Session Information
Contribution
Inquiry into creativity and learning has re-emerged as an area of interest in many parts of the world such as Asia (UNESCO, 2005), Europe (Heilmann & Korte, 2010), the United Kingdom (Craft, 2005; Jeffrey & Woods, 2009; Robinson, 1999), the United States of America (Harvard University, 2010), and more recently, Australia (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2011).
When discussing creativity an assumption is often made in which creativity is linked with the arts and it is true that although creativity can be found in almost all school curricula, it is more frequently spoken about in subjects like art or music (Heilmann & Korte, 2010). Recent reports, such as the European initiative of Artists in Creative Education (Tiller & Clifford, 2011) and Australia’s Partnerships between schools and the professional arts sector: Evaluation of the impact on student outcomes (Imms, Jeanneret, & Stevens-Ballenger, 2011), identify arts partnerships where artists / creative practitioners work within schools are powerful and effective ways to improve students’ outcomes. Evidence from these projects also indicates that there can still be poor knowledge of what constitutes creativity and how it is described. Comments are reported in major arts partnership studies, and include remarks such as: “Creativity and creative skills appear to be complex concepts that students, teachers and arts professionals find difficult to discuss” (Imms et al., 2011, p. 46) ; “Although we think we speak the same language, we don’t always share the same meaning”(Tiller & Clifford, 2011, p. 21). With this uncertainty of language and of the underlying principles, there are concerns that “teachers are unlikely to imitate and sustain [creative] approaches over the longer term” (Galton, 2008, p. 77).
The particular focus and aim of our inquiry was to explore how teachers of arts education and the leadership team in a particular school described and understood creativity, creative learning and arts learning. Situated within a constructivist / interpretivist paradigm, and utilizing aspects of Wenger’s (1998) socio-cultural theoretical framework, this was a pilot project in which the research design was trialed for subsequent adoption as part of a larger study in other schools.
The principal research questions were:
- In what ways do teachers and the leadership team describe and understand creativity, creative learning and arts learning in a particular P-9 school?
- How are shared understandings of these concepts possible amongst educators across different locations and positions in the school?
- How successful is this research design and could it be implemented to explore how teachers and leadership teams describe and understand creativity, creative learning and arts learning in other schools?
The description above outlines our rationale and the broad nature of research project. In our paper, we will concentrate on the findings relating to designated arts teachers in the school.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2011). Curriculum: General capabilities Retrieved June 1, 2012, from http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/general_capabilities.html Craft, A. (2005). Creativity in schools. London: Routledge. Creswell, J. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Galton, M. (2008). Creative practitioners in schools and classrooms. Final report of the project: The pedagogy of creative practitioners in schools. Cambridge: Creative Partnerships/Faculty of Education. Harvard University. (2010). Project zero: Harvard graduate school of education Retrieved May 12, 2012, from http://pzweb.harvard.edu/ Heilmann, G., & Korte, W. B. (2010). The role of creativity and innovation in school curricula in the EU27: A content analysis of curricula documents. Luxembourg: European Commission: Joint Research Centre. Imms, W., Jeanneret, N., & Stevens-Ballenger, J. (2011). Partnerships between schools and the professional arts sector: Evaluation of the impact on student outcomes. Melbourne: Arts Victoria. Jeffrey, B., & Woods, P. (2009). Creative learning in the primary school. Oxon, UK: Routledge. Robinson, K. (1999). All our futures: Creativity, culture and education. Suffolk: National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education. Tiller, C., & Clifford, S. (2011). Artists in Creative Education. Unlocking children's creativity: A practical guide for artists. Creativity Culture and Education: England, KulturKontakt: Austria, Cultuur-Ondernemen: The Netherlands & Drömmarnas Hus: Sweden (Eds.), Retrieved from http://www.artistsincreativeeducation.com/page/2/practicalguide.aspx UNESCO. (2005). Educating for creativity: Bringing the arts and culture into Asian education. Bangkok: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
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