Stephen Heppell, a regular writer in The Guardian writes on creativity and observes, how, in the latest white paper, "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All" it never once mentions 'creativity'
"Standard" is mentioned 144 times,
"fail" appears 53 times.Rather surprisingly, the words "creativity" and "creative" are not mentioned at all, probably uniquely for an education policy paper in the 21st century. Someone has taken their eye off the ball, haven't they?
Sonja :)
Doesn't seem to ring true, does it? Especially with 'excellence and enjoyment' supposedly at the forefront of education.
Jonathan
Is that because government officials aren't brave enough to use terms such as fun and enjoyment when talking about learning?
Stephen Powell
Not sure it was a question, but I suspect the reason they don't use the word creativity is that the authors of the paper are stuck in their own rhetoric which at the moment is obsessed with choice and standards. Choice and standards may well be good things, but they are only, at best, part of the picture and don't address the key question of what is it that we want our education system to deliver - surely more than choice and an ill defined concept of standards.
Tom
Surely it's because you can't include something so nondescript as creativity as a requirement for school learners? I mean, (and please understand, I'm talking about 95% of children here) you can say children can be expected and encouraged to learn, or to go to school, maybe even partake in some physical activity too, but can you say they have to exhibit some form of creativity?? What about if you're not creative? Creativity is something you may blessed with, and something that can be assessed, possibly, if you don't work well with other forms of assessment. It shouldn't be a requirement of the education system in this country, and that is probably why the white paper (errs on the side of caution) and doesn't mention it. Anyway, a national policy on education is a silly idea anyway.. That's a different argument though! ;)
Sonja
No-one is saying children HAVE to exhibit some form of creativity, but by nature, every child does have some form of creativity in them - from producing story ideas to simple mark making. It is the job of the teacher to be creative in his/her approach to teaching and by doing so acn capture creative thoughts and ideas from the children. we 'scaffold' the children to be the best they can be. What should be the requirement is teaching through creative methods in a way that encompasses as many different learning styles to reach as many children as possible. Perhaps we should say children should be encouraged to demonstrate their learning in ways other than pencil and paper?
Tom - you are very correct, the definition of creativity is very very hazy. Perhaps that needs to be outlined before we expect any white papers to include that word?
Tom
Yes, and i think the definition or more likely the understanding of the word "creativity" is the problem. Mention creativity to the average policy making civil servent and they'll run a mile (which evidently they have!) assuming that we'll all be demanding pupils to paint pictures instead of learning how read and write!
Stephen Heppell
Useful debate... but it's worth mentioning that the word Ingenuity doesn't appear either. And although problem is there 25 times (people always find problems in education, sigh), the phrase "problem solving" isn't.
I don't think there is a conspiracy here, or a conscious abandonment of it because it's hard to measure, it's just that no one thought about it. Interesting when I show this to Civil Servants, who are almost all exellent and with smart minds, they just hold their heads in their hands... They really value creativity... it's just that new learning gets forgotten rather too often.
...and so did I when I discovered this.
visitor
the term creativity, as tom says, is so often held up with the arts, but when if you think of your ideal employee for a research and development team for new pharmacuticals, you would want someone who is creative, they may not be able to dance or to string a poem together, but to think of new ways tackle the war on cancer for example, takes creative thinking.
so when the government neglects to encourage creative thinking in pupils, it is not just a loss to the arts world, that the next generation of employees will be uncreative, but it will have, and has since the thatcher years, have an effect on the whole economy (slightly melodramatic maybe, but you see my point!)
Phil
I would agree with the last few posts. The Government has largely left it to the arts to tap into the creative ability of children. There are so many tools available now to help people explore and use their creative ability. Take mind mapping there are many software packages such as Spark-Space that enable users to record there creative ideas. Why aren't such software packages making it into the classroom?
Jonathan
I suppose you have to look to the Local Authority support services that would advise schools and teachers on the use and implementation of such tools. The responsibility of this shouldn't lie just with the ICT training and development agencies, but the Numeracy and Literacy teams also.
In my experience, these training and development agencies have a huge influence on the activity that takes place in the classroom, through the many courses and INSET courses that they run.
BETT 2007 will host a wide range of exhibitors, many of whom selling their software to all and sundry. 28,000 people attend the annual show, but that won't necessarily mean that the implementation of new tools is guaranteed. It very much depends on the right people identifying with the software who is able to see how such tools can be utilised in the authority.
I believe we need strong advocates of the mind mapping and creative tools to trail-blaze their use of them in schools and for people to take note of the many benefits. We are then ever-hopeful, that the training and development agencies take heed and sell that to their clients in the Local Authority.
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