Creativity in the Primary Curriculum

Association for the Study of Primary Education (ASPE) Seminar:
Creativity in the Primary Curriculum
Friday 19th June 2015
The Open University, London
10-4pm
Sponsored by ASPE, this one day seminar is the third in the ASPE series (2014-5). Planned
in collaboration with the Open University, the University of Exeter, and the BERA Creativity
SIG, the seminar seeks to explore cutting-edge research which considers both teaching
creatively and teaching for creativity in the primary phase both within and beyond the
classroom. It draws together scholars whose research examines creativity in education from
social, cultural and psychological perspectives.
Keith Sawyer is the Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations at the
University of North Carolina and one of the USA’s leading scientific experts on creativity. His
work focuses on creativity in collaborative group settings. Dr Chappell is a Lecturer at the
University of Exeter. Her research includes interdisciplinary study of creativity in education
and the contribution creativity in arts education can make to educational futures debates. Jo
Trowsdale is Principal Teaching Fellow, University of Warwick. Her interests relate to the
relationship between arts, creativity, culture and education, and build upon her work as
director of a Creative Partnerships programme. Vlad Petre Glaveanu is Associate Professor at
Aalborg University and Research Associate in the Psychology Institute at University Paris
Descartes. His work explores the connections between creativity and culture and develops a
cultural psychological approach to the study of creative phenomena.
Target audience: Researchers, policy makers, teacher educators and teachers working
with learners aged 5-12 years.
Programme
09. 45 - 10.15
10.15 - 10.30
10.30 - 11.30
11.30 – 12.30
12.30 – 13.15
13.15 – 14.15
14.15 – 15.15
15.15 – 15.45
Coffee and registration
Welcome, Teresa Cremin,(The Open University) & Paul Latham (ASPE)
Keith Sawyer, How to foster creativity in the primary curriculum
(University of North Carolina, USA)
Kerry Chappell (Exeter University) & Jo Trowsdale (University of
Warwick) STEAM-ing STEM with creativity: possibilities and tensions of
integrated arts/science practice in primary schools
Lunch
Vlad Glaveanu, Widening our understanding of pedagogy from a
creativity and culture perspective (Aalborg University, Denmark)
Exploring the creativity research agenda in small groups
Plenary and question time
Keynotes
How to foster creativity in the primary curriculum
Keith Sawyer. In the 21st century, the key task for educators is to prepare
learners to participate creatively in the innovation age.
The new
interdisciplinary science of learning has come to a consensus about how to
structure learning environments to result in enhanced skills of creativity,
collaboration, and discovery. I explore how creativity and innovation happen
in the knowledge economy. The core message is that innovation today is
always collaborative: deeply embedded in organizations and social networks.
I outline what kind of education is most likely to result in the kinds of knowledge that underlie
creative collaborative work. Learners need a deep conceptual understanding of complex concepts,
and the ability to work with them creatively to generate new ideas, new theories, new products, and
new knowledge; the ability to critically evaluate what they read, to be able to express themselves
clearly both verbally and in writing, and to be able to understand scientific and mathematical
thinking; to acquire integrated and usable knowledge, rather than the sets of compartmentalized and
decontextualised facts that all too often result from traditional instructional methods.
STEAM-ing
STEM
with
creativity:
the
possibilities and tensions of integrated
arts/science practice in primary schools
Kerry Chappell and Jo Trowsdale. This session
explores the tensions and possibilities associated with
creatively combining the arts and sciences in
developing STEAM education in the upper primary
years. We draw on two projects. The CREAT-IT
project at University of Exeter which is developing and supporting teacher
skills in science education by integrating creative, cultural disciplines and social media tools in science
courses, engaging students to participate in collaborative, project and case study based activities.
Imagineerium is a pilot project developed by a partnership of artists, engineers, educators and the
University of Warwick which engages children in authentic cultural and engineering production
processes. The project draws on physical theatre, design, engineering and art-making to feed interest
in and understanding of how science and art can connect. Following presentations on these projects
to give insight into the processes involved, we explore the opportunities, tensions and dilemmas in
both the practice and theory of collaborating across the arts and sciences, allowing time for debate.
Widening our understanding of pedagogy from a creativity and culture perspective
Vlad Petre Glaveanu. How can we re-think pedagogy and the curriculum in a
creative and critical manner whilst fostering creativity? My answer to this
question is informed by a creativity and culture approach grounded in the key
role of difference, multiple perspectives, and reflective practices for creative
expression in the case of both teachers and children. This approach begins
from the relationships developed within the school context between teachers
and their students as well as among students. Creativity is conceived here as
a relational phenomenon, intrinsic to acts of collaboration and resulting in the
co-creation of meanings, objects, and practices. Among the latter we often find new educational tools
meant to stimulate creative thinking and action despite the constraints imposed by narrow curricula.
Being able to engage with the demands of the curriculum allows us to reach new understandings of
the teaching and learning situation and the potential of creative pedagogies to improve it. However,
drawing on educational experiences from across the world, including Denmark and Colombia, I argue
we need to develop pedagogies that are not only creative, but critical and capable of reflecting on
their own construction and application and the way they promote or reduce participation, diversity,
and creativity within and outside the classroom.
To Book online go to: https://www.bera.ac.uk/event/creativity-in-the-primary-curriculum