Creativity
COUNTS An education expert talks about the difference between the arts and being creative at school, and why the latter is so important... Wo r d s F I O N A M C K E N Z I E Illustration PHIL COUZENS
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he days when your children come home buzzing with excitement about something they have learned are the days you know they have truly engaged with a topic. Perhaps they spent the school day as Romans. Suddenly, there is nothing they don’t know about what the Romans wore, ate, drank or talked about. Yes, making that costume might have been a chore, but suddenly it is all worth it when you see what a memorable experience it has been for your child. That is creativity in education. It is far more memorable to actually “experience” being Roman, than being “taught” about it. The children will have had the opportunity to research Roman food, cook some ancient delicacies, work out how Romans sat at a banquet, and even speak some Latin. They have not only learnt about a historical topic, but also acquired valuable life skills by creating their own
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“IT IS FAR MORE MEMORABLE TO ACTUALLY ‘EXPERIENCE’ BEING ROMAN, THAN BEING ‘TAUGHT’ ABOUT IT”
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understanding and appreciation of how the Romans lived. They get the opportunity to use their creative voice to act out the parts, acquire some contextual knowledge and perhaps some technical skills, working collaboratively with their classmates and then sharing it with you on the car ride home. Many of us fall into the trap of thinking that creativity is the preserve of the arts, and can only be acquired through activities such
as drama, dance, music and creative arts. Of course, these subjects do give multiple opportunities to develop different talents and skills, but being creative is about playing with ideas and this can equally be done in a number of subjects, including Maths, Science and Technology. Educationists appreciate the vital role of creativity across the curriculum and – within the sometimes-rigid confines of an assessment-driven curriculum – there is recognition that the “academic” way is not the only way to learn. For many children, approaching traditional subjects in different ways can fire up their curiosity. Encouraging them to look at things from a different angle and to try things they would not expect to do in lessons can draw children into learning. Di Latham, an experienced primary school teacher, talks about using the stimulus of Sir Michael Morpurgo’s novel Kensuke’s Kingdom. “From reading this one book we had children working out how to build a shelter, and then writing an instruction manual on how to do it, painting in the Japanese style, producing Haiku poetry, and writing a diary about living on a desert
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27/04/2018 15:43