Creative Partnerships

Creative Partnerships are relationships that schools build inside and outside of their school environment, with others such as artists, performers, designers, poets and also scientists and engineers. (Fisher & Williams, 2004) They are believed to enhance creativity and develop skills in individuals, especially young people, but also within teachers themselves.

Creative Partnerships is a concept that was focused mostly in England, where the initiative for it first began in 2002. The original design for creative partnerships was that they were to be set up in disadvantaged areas as a way to engage children in to new experiences through creative activities. The partnerships were running for 9 years before the government cut the funding for them in 2011 due to the emphasis for creativity in education being replaced by a more cultured aspect, although creative partnerships do still exist today and run throughout England and Wales. 

Here is a video which talks about the Creative Partnerships Programme that was launched in the UK. 

A current Creative Partnership of today is called ‘Trail of Giants’ which is based in Cornwall where artists and sculptors work together in school playgrounds, as well as LOCWS International who offer many creative programmes working with schools.

Hall & Thompson (2007, Volume 33, Issue 3) believe that, ‘Creativity is seen as being located outside mainstream school structures, in projects rather than the National Curriculum, and in artists rather than teachers’. Creative Partnerships support this as they place emphasis on professionals in areas of creativity to provide schools with a unique experience different to the normal classroom structures. The research provided by Doherty and Harland (2001) found that participants valued the time set aside for the planning of creative partnerships and it overall had a very positive benefit.

References:
Doherty, P. and Harland, J. (2001) Partnerships for Creativity: An Evaluation of Implementation. Slough: NFER.

Fisher, R. and Williams, M. (2004) Unlocking Creativity: Teaching Across The Curriculum. David Fulton Publishers.
Hall, C. and Thomson, P. (2007) British Educational Research Journal. Routledge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YY35PDWgx4 Accessed: (9 December 2014)