Upstart blog debating creativity in education

Anne Parsons is asking the question "How Important is Creativity in Education?" on the Upstart blog:
upstart.ie/blog/?p=79 She's hoping to get some discussion going about the role the arts plays in Irish society, especially in education and to get some feedback about the Upstart poster campaign. Join in and let her know if the arts in education is important for students, teachers and the wider community and if so, why!

Upstart is "a non-profit arts collective which aims to put creativity at the centre of public consciousness during the Irish General Election Campaign in 2011" more info at upstart.ie

My integrated scheme

I have been working on a scheme which I hope to implement in a few primary schools in the near future, but I would like to get some feedback on it before I start. I have approached a few people for their opinions, but I thought I'd also post it here for discussion. I don't seem to be able to attach a pdf file though, so if anybody would be willing to give me comments or suggestions, get in touch by email and I will send you a copy. All criticism, positive or negative, will be appreciated.

New Year, new plans

I haven't updated this blog in a long time as I've been debating where to go from here. In December and January I met with a few people who have offered me food for thought on the place of creativity in the education system at the moment. I want to thank them all for their help so far. I've also come across a worrying development in the form of the new Dept. of Education draft plan for Literacy and Numeracy (available at: www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/pr_literacy_numeracy_national_plan_2010.pdf). I've come to the conclusion that action research would be more beneficial than just observation, so I'm making the leap to the last paragraph of my 'about me' section: developing methodologies for integrating the arts into the curriculum and ways of assessing the results. 

To do this I've come up with my own working definition: Creativity is the ability to come up with novel, valuable solutions to a problem. (Solutions may take the form of thoughts, ideas, processes or products). It is characterised by a set of behaviours that involve questioning (finding problems), making unusual connections (transfering knowledge between disciplines), imagining possibilities (generating ideas) and reflecting (evaluating outcomes).

I've used this as the starting point for the integrated visual art programme that I've been developing. The idea is to promote these creative behaviours and hopefully help the child develop a creative approach to learning and life in general.

I've focused my reading on assessment lately, especially assessing creative learning. Here are a few of the most useful weblinks, articles and books I've found so far:

www.action.ncca.ie/en/afl

www.creative-partnerships.com/in-your-area/durham-sunderland/resources/the-creativity-wheel-resource-for-teachers,217,ART.html

Barnes, Rob 1993 Getting the Act Together: It may be Cross-curricular, but is it Really Art? in Journal of Art and Design Education Vol 12 No 1 pp 63-72

Craft, Anna; Cremin, Teresa & Burnard, Pamela 2008 Creative Learning 3-11 and how we document it Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books

Didaskalou, Eleni & Millward, Alan 2007 Rethinking Assessment: Managing Behaviour and Reducing Disaffection in Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties Vol 12 No 3 pp 191-203

Douglas, Katherine M. & Jaquith, Diane B. 2009 Engaging Learners Through Artmaking: Choice-Based Art Education in the Classroom New York: Teachers College Press

INTO 2009 Creativity and the Arts in the Primary School: Discussion Paper Dublin (available at: www.into.ie/publications/)

Lindström, Lars 2006 Creativity:What Is It? Can You Assess It? Can It Be Taught? in International Journal of Art & Design Education Vol 25 No 1 pp 53-66

Sefton-Green, Julian & Sinker, Rebecca 2000 Evaluating creativity: making and learning by young people London: Routledge