As well as being very passionate about learning and education. In the pass I have been irritated when I have heard Art, Design and Media subjects downgraded or sidelined, devaluing the need of them, missing the fact the amount of mathematics in them. This more relates to secondary schools, but sometimes this does impact on Primary schools. I feel this has had some bearing on the direction of my inquiry although not the main reason, as I am leaning towards Creativity as a whole. I believe creativity enhances learning in many ways for children and teachers and I am very much looking at the creativity in a primary school, its sense of purpose and why it is important.
I believe Art is an early stage of science and that Art is also a form of communication to many, it can give learning a sense of purpose and teach senses/skills that are sometimes abundant in an mundane academic environment. I also believe Art Direction in a primary school opens doors to learning, help see the bigger picture from the classroom, school, community and professional network. I believe Art Direction goes beyond the painting on the walls! I have chosen Creativity in a primary school, rather than 'Art' Media, Graphic Design or Technology because I feel primary schools have revolved and Creativity reflects a Primary School more.
Does creativity develop thinking and problem solving skills? Why is creativity so important? Can creativity strengthen teaching and learning? How does creativity reflect among the practitioners of the practice? When is it limited? What are its effects when it is abundant? What is Graphic Design in a primary school? What is tactic knowledge in a primary school?
I have started looking at creativity from a range of directions. I have also started an after school club and have now become a governor. I am developing my Professional Network and starting to develop my cognitive and critical thinking skills.
I went into a school yesterday to observe some classes and the dance teacher was very upset as a child's parent had pulled him from GCSE as she said it wouldn't get him anywhere! Dance uses and intertwines so many different skills and is as valuable as any other subject. It is very frustrating to hear people talk about dance and The Arts as if they are of less value and stature to everything else. I think this is a great topic for you to explore!
ReplyDeleteI really love where you are coming from here, it makes a lot of sense to me. As you said on my blog, we have many links despite coming at this course from different art genres, My school is currently working towards an artsmark award as we are a very 'arty' type of school that understands the importance of creativity, just like you have said. I am really interested in where this questioning will take you.
ReplyDeleteHi Bernadette,
ReplyDeleteI think many of these questions we already know the answer to ‘does creativity improve thinking skills?’ well of course, we know that. I think you need to decide firstly what it is you want to find out. Avoid questions that are simply vehicles for saying what you think. Better to use the inquiry to find things out. Now, you then might need to decide on the domain. So is it about Teaching? Learning? Policy? School organisation and planning? Staff development? Which is the domain that most interests you?
Lets take an example, say it is around policy, and specifically, how the policy has emerged (pre Gove, now with Gove)? You would be accessing a specific literature and asking a specific sort of question, that implies a specific method of gathering and analysing data.
So if you were interested to understand how we got to where we are in terms of creativity in the curriculum, with particular reference to the status of lets say art, then we need to ask, where is the policy insight? This would imply a specific literature, e.g. All Our Futures (Robinson 2009) would be a key work because if established not only the arguments for creative subjects, but for the creative teaching of all subjects. In that text, you’ll find the key arguments, and these could form the basis for your policy examination, e.g. How do we balance the need for specific life competencies like a working knowledge of science, against the need for our future workforce to be highly adaptable and to have very different sorts of capacities and capabilities?
Then you would be in a position to think about the type of questions you might ask, e.g. what have been the policy drivers for promoting creativity at KS1 and KS2 and what is the current state of play? Now this is a question that can be answered, but where might data and insights lay? Well, policy documents from government, think tanks, education researchers etc. So from deciding your main focus (in this example policy on creativity) you can see how you can identify your main method (in this instance, literature review) that your method of analysis would be a critique of those documents and that the type of question would pose policy-specific questions.
This is just an example, you could for example, ask ‘how are teachers implementing a creative curriculum? A different question, the insights lay with teachers, OFSTED reports etc, different method of gathering data etc etc etc.
Ok,
Hope that helps!
Thank you Alan some of it is helpful.
ReplyDeleteIn relation some of the questions we already know the answers too, I do agree, but questioning and raising the questions could improve practice 'Does Creativity Improve Thinking skills (Yes it Does)' so why not extend it to different elements of Practice? Does 'Art' not improve visual skills and at times forward thinking? (not mentioned above an answer we probably already know) Sometimes you have to ask questions you feel you already know the answers too, to raise questions in the mind of others to help a practice move forward. In terms of Tactic Knowledge I personally feel this is limited knowledge - especially when it comes to children with Autism or children with different needs, Tactic Knowledge could have a lot of strength if explored and experimented with to these children. Giving a sense of purpose to learning through Creativity at a younger age could help a few street wise children and develop practice.
In terms of the word 'Art', if you are not in the field you normally associate it with drawing and painting. Graphic Design vs Creativity or even Design & Technology, what would each name mean to you? What would you think it entailed? What name is more appropriate for a primary school?
You asked me what is my Domain - 'The Bigger Picture' (Creativity as a Whole' - The Jigsaw Puzzle), I would say it includes all the domains you mentioned above in some way, this is about applying and building on my 'art'form' Graphic Design through Creativity within a Primary School, to improve my Professional Practice. Creativity teaching for all subjects and behind the scenes, the heart of the Practice etc...
I like all your examples and they are near the direction I am aiming for although I would like to try and blend them to together. I haven't come up with my final inquiry questions yet, although I roughly know what I am aiming for. I like the sound of 'All Our Futures' so will look it up. If you have anymore questions relating to the Bigger Picture in relation to creativity in Primary schools, they would be more than welcome! (I will fine tune to a specific domain, if I need too, but not yet! If I utilize my Graphic Design skills for the Bigger Picture then I could improve my Professional Practice quite a bit!
I am running an Creativity after school club - Art, Maths, Literacy, applied learning, Digital Media, Apps, a little of HTML - my club will run different projects for different age groups, and I am Governor at a different school(will be reading policy and data often), I have also joined the union to access further literature if needed. I have good professional support around me at my current work place and few connects with other schools. I have also started to build a SIG via Facebook.
Thank you again.