) Questioning and challenging

2) Making connections, seeing relationships

3) Envisaging what might be

4) Exploring ideas, keeping options open

5) Reflecting critically on ideas, actions, outcomes

(Cited by Craft (2005), p.55)

In October, my course group and I visited the Swansea Grand Theatre, to the art exhibition of work created by the local schools ran by Creative Partnership, Locws. Locws runs the Art Across the City project in Swansea, it is a big project that has been commissioning public art across Swansea city in response to the city by many artists. All these artwork that the children had made shown at the exhibition were mainly reflecting on what topic they have been learning.

The man who hosted the event have explained how the children at school have said that art should definately play a big part in education because they enjoy it thoroughly and are willing to take part in any lesson that is actively engaging.

This is a creation of a Robot made 
with headphones to represent the 
technology in today's society.









References

CCE, n.d. Creative Partnerships. [Online]
Available at: http://www.creativitycultureeducation.org/creative-partnerships [Accessed 8.07.2015].

Craft, A. 2005. Creativity in Schools: Tensions and Dilemmas. Oxon: Routledge.

Scientific Enquiry

Creativity in today’s curriculum: Scientific Enquiry

In this area, I will be focusing on primary level learning in Science. It is important to ensure that the children’s learning is engaging and creative as children tend to perform better both cognitively and physically when it is.

What is Creative Enquiry?
Enquiry learning is a student-centred approach that encourages children to come up with their own questions to which they will find answers. This means that they are naturally using higher order thinking skills. Creative enquiry involves practical tasks which can enhance children’s practical thinking skills and problem solving skills when taking part in activities.

Scientific Enquiry entails children taking part in scientific experiments to find out the answers of their aims. The types of enquiry involve exploring, fair testing, classifying/identifying, pattern seeking, investigating models and making things. (Watson et al 1998, cited by Phillips 2014)

The teacher has to be an enabler, not only helping children during their activities, but planning the topic, organising the classroom, making materials available and establishing a climate in which children are free to discuss and explore their ideas. Through sensitive questioning, setting the children an example of how to use process skills, displaying positive attitudes towards science and giving children support when and where they need it, the teacher will be promoting effective learning in science.

(Ollerenshaw and Ritchie, 1993. p12)

Orellenshaw and Ritchie have discussed the ideal roles that a teacher should have when teaching a science lesson. They have also discussed the ideal roles that a teacher should have when providing suitable activities for the children to work in when doing practical working using their scientific enquiry. Ollerenshaw and Ritchie (1993, p13) stated that:

The role of the teacher is a complex one and of paramount importance in helping children to develop their process skills and scientific concepts and encouraging and fostering positive attitudes to science. None of this happens by accident: the teacher has to provide the necessary opportunities for skills and understanding to develop.

They both have come up with four steps which are:

1) Orientation
In this step, children have to come up with an idea which will arouse their interest to find information on, this stage also provide children some time to think, time to consider and to organise their ideas. The starting point of coming up with an idea may be a visit, a story and other types of stimuli.

2) Elicitation/Structuring
This step is the exploratory stage which helps the children become understandable about what they were thinking about and to develop their ideas. When clarifying their thinking, they will enable the teacher to assess the children’s ideas and help them plan the next step appropriate.

3) Intervention/Restructuring
In this step, the children commence to expand and substitute old ideas with new ones through investigation. The children are persuaded to carry out tests and contrast ideas in a more orderly method using their investigative process skills.

4) Review
This step gives the opportunity for children and the teacher and/or the whole class to refer back to their previous ideas and support the children to see the purpose of what they did and what they have found out during their investigation.

Here, I have made a Scientific Enquiry cycle map to simplify both Ollerenshaw and Ritchie’s methods and make it more visual as an idea of how it may be presented to the class to ensure that the children understand what their task is.

In our seminar, our lecturer has given us a group task to plan an ideal science experiment that can be used in a primary school. We worked collaboratively and thought about an appropriate and safe experiment that you can use in school. We came up with, as a group, the Mouldy Bread experiment.



Made on Microsoft Publisher

Ideal Scientific Enquiry cycle my group and I created.

When creating this cycle, my group members and I have discovered that this method of learning activated our thinking as we were very eager to work out the next step, unfortunately we did not carry out the experiment to solve the mystery due to university and work commitments. We believed that this method may engage children's learning as they will have to come up with an idea and follow it through in practice as children love to do things manually rather than sit in a formal learning environment. 

References

Harlen, W. 2000. The Teaching of Science in Primary Schools. 3rd Ed. London: David Fulton Publishers.

Ollerenshaw, C & R, Ritchie. 1993. Primary Science: Making it work. London: David Fulton Publishers.

Unesco, n.d. What is creative inquiry?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_d/mod23.html
[Accessed 22.07.2015].

Creativity and Technology

In today’s generation, technology now plays a big part in society. It is now taking over our personal life, working life, education and life in general. Technology can be ranging from mobile phones, tablets, game consoles, shopping barcode scanners and many more. In the world of education, no matter what level of education you are at, no matter how young or old you are, technology is rapidly increasing in the classrooms. Research has shown that technology can have an effect on behaviour and there are worries that it may take away children’s ability to be creative. However, Avril Loveless, who is a Professor of Education, believes that ICT is a new way of being creative.

'The future starts now', derived from www.youtube.com

This is a video clip I have found explaining the evolution of technology and the impacts of technology have.

The core of my commitment to a view of ICT capability as an issue of learning and teaching rather than an issue of technology is unchanged. My understanding of the social and cultural impact of ICT on teaching as a creative, expressive activity has grown during the years and I have been able to develop my ideas through many discussions, presentations and publications in the education communication.

(Loveless, 2003. p.9)

Giving her own personal opinion, Loveless concentrated on the capability of ICT in learning, and believed from her own personal experience that she had found it easier to teach with technology as it was easier to organise her lessons by using presentations and expressively expand on her discussions creatively. Loveless has made it clear that not all students will take a liking to the technological approach; the reaction of the students can vary from exciting and enthusiastic to loathing.

(Loveless, 2003. p.10) also stated that:

..an understanding of the rationale for using ICT to support learning and teaching as well as practical and technical abilities – that creates the challenge for the developing children’s ICT capability. This capability is far more than being able to apply a variety of skills.

In the quote stated above, Loveless is saying that using ICT beocmes a great opportunity because the children are eager to learn how to use the it and want to build on their basic skills. This enthusiasm links to the subjects they are using the ICT in. This helps heighten the children’s expertise in technology and their creativity because the children naturally adapt to it and start to problem solve, building on their existing knowledge. This enhances children's levels of engagement with the curriculum.

The advantages of having technology in Education are:-

•  The teachers have access to images that they can potentially use for teaching which can improve children’s retentive memory, making the lessons more visual.

• The teachers will have the ability to make the lessons more interactive which will result in enjoyable lessons and very engaging which will benefit children’s learning. This is also beneficial for both teachers and children as they are both actively engaged in the lesson.

• The teachers will find it easier to explain the aims and objectives of the lesson, and make sure that the children understands.

The disadvantages of having technology in Education are:-

• Technologies are very expensive to afford, especially for state schools that have t0 keep a budget to run the school.

• Setting up the devices can be very slow and troublesome due to bus network as others are also using the computers. This can disrupt the lesson.
• Some teachers may lack ICT skills and experience can find it difficult to teach using the tools.

I volunteered at a comprehensive school earlier on this year and was allocated to the hearing impaired and speech & language department. I worked with a pupil who had meningitis which had affected her mentality, hearing, and speech. We made a very small story presentation using the iPad using the Book Creater app based on Aladdin as she had been to see the show. She had included one sentence on each slide along with a recording of her voice as if she was narrating this story. She has a very low attention span but in the process of creating this story she was very focused and was enthusiastic about getting the work done. Once she was done, her confidence progressed even more as she wanted to present it to the class which was an achievement for her. This positive outcome was as a direct result of her use and engagement with ICT.

Short story created by the student. (Note, the format of file was not supported and was converted to video. Unfortunately the recording of voice did not work.)

References

Elmo Global, n.d. What is ICT in Education. [Online]
Available at: http://www.elmoglobal.com/en/html/ict/01.aspx
[Accessed 4.7.2015].

Loveless, A., 2003. The Role of ICT. London: Continuum.

Loveless, A. & Ellis, V., 2001. ICT, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

The Leonardo Effect

We remove the barriers to learning, allowing children to re-discover and develop a hunger for knowledge.

Leonardo Effect, (2011)

The Leonardo effect is a type of interdisciplinary teaching method which merges science and art to facilitate children to accomplish their bursting potential educationally. This teaching approach allows the children to expand on their ideas creatively and to develop into a confident individual as teammates and provider. While allowing the children to enquire freely, this allows the teachers to be further creative and impressionable in the classroom enabling the lesson to be engaging, especially in the curricula as the children are able to connect across the learning landscape.

The philosophy of The Leonardo Effect: Teaching creatively in the curriculum

Leonardo Da Vinci
(Derived from www.leonardoeffect.com)

Leonardo da Vinci influenced a child’s inquisitiveness and enquired the whole thing. Da Vinci was certain that consuming entirely of the senses in direct investigations to be crucial in his development of notions. The Leonardo effect have discovered that when children are offered the opportunity to carry out a similar method, it opens their possible of learning and also provide the children a desire for learning and make teaching more refreshing and significant task.

There are four stages of approach that has been tested and validated, that enables pupils of all aptitudes to have the right to learn and exceed high levels set by the old fashioned learning approaches. These four teaching methodology entails:

1) Capturing imagination in children.

This consists of using direct experiences in applicable settings to motivate self-generated enquiry. When capturing on children’s characteristic interest, a procedure of discovery learning commence involving exploration with different materials such as books. The pupils tend to sense empowerment and the teachers tend to feel motivated to learn with them.

2) DevelopmentChildren deeply discover, expand on ideas and carry out experiments through looking, listening and doing something. This open stage allows children to make links, illustrating out the learning procedure to ease learning ability development, including skills, knowledge and understanding.

3) Creation

As a task, children are expected to apply their skills and knowledge in an inventive and creative context, this lead their learning to an advanced level, surpassing traditional curricular requirements.

4) Reflection and Communication

In this stage, children go back onto their own work to evaluate and connect their knowledge to a wider audience in school, or go on board on a different learning journey stimulated by the new skills and knowledge that they have assimilated.

Recently in one of my university seminars, our lecturer had put us into groups of 4 and gave each group an element which was water, earth, fire, and air. We were given 'water'. The group task was to write down as many word association as we think can think of in 5 minutes, once 5 minutes was up the groups would change over and replicate the task, as the activity went it prove more difficult as the words association we could think of was written down already by another group, this gave us no choice but to really think outside the box to associate with the element.

Once the task had ended, the lecturer then asked us to choose one word association from our original element (i.e. water), and have asked us to prepare a visual short presentation based on the word association we have chosen. As a group, we chose‘tsunami’, as we have realised

that we actually did not know what causes the tsunami to occur, this have aroused our interests as we have found ourselves asking the usual questions such as ‘what’ and ‘why’. We have planned how to set out our presentation and researched thoroughly. I found this approach very enjoyable, and made me understood more about the Leonardo Effect as I have got to experience it.

Referencea

Leonardo Effect, 2011. What It Is. [Online]
Available at: http://www.leonardoeffect.com/connecting_learning_to_hard_to_reach_children.html
[Accessed 10.7.2015].

Outdoor Learning

What is outdoor learning?

There is a broad term for outdoor learning such as the school ground, outdoor learning for the foundation phase, personal and social development programmes and many more but the main point of outdoor learning is learning outside the classroom. This is one of the most beneficial ways of learning as it actively engages the children to learn kinaesthetically, use what they stumble upon and learn through exploration.

..some children are more likely to learn out of doors, particularly those with a more active kinaesthetic learning style..

(Edgington, 2003. p.8)

This quote above outlines one of the main benefits of learning outside the classroom, as outdoor learning suits the learning style of children who are actively doing something and they find it more effective to learn. 

'Outdoor Learning with Forest School', derived from www.youtube.com

This is a an example of outdoor learning, this outdoor learning is from Forest School

"It offers the space and a greater degree of freedom to try things out, to explore and experiment without constraints scope to ‘have a go’ at something, without worrying consequences"

(Tovey, 2007. p.13)

This is a good way to let children learn as it gives them the experience to learn freely without being told off. It gives them the opportunity to do things in a risky environment and use tools that may be sharp under supervision. In this way it can also help children to learn how to behave in different situations and toward different tools. They also learn about the dangers and risks of the situation and how to approach it.

"Outdoors is full of unpredictability and the sheer variability of the outdoors as an environment is what makes it unique. An indoor, in contrast, is relatively static, change is deliberate."

(Tovey, 2007. p.15)

Children love to explore different things, especially in the Foundation Phase. They don’t like to sit down and work for a long time, they like to go out and explore and do new things all the time. When you go outside, there are endless things you can do whereas in the classroom things will remain the same e.g. reading area, toy area and painting area.

Recently, in my current placement I have been taking part in environmental studies with one of the pupils from the hearing impaired unit, and we go outside on the field. The outside environment contrasts with the classroom environment is different as it is not as formal. The children were allowed to wander about the field and do whatever they want as long as they stick to the task. In this particular task, they had to find twigs from the same type of wood/tree, of different sizes to form a shape of a Christmas tree. This also used mathematical skills as pupils were eager to get a ruler and find out how long the twigs were.

The children also made a wreath out of willow tree branches, they had access to using the cutting tools knowing it was dangerous. Efficiently, they were taught the risks and hazards of the tools and surrounding. They weaved the branches circularly; once they were done they were able to apply decorations such as real holly leaves and Christmas baubles. Looking at thechildren’s behaviour, although they were in an informal learning environment, they were very careful and wise about the situation. They were also very engaged and got hands-on onto making the wreath, wanting to get through the difficulty of wrapping the branches around.

References

Edgington, M. 2003. The Great Outdoors: Developing children’s learning through outdoor provision. London: Early Education

Tovey, H. 2007. Playing Outdoors: Spaces and Places, Risk and Challenge. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Company

Conclusion

The outlining of the 5 creative approaches discussed in this blog has pointed out many benefits and impacts on children’s learning. The Leonardo Effect and Scientific Enquiry entail self-taught opportunities to find out information as well as outdoor learning but outdoor education is far more an independent kinaesthetic based learning. Outdoor learning inspires children’s curiosity and to be free to do whatever they want as long they are under supervision which then teaches them how to behave toward danger. Creativity in ICT is becoming the norm and there are many ways in which both children and teachers can be creative such as interactive learning and making presentations based on their own experience to reflect on what they had done. Creative Partnership is a great way of bringing creativity into the curriculum as it help children become more engaged in their learning, also proves that it improves the learning quality of children who are at a disadvantage.