Curriculum Briefing 10_2

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A m xpUnderstanding the ingredients of creative teachingand learning, knowing how to teach for creativity,insiring dee learning, develoing learnerscreative skills and disositions

pAA mAAm princiles for crafting a creative curriculu,shaing stiulating learning saces, designinglessons for creativity, activities that hook learners,building teachers confidence to be creative

A U m eveloing creative inds, insiring student-ledlearning, stiulating curiosity, awe and wonder,overcoing blocks to creativity, assessing creativity

Vol 10 No 22012

Creative T&L: nuts and boltsof classroom innovation

urriculu Briefing


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CBEditor: Angela Dewsburyemail: [email protected] Editor: Jenny Leeemail: [email protected]

Curriculum Briefingis published by Optimus EducationRegistered office: 33-41 Dallington Street, London, EC1V 0BB

Telephone: 0845 4506404Fax: 0845 4506410Website: www.optimus-education.com

2012 Optimus EducationISSN 1477-7975

Optimus Education is a division of Optimus Professional Publishing LtdRegistered office: 33-41 Dallington St, London EC1V 0BBRegistered in England and Wales. Reg no: 05791519

While every effort has been ade to ensure that the aterial contained in this ublication is correct, the ublishers cannot be heldresonsible for any inaccuracies that ay occur. he articles contain general guidance and should not be relied on for advice in everyarticular case. he ublishers ofCurriculum Briefingcannot accet any liability arising out of the aterial contained in this ublication.

School subscribers may photocopy any part of this newsletter only for use within their school


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31Ive started so Ill

finish: thinking through

lessons Creating the right

learning tasks and challenges

at each stage of the lesson to

develop students into

powerfully creative thinkers

Steve Bowkett, Writer,

Author-visitor to schools and

Educational Consultant

38 Hurdle jumping:

overcoming creative

blocks Understanding when

students are off task and

how to help them surmount

stumbling blocks in their

creativity Mark Brundrett,

Professor of Educational

Research at Liverpool John

Moores University

41Developing creative

minds networking to

explore T&L tools that

allow creativity to flourish

Strategies and insights

from a network of teachers

who delved into how to

embed greater creativity

across the curriculum

Anne de AEchevarria,

Education Consultant

47 References

T

o secure deep learning in all classrooms you need teaching staff who are creative in theirapproach to teaching and learning (T&L), and students who are skilled and confident to takerisks and be innovative when tackling the varied creative learning tasks presented to them. Sohow as curriculum manager can you inspire greater creativity in T&L across the school? First,you need a clear understanding of what creativity looks like in practice, one that is shared byall staff so you can work together in achieving this in your T&L. This issue ofCurriculum

Briefingbegins by exploring what creativity is all about and how it translates across different subject areas,before exploring what it means to teach for creativity to inspire innovation in learning. To help ensure all staffteach for creativity, you need in place a challenging and inspirational curriculum that provides everyopportunity for injecting the right level of creativity in lessons to excite and engage all learners understandthe ingredients of creativity and discover the core principles to use to craft a stimulating curriculum thatpromotes innovation in lessons. Teaching for creativity can be a scary prospect for teachers learn how to buildin them the confidence to let go and design creative learning activities that encourage risk-taking, buildenquiry-based learning and provoke pupils to reflect so that the wow factor of learning is present throughout.Creativity in T&L is about catalysing and expanding pupils learning capacities. It is about shocking learnerswith the new, building surprise and unexpected juxtapositions into learning activities. Part of this is aboutcreating the right spaces for learning discover how to build learning environments where the creativity ofboth teachers and staff can soar, and explore how to experiment with the timings of learning so that innovation

has the space it needs to flourish. Find out how to design innovative lesson designs that allow creativity to flow,inspire awe and wonder in learners, and encourage them to delve deeper in their explorations. Variety is saidto be the spice of life and this is true in teaching for creativity too. The thrill of the unknown, the chance tomeet the unfamiliar and be pushed to your limits, if handled well can be exhilarating, exciting and inspiring.Discover how to ensure teachers provide activities at each stage of the lesson that hook learners curiosity andstimulate their creativity. Creative aha moments invariably come from sharing and bouncing off ideas withothers learn how to build in students the vocabulary of thinking so that they can develop new meanings andunderstandings with others to think through learning challenges to create new possibilities. Sometimescreativity needs space to breath, so it is important for teachers to know when students are on task but at areflection stage, and when they have hit what can feel like an insurmountable blockage in learning. Discoverstrategies to use for when both students and teachers need help in overcoming obstacles to creativity. As wellas case studies throughout showcasing how teaching for creativity translates into practice, learn from the moredetailed study of a network of teachers who explored how to embed more creativity in T&L across thecurriculum. Creativity is not a bolt-on it is an attitude towards learning that needs to be developed in alllessons. Doing so will help students build the learning skills they will need to thrive in life from improvingtheir social and emotional skills, to building their resilience and resourcefulness, from increasing theircapacity to show initiative, to growing their ability to think divergently and overcome problems. Overall, theadvice and tools in this issue ofCurriculum Briefingaim to show you how to embed greater creativity acrossyour curriculum so that T&L is more powerful and empowering for pupils and staff alike.

2 Acronyms

3 Being creative about

nurturing creativity

Overview of what it means

to be creative and how to

release this in all classrooms

Pat Cochrane, Chief

Executive, CapeUK

9Finding the golden

thread accommodating

creativity and innovation

in the curriculum

Principles you can use to

craft your curriculum into a

vehicle that drives creative

T&L Philippa Cordingley,

Founder and Chief

Executive of CUREE

14Creative teaching for

creative learning: why,

how and wow! Injecting the

wow factor into T&L so that

teachers have the

confidence and competence

to unleash creativity in their

lessonsJo Trowsdale,

Director, Cre8us

20Room for innovation:

creating creative

learning spaces Knowing

how to build the right

environment for creativity

to flourish Steve

Illingworth, Independent

Education Consultant

24Achieving creative

lesson design and

delivery Designing lessons

for creativity that create a

sense of wonder in the

classroom and allow deep

learning to take place

Ian Cant, Assistant

Headteacher, The John

Warner School, Hertfordshire


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Acronyms

Af assessent for learningA advanced skills teacherBp Building earning powerB Building chools for the utureB Business and echnology

ducation ouncilA cognitive acceleration

A cognitive acceleration throughscience educationp continuing rofessional

develoentU entre for the Use of esearch and

vidence in ducation& design and technologym very hild mattersm free school ealsA go and see& gifted and talented inforation and counications

technology initial teacher educationWB interactive whiteboardKW know/want to know/learnedA local authorityA ational Advisory oittee on

reative and ultural ducation national curriculu ational ollege for chool

eadership neuro-linguistic rograing rganisation for conoic

ooeration and eveloent

p4 philosohy for hildrenp private inance nitiativep ositive interdeendence,

individual accountability,equal articiation andsiultaneous interaction

p ersonal, learning and thinkingskills

p ersonal, social and healtheducation

QA Qualifications and urriculueveloent Agency

religious educationp rolelay gaeA sitting and thinking/talking secial educational needs senior leadershi team social, oral, siritual and culturalm senior anageent tea

& teaching and learningA teaching assistantA thinking actively in a social contetA raining and eveloent Agency

for chools teacher learning counitypm teacher erforance anageent

WWW we were wonderingZp zone of roial develoent


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It is hardly possible to pick up a paper or listen to thenews without hearing about yet another aspect of lifethat is rapidly changing or posing enormous chal-lenges to our future. Human beings have alwaysneeded to be imaginative, resourceful, resilient andinnovative. But in the face of challenges of globalisa-tion, inequalities in society and globally, climate and

demographic change and economic crisis, these capa-cities are arguably more important than ever before.

Creativity is imaginative behaviour fashioned so asto produce outcomes that are both original and ofvalue. (A, 1999)

his sile definition has becoe a coon startingoint for eloring creativity in schools. t coesoriginally froAll our futures, a highly influential reortublished by the ational Advisory oittee onreative and ultural ducation (A) in 1999.he reort argued that creativity should be encouragedacross the curriculu and that it is not solely about thearts but is equally relevant to subjects such as geog-rahy, history and the sciences.

ver the last decade any governents have beenreflecting on the urose of education, reshaing theircurriculu and develoing descritions of the skillsand caabilities they want young eole to develo(laton and ucas, 2009). n ngland, there havebeen a nuber of significant rograes to elorehow best to suort creativity in schools. hese includeQA research rograeCreativity: find it, promote it,the national reative partnershis rograe (www.

creative-artnershis.co), the work of aeUK (www.caeuk.org) and uch associated research and theearning utures rograe (www.learning futures.org). o schools wishing to introduce a creative curric-ulu have a wealth of eerience to draw on (efton-reen el al, 2011). he article on ages 913 outlinesrinciles for ileenting a creative curriculu.

he secondary national curriculu (), introducedin 2008, outlines a set of ersonal, learning andthinking skills (p) that will be failiar to all curric-ulu leaders. hese describe the skills involved inbeing an indeendent enquirer, a creative thinker, ref-

lective learner, teaworker, self-anager and effective

articiator. When being creative, we ay draw on allof these caacities, not just creative thinking. hink of acreative scientist leading a research roject over anuber of years, or a fil director working on a ajorroduction. Both will have to be iaginative, creative,and tenacious and also have the skills to otivate atea through difficult and challenging stages of the

research or roduction rocess. many schools arealready successfully devising a challenging, iagina-tive and insirational curriculu that integrates oor-tunities to develo these skills with subject knowledgeenabling students to eerience and understand theworld and its rich coleity. he urose of thereview of the national curriculu (see:htt://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculu/nationalcurriculu) seeed to be to shiftthe focus of the firly back to subject knowledge.he review has now been deferred for another year,and so we are facing a longer eriod of uncertaintyabout its future shae. owever, the eert groucoissioned to infor the review has confired theiortance and value of a focus on ersonaldeveloent and skills as well as subject knowledge. tis certainly welcoe that the searation of subjectknowledge and skills has been seen to be a falseolarisation successful schools and teachers enablestudents to develo both.

Whatever the outcoe of the review, we know thatthe oalition overnents ai is to have a sliercore national curriculu with greater autonoy forschools to deterine and shae the broader curric-ulu at local level and to develo insiring teaching

and learning (&). o it is an ecellent tie forcurriculu leaders to be reflecting on what is reallyiortant in ters of teaching, learning andcurriculu design, and grasing the oortunity tocreate coelling and insiring learning eeriencesthat engage young eole as active and creative agentsin their own learning.

Evidence of impact of creativityeaching and learning that nurtures young eolescreative caacities has been shown to have a ositiveiact on otivation, attendance, behaviour and

attainent. fsteds recent review of creative

Being creative about nurturing creativity

more than ever before we have to nurture young eoles creativity, argues Pat Cochrane asshe elores what creativity in schools looks like, giving an overview of the core issues toaddress to shae teaching and learning to nourish this, and rovide the right aroach toassessent to enable you to recognise and value young eoles develoing creativity, withcase eales throughout to show how schools are achieving this in ractice

OVERVIEW

Useful things to know: Creative Partnerships programme

Creative Partnerships was a national programme designed to support creative learning through the development of long-term

partnerships between schools and creative professionals. It developed a number of ways in which school staff can work in

partnership with outside professionals to develop creative approaches to learning. See: www.creative-partnerships.com

Actions involvedwhen being creative

orulate andask questions

make connectionsbetween different ideas

nvisage and iagineossibilities

lore andeerient with ideas

eflect on our actionsand solutions

Work throughchallenges to create

and design roductsor solutions

Wrestle with thechallenge of uncertainty

The challenge forthe curriculumleader is to makecreativity part of thewarp and weft of thelearning experience,successfullycombining subjectlearning with

creative process

Teaching andlearning thatnurtures youngpeoples creativecapacities has beenshown to have apositive impact on

motivation,attendance,behaviour andattainment


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aroaches to learning found ositive iacts onstandards, ersonal develoent, otivation andattendance in schools where creativity wascobined with good teaching and carefulcurriculu lanning (fsted, 2010). nterestingly,this iact was found to be even greater in schoolsin challenging circustances whose creativearoaches were found to lead to increasediroveents in reading and writing, seaking andlistening, uils collaborative roble-solvingskills, and ersonal develoent.

iilarly, research into the iact of the reativepartnershis rograe (see the Useful things to

know bo at the botto of age 3, showed that, wherecreative aroaches to & are in lace, any students:

develo their caacity to irovise, take risks, showresilience and willingness to collaborate, irove theirersonal and social skills

eerience high otivation and asiration anifest higher achieveent, esecially in literacy,

nueracy and inforation and counicationstechnology ().

o the ositive iact of creative learning is significantand rovides uch of the evidence to address keyeleents of the new fsted insection fraework.

Although by its very essence it is not ossible todefine a forula for creativity, there is now a generallyrecognised set of behaviours, caabilities and atitudesthat can be nurtured and which, together, for theingredients of creativity. uriosity and iagination areat the heart of a creative rocess (for adults as uch as

for young eole). When we are being creative weehibit the caabilities and atitudes set out in the boiddle right on age 3.

he kind of behaviours a teacher ight observewhen uils are being creative are outlined in oredetail in the bo below.

he challenge for the curriculu leader is to akecreativity art of the war and weft of the learningeerience, successfully cobining subject learningwith creative rocess.

Supporting developmentof creativitykills and atitudes are learned and acquired throughractical alication, linked with reflection and inrelation to knowledge and subject learning. t is notaroriate to searate out the skills and atitudes thatcontribute to creativity and teach the as searatetoics a lesson resenting the factors in teaworkwill be far less effective than integrating reflection onwhat akes for good teawork into an activity thatdeands collaboration to succeed.

It is an excellenttime for curriculum

leaders to be grasping the

opportunity tocreate compelling

and inspiringlearning experiences

that engage youngpeople as active and

creative agents intheir own learning

Case study: nurturing 21st-century learning qualitiesA successful school wished to further develop its existing learning charter to

identify key 21st-century learning qualities. The school also wished to develop

greater ownership and understanding of personal, learning and thinking skills

among pupils. In a staff conference, senior management invited staff to revisit

their learning charter and identify the most significant independent learning

qualities that successful learners of all abilities might display. They reached aconsensus that they would like their pupils to be committed; open-minded;

motivated; cooperative; resourceful and flexible. The staff then made a plan to

ensure these qualities became as recognisable to pupils as the school badge.

These six inclusive learning qualities were introduced to pupils on an

independent learning day when the normal timetable was suspended. Their

weekly cycle of assemblies were used to top-up pupils understanding, and a

competition was set up to establish a visual identity for these qualities that could

then feature on the front cover of school planners. These events and processes

launched the initiative. The school is continuing to reinforce the importance of

these learning qualities, which are well understood by pupils. Senior management

is now wrestling with processes for assessing and recording pupils progress. They

have explored the use of peer-to-peer reflection and feedback, followed by self-assessment using questionnaires where pupils consider their strengths and

identify where their areas for development are. They have also connected their

merit system to the development of these qualities and are exploring ways of

tracking progress by considering merits gained. Although they have not explicitly

mentioned the word creativity in their 21st-century learning qualities, the

attributes they endorse make a strong contribution to creative learning.

Features associated with creativity

Creative features Range of behavioursQuestioning and

challenging

Making

connections

and seeing

relationships

Envisaging what

might be

Exploring ideas,

keeping options

open

Reflecting critically

on ideas, actions

and outcomes

Reviewing progress Inviting and incorporating feedback Making perceptive observations about originality & value

Asking is this good, is it whats needed? Putting forward constructive comments, ideas,

explanations and ways of doing things

Asking why, how, what if? Responding to ideas, questions, tasks or problems in an

unusual way

Asking unusual questions Challenging conventions and assumptions Thinking independently

Recognising the significance of knowledge or previousexperience

Generalising from information and experience,searching for trends and patterns

Using analogies and metaphor Reinterpreting and applying learning in new contexts Communicating ideas in novel or unexpected ways

Imagining and seeing things in the minds eye Asking what if? Visualising alternatives

Seeing possibilities, problems and challenges Looking at and thinking about things differently and

from different points of view

Playing with ideas and experimenting Responding intuitively and trusting intuition Keeping an open mind, adapting and modifying ideas

to achieve creative results

Trying alternatives and fresh approaches Anticipating and overcoming difficulties, following

through ideas

OVERVIEW


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eveloing coelling learning eeriences(QA, 2009) will enable students to engage with acreative rocess over the long ter, to aly this in thecontet of subject knowledge and to develo resilience

in working towards an outcoe. chools that haveintroduced creative learning ost effectively haveachieved this through a sustained rocess of organisa-tional culture change, suorted by rigorouslanning and ongoing, uroseful rofessionaldeveloent focused on develoing creative learning.But it can be difficult to know where to begin. eflec-ting on three fundaental questions in curriculudesign gives a useful structure to think this throughand alies as uch to introducing creativity as to anyother area of the curriculu. hese are:

What are we trying to achieve? ow do we organise learning to eet these

asirations? ow well are we achieving our ais?

Although the p fraework is a useful startingoint, develoing your own set of descritors can be farore owerful. his enables a tea or the wider schoolcounity to develo a shared understanding of whatis eant by creativity not as an abstract concet, but

in ters of what behaviours, atitudes and attitudes

you want to nurture. many schools that are successfullyileenting a creative curriculu involve all staff inan indeth eloratory rocess. As the case study in thebo to left on age 4 shows, this tye of elorationenables teachers to own these concets and integratethe into their ractice.

nce the school or tea has forulated clear objec-tives in ters of caacities, the net ste is to develothese caacities by organising and designing thecurriculu and aroaches to teaching and learning todevelo these caacities. he case eale in the boabove left illustrates how not to go about this!

Curriculum approachesCreativity within subjectst is ossible to start looking at creativity within subjectlearning and for each curriculu area to consider howcreative rocesses can be generated in their subject.eachers can a the subject learning to be coveredalongside the activity uils will be engaged in and thecreative rocess you are hoing to stiulate. owever,

1Analyse where your school is ost suc-

cessful in ters of creative rocess. eewww.caeuk.org for an outline self-assessent fraework. Build on what isworking well and seek to learn fro this.2 Actively involve students in the rocessof designing the learning rocess. hearris ederation student coission onlearning is a good eale see: www.harris federation.org.uk/124/about-the-coission aeUKs oice in theiddle roject has case studies of howstudents can be genuinely involved in

collaborative eloration about thecurriculu see:www.caeuk.org/caeuk-news/eloring-young-eoles-voice-influence-can-you-hear-e-are-you-listening-can-i-ake-an-iact.htl3nable colleagues fro different

curriculu areas to collaborate on teaching

a secific asect of the curriculu.4Be clear what you want to achieve throughthis collaboration, and frae an enquiryquestion to shae your develoents. o,for eale, a science and art and designteacher working together could elore,oes odelling a scientific concet on alarge scale aid understanding or oesobservational drawing aid the develoentof scientific concets. Learning to enquireoffers ractical tis about how to do this see: www.caeuk.org/caeuk-resources/

learning-to-enquire.htlBuilding creativefutures(aeUK, 2005), available to down-load frowww.caeuk.org, describes howschools carried out sall-scale actionresearch activities in the reativity Actionesearch Awards rograe.

5hink about how to organise tie and

sace in the school: creative rocesses needore than the 55-inute session todevelo. ry blocking the tietable to allowfor longer eriods of eloration.6 esign the learning around bigquestions or rovocations that will ecitestudents iagination and act as a lureinto learning.7ollaborate with eternal artnerswherever ossible.8lore how eole and laces in the localcounity can be used as learning

artners or resources.9nvest tie to reflect on the iact ofeach of the stes you take and refine yourlans accordingly.10ive erission to try out new waysof working.

Case example: pitfalls to avoid when incorporatingcreativity in curriculum redesignA school decided to move to an integrated curriculum for humanities subjects, so

that for half of the school week pupils would be learning through a skills-based

curriculum. Eight teachers were timetabled to work on the programme but given

little time to adapt to the approach or to prepare or plan. The teaching areas were

transformed into open-plan spaces. Towards the end of the first year, the pupils

were asked to review their response to this change. They unanimously pleaded for

the teachers to go back to subject teaching. They said that it was clear that the

teachers were not confident and didnt really know what they were doing. The

school returned to a subject-based approach using this experience as evid ence of

a problem with a skills-based curriculum. However, what it showed more clearly

was the need for planning and preparation in any process of curriculum change.

Case example: designing creativeproblem-solving challengesPupils were set the challenge of developing a science

discovery centre for younger primary age children.

They had to consider how to redesign a classroom

space to create an imaginative, awe-inspiring environ-

ment. They researched how local museums and gal-

leries managed their space. They generated multiple

ideas about what scientific idea they could focus on

and then selected possibilities from these options.

Pupils imagined ways of sharing scientific concepts

that would inspire younger children; they then collab-

orated in small teams to create their installations and

plan how to manage the visits of the younger children.

They had to deal with setbacks such as when their

ideas or their model did not work out.Creative thinkingskills developalongside andoverlap with other

types of learning

Stepping stones to introducing creativity

There is now agenerally recognisedset of behaviours,capabilities andaptitudes that canbe nurtured andwhich, together,form the ingredientsof creativity


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this aroach ay not encourage connection betweendifferent areas of knowledge, jutaosing and linkingideas in an unusual way that is an eleent of creativity.

Collapsing the timetable to allow for cross-curricular days or weekschools often cobine this subject aroach with a

nuber of integrated days where an issue or thee iselored in an iersive way. ne school hasdesigned each half-ter around one of the p,starting with a full iersion day in which teacherswork together to design activities that introduce theskills and atitudes relating to that skillset and thenaly the in an iaginative contet on that day.uring the rest of the half-ter teachers can refer backto the eerience to relate their subject knowledge tothe skills and caacities elored on the day. he dangerof this aroach is that the interconnectednessbetween the different skillsets can be lost.

Cross-curricular approachA ore radical aroach is where the curriculu isdesigned to draw on both a range of subject knowledge

and skills. esigning the curriculu around a series ofchallenges, or rovocations, can rovide a coellingcontet for subject learning and skills develoent.aving a ractical outcoe and urose for the lear-ning is also highly otivating and generates creativeroble-solving, as the eale in the bo to right onage 5 illustrates.t shows how creative thinking skills

develo alongside and overla with other tyes oflearning and thinking skills, fro ersevering in theface of difficulty (when acting as a self-anager) tocollaborating with others to work towards a coongoal (when acting as teaworkers) to inviting feedbackand dealing ositively with raise, setbacks andcriticis (when being reflective learners). or ore ondeveloing thinking skills to hel learners becoecreative thinkers, see the articles on ages 3137 andages 4146.

he bo at the botto of age 5 outlines key stes tofollow to hel you successfully incororate creativity in

teaching and learning at a whole-school level. he caseeale in the bo below shows how one school hasgone about this via the radical aroach it develoed toreshaing its curriculu.

The creative processinvolves theopportunity to beimmersed in a taskand allow solutionsto emerge, combinedwith a willingness to

take risks, imagineproblems afresh andcreate new solutions

An 1116 secondary school in an industrial

town in the North of England adopted a

radical approach to curriculum change.

Students at the school come from a wide

range of socio-economic backgrounds with

18% on free school meals (FSM) and 20%

with special educational needs (SEN). The

school prides itself on being a community

school, with an onsite nursery, and close

links to its local special and primary schools;

it was a national School of Creativity as part

of Creative Partnerships.

In 2005, the head introduced a vision of a

programme of curriculum change, begin-

ning with Year 7, with an overarching aim of

developing a humanising educational

experience for students that would raise

aspirations and confidence as well as

achievement. He outlined a vision in which

the curriculum would be driven by dramaticenquiry, in which students explore ideas

and issues through drama a power ful

pedagogy for change and then he handed

over to a team of teachers and a trusted

external mentor. The model of change was

one of voluntary engagement and bottom

up. The core team of volunteer teachers,

working alongside the mentor, were trusted

to write and explore the new curriculum

without a top-down rubric being in place.

Members of the departments of history,

English, geography, religious education

(RE), personal, social and health education

(PSHE), drama, and ICT were the first to

volunteer. Together, this group of teachers

and their mentor, an experienced drama

teacher, developed a course called cultural

studies. As tutors became confident in

teaching this to Year 7, a curriculum for

confidence was developed for Year 8. In

2008, a new curriculum for Year 9, which

integrated maths, science and design

technology, and enticingly entitled

rockets, was introduced.

Staff training began with the national

curriculum. They explored and, for some

teachers, discovered the freedom afforded

by the NC to build contexts for learning

while remaining mindful of the skills, knowl-

edge and attributes that young people need

to develop. The subject specialists were sur-

prised to realise how much common ground

there was between them and became more

open to the idea of developing meaningful

and connected contexts. Once this confid-

ence was built, they were able to look at the

what and how of the curriculum. Theybegan by agreeing overarching half-termly

themes carefully avoiding the fragmen-

ted thematic approaches sometimes

associated with topic work. The lessons

flowed regardless of subject, as they were

driven by an enquiry question and a story.

They then identified the skills they felt were

crucial and core to the learner, namely the

capacity and confidence to:

question solve and anticipate problems manage and manipulate data have empathy with others have the resilience and stamina to persist

in the pursuit of a goal

be independent researchers andsocial learners

be able to see the value in their work andidentify the areas that needed to be

improved or redone

have belief in self and others that theycould make a positive difference in future.

After this, as the mentor explains:

We began to create lures into learning.

We began with a little boy called

Ashique. We ended by contributing to

the building of a school in Uganda. We

didnt explicitly plan the units so that

children would remember better and

perform more effectively in exams,

though achievement was high and

attendance much improved, but what

became interesting was the impact on

teaching other classes. The staff

working on cultural studies began

teaching their GCSE classes in differentways with more activity and more

drama. They shared their ideas with

colleagues so that it began to influence

practice across the school.

Within three years, 22% more pupils had

gained A*C grades at GCSE an

improvement that the school believes was

closely aligned to improving pedagogy, and

the impact that this had on strengthening

students self-belief that they could achieve.

A desire to humanise the curriculum drove

the model at the school and it is humanity

and pedagogy working so closely in

partnership that makes this model so

successful. For a more detailed description

see Fautley et al (2011).

Case study: creating a compelling humanising curriculum

OVERVIEW


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Teaching for creativityt is soewhat artificial to searate out the concets ofcreative teaching fro teaching and learning forcreativity in ractice they are closely intertwined. Buta focus on teaching for creativity can be helful ingenerating clarity about teaching rocesses thatnurture the creative caacities of young eole

theselves. Whereas creative teaching tends to focuson iaginative ethods to engage and enthuse thelearners and can lead to thinking of teaching as

erforance, teaching for creativity focuses onenabling the students theselves to develo theircreative caacities. his often involves teachersstanding back, enabling solutions to eerge throughquestioning and eloration. t also often involvesteachers odelling their own learning and acknowled-ging the contribution of uils. his aroach is not an

easy otion and requires careful lanning to allowenquiry, debate, seculation, eerientation, reviewand resentation to be roductive (fsted, 2010).

Generating imagination, a spirit ofenquiry and dialogueeachers can encourage a sirit of enquiry,the generation of ideas and the use ofiagination by asking enabling questionsthat encourage dialogue and eloration

such as: what if?; why?; what wouldhaen if?agination can be encouraged by

etended rolelay, eloring issues fro aarticular ersective and eerientingwith thoughts and otions. he teacher isthen odelling ossibility thinking(raft et al, 2008), which is a criticaleleent of creativity.

tarting a lesson or series of lessonswith a rovocation, a big question or aseries of questions is ore likely togenerate creativity than a redeterinedstateent of what is to be learned in thelesson. he article on ages 2430elores how to achieve innovativelesson design to boost creativity inlearning, while the article on ages3137 zoos in ore closely to considerhow to develo insiring lesson starts,core activities and lenaries that achievethe learning objectives in creative andengaging ways.

Modelling possibility thinking

f the teacher resents herself as thesource of all knowledge young eolewill not see and understand thecoleity of the creative rocess. Bythe teacher genuinely asking eloratoryquestions and sharing how she worksthrough blocks or oents ofuncertainty, young eole will develo aclearer sense of what creativity involves.

his creative rocess could be sharedthrough, for eale, writing andediting a letter or article, learning how to

use a new iece of software or technologyiaginatively or eerienting withaking a roduct or sily by askingquestions with the students such as, not sure what will haen if we try it thisway, shall we see?

Seeing students as partners inco-constructing learningtudents have to be involved in decision-aking. hey need to reflect critically ontheir own rogress and on their ersonaland creative develoent. eachers who

teach for creativity offer tie, sace,encourageent and, where required,sensitive, suortive, but critical feedback.hey know when to intervene and when tostand back and let students elore an idea,concet or rocess. making sace forcreativity in this way can soeties beeerienced as giving u control, but asteachers becoe ore confident andfailiar with the rocess they see that thestudents learning develos raidly withinthe contet of suortive questioning andnurturing. he article on ages 1419 looksinto how to give students ore control overtheir learning and involve the inco-constructing creative learning activities.

Supporting calculated risk-takinghe creative rocess involves the chance tobe iersed in a task and allow solutionsto eerge, cobined with a willingness totake risks, iagine robles afresh andcreate new solutions. t ight involve goingu blind alleys, so requires a culture thatallows students to ake istakes, and to

reflect on and learn fro these istakes.

Working towards an outcome withvalue in the outside worldhe creative rocess often involves akingor creating a roduct for instance a workof art or resentation to counicate anidea. Working towards an outcoe givesstudents the chance to eerience and workthrough creative blockages, challenges,disaointents and setbacks and todevelo the resilience that is a critical

eleent of creativity. haring strategies thatcreative eole use to overcoe creativeblocks can be helful: using layful, slowiaginative thinking rather than logicalthinking; looking at an issue fro anuber of coletely different

ersectives; visualisation, and editation;drafting, redrafting, editing and creatingany rototyes are all eales ofrocesses creative eole adot in all sortsof contets. nabling the students to reflecton these rocesses is a helful eleent of

develoing creative caacities. or oreadvice on how to overcoe blockages increativity, see the article on ages 3840.

Supporting rigour and effortWorking towards such an eternal roduc-tion, resentation or erforance alsocreates a contet in which young eolestrive for the best and work towards erson-ally challenging outcoes. nstead ofseeing difficulties as insurountable bar-riers they grow to see the as challenges tobe overcoe (de moss and morris, 2002).

Harnessing the imaginative use of ICTaginative use of can rovide acontet for indeendent and creativelearning to flourish. making and editingfils or aniations, roducing andublishing usic, building characters andnarratives in interactive gaes, sharingideas through blogs or articiating invirtual learning environents rovide richcontets for learning to be creative.

Using alternative environmentshifting the location of learning canstiulate creativity: using outdoor saces,useus, galleries or other venues withinthe counity can rot new thinking.ily changing the layout of a classroosace can generate different resonses arow of individual desks facing the teachersdesk and whiteboard sybolise aarticular aroach to &. f the uroseof a task is to work collaboratively then thelearning environent needs to be shifted

to enable this. eaching for creativity is notan easy otion. t is rooted in rigour,lanning, structure and attention to detail.or ore on how to use learning saces toboost creativity in &, see the article onages 2023.

Key features of teaching for creativity

Teaching forcreativity is not aneasy option it isrooted in rigour,planning, structureand attentionto detail


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puroseful talk is increasingly eerging as a criticalfactor in research into effective teaching and learningin general, and in articular in relation to teaching forcreativity. Key rocesses that characterise such dialogicteaching are set out in the bo right.

istinctive features of & for creativity includethose eleents outlined in the bo on age 7.

Assessing development of creativityhe third diension of effective curriculu change isto know whether the rocess is achieving its ais.Assessent is an integral eleent of learning. orstudents to develo confidence in their own creativity,eaningful feedback needs to be integral to the lear-ning rocess. eachers need to cature whether thearoach they are adoting is genuinely develoing thecreative caacities of uils. many schools are devel-oing and trying out a range of assessent tools. heseoften relate the develoent of creativity to etahors

or visual iages, such as journeys and signosts, anduse diagras or online tools to record change. mostinclude reflection on develoent of creativity within awider range of ersonal, learning and thinking skills orwithin asects of ersonal develoent. All involvedocuenting transitions fro novice to eert.

he trajectory fro novice to eert in creativityreflects change in what students can do in ters of:

deth and coleity in the contet in which theyare alying their creativity and to the outcoe

autonoy their caacity to be self-directed and togenerate ideas and questions for theselves

quality the quality both of their thinking,develoent rocess and final outcoe

(ochrane and ockett, 2007).

t also reflects the etent to which their work:

is original both to the creator and in its field,whether innovative or adative

has iact on the individual and on others (foreale, see dtes work on creativity: www.edstes.org//aleWorks/reativityrah1.df

isual reresentation, such as hotos, drawings andaintings or diagras, can rovide a vehicle for youngeole to reflect on their ersonal growth and journey,when word-based descritors of soe of thesedeveloents can be difficult for any students.

A reflective creative ortfolio can be a valuable

resource for the assessent of creativity. t has theotential to incororate foral and inforal learning,with the learner at the centre. t can be used to identifyincreental rogress and rovide a record of creativeachieveents and ersonal develoent; and it canhel to sooth the transition fro riary to sec-ondary education. t can be in the for of a notebook,journal or sketchbook, or hysical or digital ortfolio.outer-based assessent of creative and criticalthinking skills ay also be helful. reative outcoescan be docuented within such a ortfolio. But suchdocuentation has to be accoanied by reflectionand review rather than sily a record of eerience.

tudents need to be involved in the rocess ofassessing their own creativity (acer and pykett, 2007).he case eale in the bo left illustrates how a teaof secondary schools develoed a successful aroachto assessing p, including creativity.

Fulfilling journeyWorking towards a creative curriculu is an ecitingand fulfilling journey. t involves everyone teachers,school leaders, learning entors and assistants adoting the creative caacities outlined in thisarticle. Above all, school leaders need to create a

cliate of trust in which staff and young eole areencouraged to be creative and innovativecontinuously seeking out aroaches andoortunities that enhance students learning.

Pat Cochrane, Chief Executive, CapeUK

This article draws on consultation carried out byCapeUK while acting as creativity advisor to DCSFbetween 2008 to 2010. The team was led by PatCochrane and included Professor Anna Craft, JaneCreasy, Dick Downing and also contributions from

Debbie Kidd and Sally Manser. The views representedin this report are independent.CapeUK offers a rangeof services and support to schools wishing to introducea creative approach to the curriculum and T&L. Manyresources and articles can be downloaded from thewebsite free of charge, including approaches to staffdevelopment: www.capeuk.org

Features of dialogicteaching

Collective: teachersand uils address

learning tasks together

Reciprocal:teachersand uils listen to eachother, share ideas and

consider alternative views

Supportive: uils art-iculate ideas freely, with-

out fear of ebarrass-ent over wrong

answers and hel each

other reach coonunderstandings

Cumulative: teachersand uils build on their

own and each othersideas and chain the

into coherent lines of

thinking and enquiry

Purposeful: teacherssteer classroo talk with

secific educationalgoals in view

(Alexander, 2010)

Case example: integrating assessment of PLTS

A local authority (LA) advisor supported a small team of advanced skills teachers(ASTs) to work with five secondary schools to develop processes to assess PLTS,

including creativity.

Initially focusing on students identified as gifted and talented (G&T), the

process was introduced through intensive professional development sessions.

Teams of staff from each of the schools involved were given space and time to

think about how to observe learning and how to articulate what types of

behaviours and aptitudes they would be looking for in relation to each of the PLTS.

Then an imaginative and challenging two-day residential session for the pupils

and the teachers focused on the complexities of the brain and how it works and

had input from a range of specialists, including neurologists, communication and

media experts as well as postgraduates from the local university. The students

were set the task of developing an advertising campaign about caring for yourbrain. They were asked to make a short film and presentation about the brain and

to talk through which PLTS they had used while working on the task. Each student

was given a learning and personal development portfolio, in which the PLTS were

outlined in accessible language with five statements for each category each

statement starting with I can. For example, a statement in relation to creativity

reads I can create my own ideas and explore different possible solutions. Pupils

were invited to reflect on the extent to which the statement reflected their skills

both before and after the residential experience. During the residential, the

teachers were given time to observe the students behaviours, actions and capac-

ities in relation to creativity, and to reflect on how they were being manifested.

This gave them an understanding of the complexities of this process. Staff are now

thinking about the questioning they can initiate to capture and support studentlearning during sessions and afterwards. They are exploring how podcasting could

support this reflective process and how a range of stimuli such as question cards

and games might support the students reflection on their learning. They are also

considering how to develop a PLTS passport that can be used throughout the

school in all subjects and follow the student through their career in the school.

OVERVIEW


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For many teachers, being creative is central to their loveof learning and supporting learning in others. The boxright outlines just some of the skills they enjoy usingand look to inculcate in learners.

earning is a creative rocess, eanding ossibil-ities and eeriences. eaching and learning is an art.nsuring this is uroseful and that it seaks to the

concerns of young eole, and to the deands of thenational and school curriculu, are art of thecoission. o, too, is the requireent to securerogress towards effective erforance in tests thatiose closed and recise goals on to dynaic andartistic endeavours. ffective curriculu design andileentation involves ensuring these are achievedas an organic outcoe of eaningful rocesses andeeriences. his cannot be achieved by atteting toturn learning into a logical algorith (deonstratingsecific techniques + regular ractice of tests that askuils to deonstrate the = success in tests). tinvolves creating the conditions and fraeworks forinfored innovation within the constraints iosedby working with significant nubers of differenteole with different starting oints, in rigid, hysicaland tie saces and with finite resources. here areiortant craft skills in the i too, such as the crafts oftietabling, creating schees of work and develoingeffective curriculu resources.

his article considers si core rinciles develoed atentre for the Use of esearch and vidence in duca-tion (U) to infor the art and craft of curriculudeveloent and ileentation that have beenshown to be iortant all around the world for enhan-

cing learning and increasing innovation, whether thecurriculu contour is organised by subject or bythee. t also illustrates those rinciles througheales of highly effective ractices in schools thathave been shown to be effective curriculu innovatorsin ngland between 200710 (suarised in ord-ingley and ris, 2011). his evidence and its use tosuort innovation in teaching, learning and thecurriculu is articularly iortant right now becauseof the factors set out in the bo on age 10.

What makes a difference?

he evidence offered in the rest of this article coesfro a large-scale, three-year study of curriculudeveloent and ileentation coissioned bythe Qualifications and urriculu eveloentAgency (QA) fro 20072010. t involved 15,060learners and 570 teachers in 334 schools andcobined with evidence fro three large-scale

systeatic reviews of the international evidence base(Bell et al, 2008a; Bell et al, 2008b; U, 2009).t highlights a range of benefits that flow froeffective curriculu develoent and realisationranging fro iroveents in reasoning,collaborative and creative roble-solving andachieveent across a range of subjects. Benefits for

cognition and skills were coleented by a range ofeotional and behavioural benefits linked tocreativity, including iroveents in otivation,confidence and the self-estee to ersist throughchallenges and frustrations, and be indeendent inlearning. Benefits also etended to iroveents inuils abilities to ake good choices within learningsituations and in their leadershi skills. hese are thevery skills eloyers want and are also key aongthose on which innovation and creativity deend.

ow, then, can teachers and schools, working withnew freedos and the oortunity to focus on creati-vity and innovation alongside the resonsibility forsecuring rogress against national standards, securesuch benefits for their own uils? his researchhighlights si abiding rinciles for anaging suchcoleity in designing and ileenting an effec-tive, engaging and creative curriculu, and teachingand learning eeriences. hese rinciles are listed inthe bo below and are now discussed in turn.

Principle 1: contextualise curriculum andteaching and learning experiences and linklearning in school with learning at home andin the community

he international evidence (Bell et al, 2008a and2008b) ehatically highlights the iortance ofcontetualising learning, of ensuring young eoleencounter ideas and henoena in a range of ractical

Finding the golden thread accommodatingcreativity and innovation in the curriculumesigning and ileenting an effective and engaging creative curriculu that stiulatesinnovation across your school is no ean feat. Philippa Cordingley offers si core rinciles

for crafting a creative curriculu to rovide an agenda for action you can take to ebedcreativity in all subject areas in your own school, using case eales throughout to showhow schools have used this as a fraework for innovation

PRINCIPLES OFCREATIVE T&L

Principles for implementing a creative curriculum

Principle 1:contetualise curriculu and & eeriences and link learning inschool with learning at hoe and in the counity

Principle 2:create curriculu eeriences that involve learners actively inidentifying and building on their eisting knowledge, understandings and skills

Principle 3:structure grouwork for interdeendence by teaching effectivegrou talk skills and lanning tasks that use and reinforce such skillsPrinciple 4: foster a less coartentalised aroach to the curriculu toroote concetual develoent

Principle 5:lan for challenging all uils fro the startPrinciple 6:align curriculu and rofessional develoent to build caacity

and secure ecellence in subject knowledge

Skills of creativeteachers

he teachers (andlearners) ability to

connect soetieswildly different ideas

and henoena

he caacity to whiu eciting learning e-eriences fro even quite

constrained circu-

stances and resources

he ability to envisagea whole that is bigger

than the su of its arts,to aintain a focus on

big learning journeys

while focusing

forensically on sall

stes on the way

It involves creatingthe conditions andframeworks forinformed innovationwithin theconstraints imposedby working withsignificant numbersof different peoplewith different

starting points, inrigid, physical andtime spaces and withfinite resources


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contets that are eaningful to the. earningactivities that enable uils to elore their identitiesand treat the as whole eole such as rolelay ordraa and eloring big society issues such assustainability or the oral ilications of scientificand technological breakthroughs see to offereffective vehicles for contetualising learning in ways

that hel to unleash and engender creativity.here were four key aroaches to ensuring that the

curriculu enables uils to eerience henoenaand ideas and concets in contet:

designing real and eaningful tasks lanning out-of-classroo eeriences using siilarities of real tools activating learners recent eeriences.

ales of what this looks like in ractice are given inthe bo to left on age 11.

A key eleent of contetualisation is linking

learning in school with learners hoe andcounity life. particularly iortant here is theeffect of activities that increase discussion betweenlearners and their arents about learning. he bobotto right on age 11 gives soe eales.

Principle 2: create curriculum experiences thatinvolve learners actively in identifying andbuilding on their existing knowledge,understandings and skillshe international evidence base (Bell et al, 2008a and2008b) highlights the iortance of designingcurriculu eeriences that identify and build on

learners starting oints iteratively and also highlightsthe iortance of engaging with uils beliefs andunderstandings as well as their knowledge and skills.

earners often start with concetualunderstandings that are artial or even incorrect, andthese are an iortant ingredient in learning.ecognised and worked through, they hel allebers of a class elore an issue in deth; theybring to the surface artial elanations and differentersectives and illustrate the way that learning isabout how we reach answers rather than just aboutthe answers theselves.

eaching aroaches that elicit and build on whatlearners believe, know and can do already can result insignificant learning gains. When teachers set out toestablish where their learners were starting fro,learners also:

Learners often startwith conceptualunderstandings thatare partial or evenincorrect, and theseare an importantingredient in learning

eachers and schools now have the freedo to innovate in devel-oing curriculu content. ven when the new national curriculuis introduced following the curriculu review, we are told that, atost, 50% of uil learning hours will be secified centrally. Atresent, soe schools are enthusiastically using the last wave ofcurriculu refors as an ietus for innovation, working, foreale towards Year 7 and 8 rovision that ore closely irrorsaroaches in Key tage 2, or develoing a creative or connectedcurriculu across the riary hase. thers are assiilating thearoaches offered by, for eale, new acadey chains. oe arewaiting to see what the national curriculu reviews will bringbefore considering how to ake that engaging and innovative toroote the creativity of the young eole in their counity. Butthis evidence (suarised in ordingley and ris, 2011) suggeststhat waiting is a istake; that caacity to anage curriculurefors, ake the eaningful to young eole and to rootecreativity can and should be develoed by all staff and school leaders

as a natural art of their ongoing rofessional develoent.ortantly, it suggests that starting this right now offers schoolsthe best ossible chance of ensuring that refors genuinely workfor their uils and contet.

ven though one owerful driver for creativity and innovation isthe ace of change and innovation in society ore generally, thereare soe abiding huan challenges for all counities that thecurriculu ust address if it is to reare our young eole forcitizenshi. t is not only innovation in society that creates deandsfor innovation and creativity in learning. ake these telling wordsfro a head that interviewed for soe research in 1992 (ording-ley and arrington, 1996) when mrs hatcher faously asserted

that there is no such thing as society. e said: used to be requiredto hel young eole becoe wise and good. ow all suosedto do is ake the clever. think this concern would be felt just askeenly by any teachers and school leaders today. making studentsclever does not even begin to serve the needs of society or youngeole and works against the rootion of innovation and creativ-

ity. But intelligent and infored curriculu develoent andileentation can give teachers and schools the sace to fashionsoething better than this. ast suers riots and the involve-ent of soe very young eole in the suggest a ressing needfor broader learning eeriences ore connected to the couni-ties in which schools are nested. vidence about how effectivecurriculu innovators (Bell et al, 2008a) fro around the world aredoing this, can hel us to learn fro what works well and at scale.

much of the confusion that flowed fro the overly detailedsuort offered to schools by governent agencies since the early1990s arose because of the nuber of governent agenciesinvolved, each charged with resonsibility for just one secificeleent of the teaching and learning enterrise. QA wasresonsible for content; the strategies for teaching and learningrocesses; raining and eveloent Agency for chools (A)for continuing rofessional develoent (p) and initial teachereducation (); the ational ollege for chool eadershi

(); and fsted for standards. ry as they ight to worktogether, their reit and accountability systes drove the intocul-de-sacs which then eant they had to create advice about anarrow subset of schools, teachers and learners eeriences andwra around the aterials to take account of iortant issuesbeyond their reit. n the real world, one teaching or learningactivity serves any different uroses. urriculu lans eannothing until they are enacted through effective teaching andlearning strategies and relationshis. eaching and learningstrategies ake little contribution unless they are nested withineffective learning relationshis and clarity about what is to belearned, why it is iortant and how it contributes to a bigger

learning journey. most of this is neither good nor bad until atchedto articular needs, talents and skills that young eole bring tolearning. n the contet of new freedos, teachers and schools havethe ower and the resonsibility to create a whole that is biggerthan the su of its arts and have the job of doing so with verylittle suort or guidance or free resources or aterials.

Time to innovate


Making studentsclever does noteven begin to servethe needs of society

or young peopleand works againstthe promotionof innovationand creativity


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develoed increased otivation and enjoyent ofthe curriculu

built u their confidence avoided isconcetions that can ake it difficult toabsorb and ake sense of subsequent ideas.

owever, our school-based research (U, 2010)shows that this is easier to say than do. bstaclesidentified by teachers in ngland in 2008 ranged froracticalities, such as the deands of doing this wellfor significant nubers of learners, through teachersdifficulties in sotting the oents when it isiortant to ove fro central guidance to handingover increasing resonsibility to learners. hey alsoincluded concerns aong teachers about the learnerslack of skills in articulating their own thinking andstarting oints.

otwithstanding these benefits, there is a sharedbelief aong any riary and secondary teachersthat identifying what learners know and can do alreadywas difficult because they lacked tie to listen tolearners elanations in deth and to observe learnerscarrying out activities. chools that are effectiveinnovators anage such challenges by, for eale,encouraging the develoent of skills in articulatingthinking and eisting understanding fro an earlystage. hey also encourage use of questioning:

Sometimes I ask students to explain their thinking

I will ask them how they came up with thatanswer. That helps me learn their thinking.(U, 2010)

Use of working boards is another strategy for cou-nicating learners thinking, and involves the settingout their initial thoughts on a toic, their early ideasabout what to do, and their roositions about thecurrent toic. n this way, the working board creates asringboard for dialogue between learners andteachers and can rovide an assessent technique thatgives insights into the dynaic develoent of

learners ideas, eisting knowledge and learningercetions. his hels teachers to direct and infortheir ongoing work. he develoent and use of theworkboard was viewed by the teachers in these schoolsas an iortant forative assessent strategy.he bo at the botto of age 12 rovides a case studyshowcasing such aroaches focused on creativity

while based on work in a riary school, it is a strategythat would work equally well in secondary schools.

ndeth research (U and University ofWolverhaton, 2008) in schools that are effectiveinnovators suggested that active engageent oflearners in their own assessent, ay be effectivelycounteracting the risks of liiting learning through

teaching to tests identified in the earlier research.

Principle 3: structure groupwork forinterdependence by teaching effective grouptalk skills and planning tasks that use andreinforce such skillshere is ehatic international evidence (Bell et al,2008a and 2008b)about the benefits of carefullanning for structuring of grouwork. vidence frongland between 2007 and 2010 (U, 2010)shows how teachers in schools that are effectivecurriculu innovators all value and ake use of

carefully lanned and structured grouwork andcollaboration as a way of achieving the benefits set outin the bo to left on age 12. he effectiveness ofcollaborative learning deended on teachers fulfillingthe tasks set out in the bo to right on age 13.

nterestingly, learners fro across the country as awhole reorted, via large-scale annual surveys fro200708 (ordingley and ris, 2011), a substantialincrease in the use of grouwork for roble-solving.econdary school uils reorted a 33% increase fro200710. We do not know whether or not this wasstructured in ways that encourage creativity andinnovation. But we do know that learners saw this as awelcoe innovation in its own right.

Principle 4: foster a less compartmentalisedapproach to the curriculum to promoteconceptual developmentvidence fro international research (Bell et al, 2008aand 2008b)and fro schools who are effective curric-ulu innovators highlight the contribution that lan-ning learning across the curriculu akes to roo-ting deth in young eoles concetual develoent.

Benefits alsoextended toimprovements inpupils abilities tomake good choiceswithin learningsituations and intheir leadership skills

Examples of contextualisedcurriculums working in practice

Arranging for pupils to take on the role of scientists,and to explore the moral issues relating to geneticmapping at the same time as learning about itsscientific content. This significantly helped pupilsremember key biological facts and concepts and tounderstand them deeply enough to constructscientific as well as moral arguments.

Similarly, arranging for pupils to explore linksbetween the holocaust and issues live in society rightnow significantly expanded the range of historicalevidence that learners engaged with and retained,and the ways in which they were able to use thatunderstanding in other contexts.

Examples of linking learning with

home and community Engaging parents in learning that is set by theschool by giving them key roles, for example, provi-ding case studies or histories of their own experiences

Creating conditions for learners to draw on theirexperiences outside of school to support learning inlessons, for example by asking pupils to explore andbring into school artefacts (such as food packaging toexplore air miles) from home, using these to explorean aspect of the curriculum and then asking pupilsand parents to comment together on issues arising; orcomparing different family traditions and games,encouraging pupils to discuss interesting similaritiesand differences between them with their parents andusing the results to explore the learning embeddedwithin them

Asking pupils and parents about community eventsand activities and designing opportunities forcontributing to them through work in class

There are importantcraft skills in the mixtoo, such as thecrafts of timetabling,creating schemesof work anddeveloping effectivecurriculum resources

Use of workingboards is anotherstrategy for commu-nicating learnersthinking, and involves

them setting outtheir initial thoughtson a topic, their earlyideas about what todo, and theirpropositions aboutthe current topic


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uch deth ebedded within curriculueeriences that ade connections between subjectswas also iortant for overcoing the difficulty

learners soeties had in transferring thinking andlearning fro one subject to another. his evidencedoes not definitively settle the arguent aboutwhether a thee or subject-based aroach worksbest because cross-curriculu and cross-subjectlanning by teachers, while frequently set withinthee-based aroaches, also soeties occurredwithin subject-based aroaches.

What sees to be key to aking learningeaningful and contributing to develoingstudents creativity is that teachers with differentsubject secialiss have a chance to work together.hey have the oortunity to elore their subjectsand the curriculu in the contet of other subjectsby, for eale, working out where big ideas andconcets can be reinforced or are tested in othercontets and learning about the different ways theiruils will have encountered the.

hese are all stes that are helful in revealing andbuilding on eisting thinking and ideas and akingthe available for building new connections andoening u new ossibilities.

Principle 5: plan for challenging all pupilsfrom the startBetween 2007 and 2010, surveys of large nubers ofuils fro Y4 to Y10 reveal that a significantroortion of learners in ngland (2025%) felttheselves to be underchallenged. nternationalresearch (ordingley and ris, 20011) highlights the

iortance of lanning for challenging all uils frothe start through both content and rocess. t alsohighlights three broad aroaches to doing this seethe bo in the iddle of age 13.

ocus grous with teachers for different subjectsrevealed that teachers of science and aths eressedarticular concerns about lanning for challengebecause of worries about ebedding isconcetionsin subjects where knowledge is intensely cuulative.he focus grous also highlighted how difficultteachers find it to hold back fro intervening directly toaccelerate uils learning in order to enable learners to

ake significant leas on their own. eachers eha-sised too the robles they eerience in focusing onchallenge for every student in large classes. choolsthat are effective innovators reinforce the usefulness ofthe three strategies in the bo in the iddle of age 13for anaging challenge. hey also suggest two otheruseful aroaches to ebedding challenge in learningeeriences for all:

actively involve uils in choosing between a rangeof levels of challenge and eloring the atterns ofchoices they ake

encourage learners to take resonsibility for theirlearning by lanning in advance activities that wouldreveal the oints at which it is ossible to ste back.

Principle 6: align curriculum andprofessional development to build capacityand secure excellence in subject knowledgehe international evidence base (Bell et al, 2008aand 2008b) highlights the iortance of effectivesubject knowledge and curriculu androfessional develoent for all asects of

What seems to bekey to making

learning meaningful

and contributing tocreativity is thatteachers with

different subjectspecialisms have

a chance towork together

Creativity andinnovation are

derived in part fromthe shock of the new,

from surprisingjuxtapositions

Benefits of effective groupwork

ecures access to the curriculunhances reasoning and creative roble-

solving skills

prootes young eoles indeth engageentwith any (though not necessarily all) subjects, and

the curriculu as a wholenhances achieveent and eotionaldeveloent

roves confidence and self-esteeuorts increasingly indeendent learning

through good decision-aking

ncreases learners leadershi skills

Case study: engaging pupils in assessing their creativity skillsIn one Year 6 lesson the aim was to challenge the students views about creativity and develop their

understanding of its importance in learning. At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher was explicit about her

intentions, linking backwards to previous work they had done on creativity and forwards to the end-of-term

learner evaluation, asking them explicitly, Whats the point of doing this? and stating, Its about you and your

learning. She used four tasks to guide them to examine creativity.

For the introductory activity, she used a skipping rope suspended across the classroom. The pupils were told

it represented a scale of zero to very creative along the length of it. They were asked in turn to stand at a

point along this scale and to explain their reason for positioning themselves there. The teacher used this to

assess the students judgements of themselves because there were some learners she was not sure about. She

intended to use the rope activity again at the end, because:

I would like to have seen some of the girls who deemed themselves absolutely, unbelievably creative because

they were good at art and craft and who put themselves at the end of the scale reposition themselves

somewhere in the middle, and some people who put themselves down at the end move to the middle, like thedyspraxic boy who is hopeless at holding a paintbrush but could be creative in different ways.

The same teacher used a questionnaire to explore pupils social and emotional capabilities and skills before she

taught the lesson. Its findings indicated their con strained views of creativity and its importance in learning.

She structured her subsequent teaching tasks to engage them in different ways of describing creativity.

It is confidence incontent that enables

teachers to let go ofcontrol, to listen

more accurately tolearners and to

design genuinelymeaningful,

engaging, creativeand challenging

learning activities



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teaching, learning and curriculu develoent,whatever edagogies or curriculu aroaches areused. he ore creative or theatic the aroach,the greater the need for ecellence in curriculuand rofessional develoent and in subjectknowledge. t is confidence in content that enablesteachers to let go of control, to listen ore

accurately to learners and to design genuinelyeaningful, engaging, creative and challenginglearning activities.

Benefits for learners include iroveents inattainent and achieveent and ore ositiveattitudes towards learning rocesses and content.he benefits for teachers include greater confidencein deloying a wider range of strategies atched tothe needs of their learners and confidence in andenthusias for continuing to learn and to designingnew curriculu aterials.

urriculu and rofessional develoent that

rooted such learning benefits included secialistsuort focused on encouraging, etending andstructuring rofessional learning and eerientswith new aroaches. hese were cobined withlanned oortunities for collaboration betweeneers and discussion, focused on teachersasirations for their learners. hey also involvedrocesses for sustaining the curriculu androfessional develoent over tie to enableteachers to ebed the ractices in their ownclassroo settings.

chools that are effective curriculu innovatorsaligned curriculu develoent and curriculuand rofessional develoent through collabora-tive design or refineent of curriculu aterialsand resources. he curriculu and rofessionaldeveloent rocess involved a cobination of bigicture inuts fro leaders and secialists, andhands-on workshos delivered through ultilecurriculu and rofessional develoent events.hese were sustained via coaching by leaders andsecialists and collaborative ongoing develoentwork by teachers. monitoring was ersistent butinforal and ebedded in curriculu androfessional develoent suort. ffective leaders

were actively involved; they odelled both the newaroaches and the learning behaviours andoutcoes they sought for young eole and fortheir colleagues.

urriculu develoent was ebedded, withcurriculu and rofessional develoent suortrovided at scale through tools and resourcesadated by teachers for their own contets once theyhad develoed their understanding of key issues andunderinning rinciles.

Putting the principles to work

hese si rinciles oint to a nuber of strategies anda otentially big agenda for action. perhas the first steis to use the as a checklist for auditing your eistingcurriculu and identifying riorities that work wellwith your school iroveent lan. nce you havefocused on one or two areas for develoent, youight like to look at ore eales of successful

ractices, tools and resources in our various reorts orthrough U workshos. You will find lots ofaterial to get you started on our website at: htt://

www.curee.org.uk/reativity and innovation are derived in art frothe shock of the new, fro surrising jutaositions.owever, it is iortant to reeber that these alsofeed dee learning and establish the conditions thatcreate ressure for learners to ove out of theircofort zones and to work together to achievesoething ore than could be fashioned indeen-dently. reativity and innovation can and should beeasily woven into ore traditional schoolaroaches if the work of curriculu design andrealisation is aroached holistically and if content,rocess and urose are addressed together whichis what haens when schools ut these sirinciles into action.

n ore secifically identified creativity rojects,the ressure of erforance or of creatingehibitions or events where there is an audience, atiescale and a urose, those eternalitiescobine to suort teachers and learners throughthe challenges of oen-ended, innovative learningand creativity. his evidence suggests thatcounities of teachers working in artnershiwith each other and the young eole they serve, canuse the design and realisation of a eaningful

curriculu in a siilar way. t is a deandingenterrise, but the evidence fro around the worldand fro soe innovative and creative schools inthis country shows us that this is ossible.

Philippa Cordingley, Founder and Chief Executiveof CUREE

Philippa has led CUREE colleagues in a number oflarge-scale, national research, development andCPD projects, including the creation of a nationalframework for mentoring and coaching and large-

scale research to build the evidence base for acurriculum for the 21st century. Her extensive workin leading and championing teacher engagementin and with research has been recognised by theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD) and through the award of anHonorary Fellowship of the College of Teachers.

Learning activitiesthat enable pupils toexplore theiridentities and treatthem as whole people... seem to offereffective vehicles forcontextualisinglearning in ways thathelp to unleash andengender creativity

Factors for successful collaborative learning

provide clear guidance for grouworking, including identifying key roles for allgrou ebers and agreeing groundrules

licitly teach and odel grouworking skillsplan a sequence of rogressively challenging tasks so uils have the chance to

ractise and develo the skills required for working collaboratively increentally

esign interdeendent tasks and activitiesnsure tasks involve learners working with other eoles ideas and contribu-tions, widening their sense of what is ossible

esign collaborative tasks that involve challenges requiring oen-ended,eloratory talk and hel learners work roductively to develo indeth knowl-

edge and understanding while solving robles and/or creating new artefactsevents or erforances

Approaches tochallenging all pupils

ollaborative inquiryand roble-solving

where there are no fiedor right answers devel-

oing thinking skills

with guided interactionbetween learners

eveloing a orefacilitative and robingrole aong teachers that

encourages learners to

take increasing resonsi-

bility for their learning

Using diagnostic tasksand activities, includinguil enquiry, to rovidea sringboard for

lanning rojects,

lessons and rogressiveschees of work


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Creativity in schools why bother?Some schools may believe that creativity canoverride the perceived negative attributes of regularschool learning (Sefton-Green, 2008, p23) and thatcreative teaching for creative learning is a defenceagainst disengagement. However, it can be far morethan that. Rather than a sticking plaster on an

outdated and irrelevant educational model, creativelearning at the core of schooling can transform theexperience of learning, bringing relevance,confidence and achievement.

he arguent for develoing creative caacitiesight be grounded in econoics, global change,social equity or huan sychology or a i of these.Whether the urose is eloyent skills for the21st century; the need to ensure active citizenshi ina tie of raid olitical, econoic and technologicalchange worldwide; the need to ensure good learningand life oortunities worldwide; or to harness andobilise innate, intrinsic huan interest andenergy, we have otential to adat, create and effectositive iact. hrough education, we have thechance to coach and enhance such caacities inyoung eole for their benefit and for the benefit ofthe world around the.

here is a critical ass of thinking and researchencouraging schools to rovide students with a frae-work and the oortunities to shae and anage theirown learning; to ractise and refine the skills of beinglifelong, adative and resourceful learners. passivereceit of transitted knowledge is no longer thereiu of schooling; instead it is about growing the

learning habits that enable interretation, analysis andnew construction of knowledge in and for real andrelevant contets.

Using initiatives: sources ofinspirationA nuber of skills-based and student-led educationrojects have been iloted and develoed nationallyand internationally with the ai of better rearingyoung eole for such learning, citizenshi, failylife, change and work in the 21st century. esite the

varied seantics, ost, if not all, ight be charac-terised as eloying creative learning ethodologiesthat develo greater roactivity, resourcefulness,innovation and adatability in learners. or eale,any of the schools that have engaged reativepartnershis (www.creative-artnershis.co) haveconstructed their own curriculu, introduced newassessent fraeworks that roote and requirecreative learning. hey have achieved this by workingwith eternal creative artners, ositioning youngeole ore as leading their learning and enablingstaff to develo their caacities as creative enablers.

While this is y eerience, and the doinant one shall draw on in this article, any schools use otherrograes and initiatives to insire and guide theircreative change. ften they cobine and always theyadat and develo for their own contet. ources of

insiration for creative change include those set out inthe bo below.

here are coon characteristics in rinciles,eleents and ractices across any of these rojects,rograes and initiatives. While taken fro oneroject (isco, 2008, iii), the descrition below couldbe true of all current education innovations:

Students complete project-based, cross-disciplinarytasks that encourage innovation and cross-culturalcollaboration [and] apply their knowledge and crea-tivity to solving real-world problems.

Creative teaching for creative learning: why, howand wow!

ow do we teach for creative learning? ro odelling and stiulating creativity, and encouragingrisk-taking, to building enquiry-based learning, and rooting reflection aong students Jo Trowsdale elores how, using case studies throughout to reveal how this translates in ractice

TEACHING FORCREATIVITY

Rather than a

sticking plaster onan outdatedand irrelevanteducational model,creative learning atthe core of schoolingcan transform theexperience oflearning, bringingrelevance, confidenceand achievement

Useful things to know: sources of inspiration for creative changes

Former QCDAs personal, learning and thinking skills programme Building Learning Power (BLP) see: www.buildinglearningpower.co.uk RSAs Opening Minds and area-based curriculum projects see: www.thersa.org/projects/education Futurelabs Enquiring Minds see: www.enquiringminds.org.uk Innovation Units work with Paul Hamlyn on Learning Futures see: www.learningfutures.org

Role of creative professionals: example activity in fosteringcreative T&LTo gather insight into and recognition of the range of creative skills in your staff,

teachers might be asked to identify the activities, hobbies and interests they

undertake beyond school (parent, cook, social organiser, cyclist and so on) visually

representing each on large paper using offered collage materials. Then they

identify the skills they use in each one that relate to your agreed aspects of

creativity and note these through the use of their own invented icons or through

words. These are shared, celebrated and mapped in working teams to show the

wealth of personal and peer resources they have. Creative agents working with

Cre8us have facilitated such work to empower staff. If you wish to take this

further, creative agents can work with staff to map these against areas for

development in their subject domain and agree actions to address needs.

The question isnot really, Whycreativity? butWhy not?


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yically, such rojects use enquiry-based learning,draw on eternal and local artners, oerate offsite aswell as onsite, require collaborations between learnersthat deand leadershi and osition teachers asco-learners and facilitators. All regard the growth andtransferability of skills as fundaental to learning.

n effect, they all recognise that our education

syste, unlike any other syste in ublic life, such ashealth or counications, has not innovated at therate required for 21st-century needs. A recent ealeof this ight be that of a south ondon school, whereuils using obile hones to design sarthoneas ade BB news (www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16186705). his was because the school isecetional in not banning obile hones and becauseof a recent fsted (2011) reort (www.ofsted.gov.uk/news/young-eole-are-not-being-sufficiently-challenged-ict-lessons-0) that has described teaching as dull and lacking creativity.

he question is not really, Why creativity? but Whynot? f being creative is our ecetional anialcaacity, that which akes us huan, why would wenot caitalise on our assets in educating and growingour young?

What does creative learning meanto you?Being a creative teacher eans different things todifferent eole. ne view of creative teaching, co-unicated through the plowden eort (1967, see:www.educationengland.org.uk/docuents/lowden)suggested arts-based learning was needed to fosteruil-centred learning and indeendent eression.his ight resent an obstacle to any teachers whodo not consider theselves arts-inded. Anotherview ight focus on creative learning as the oortu-nity to develo skills that roote self-anageent.n recent decades, the focus has been on a oreeconoically driven odel in which creativity equatesto creative thinking: develoing skills, knowledge andrigorous critical thinking to generate indeendent,fleible, resourceful learners. his ay doinate theviews of currently ractising teachers, but they aywell be overlaid with earlier histories and views.

Any school ay have teachers who elicitly orilicitly hold these different beliefs. n a school wherewhat is understood by creativity is not discussed,debated and develoed together, these differences ayconfound clarity, conviction and action about what todo to develo creativity and why teachers should even

do so. Yet, if they are debated, shared and broughttogether, such differences have the otential to enrich aschools creative teaching and build a culture of variedand owned ractices oerating to agreed rinciles.

esearch suorts the view (unco, 2007) thatcreativity is learnable: that there are rocesses we can allengage in to becoe ore creative; there areconditions (environents, cliates, ractices) that wecan develo to foster creativity.

How to teach for creative learningreative teaching for creative learning is about cataly-sing and eanding ossibilities that ecite learners toconnect with learning, discover, etend and challengetheir current learning caacities. t haens ehat

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