Creativity in Today's Curriculum

What is creativity?

'Imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are both original and of value' The National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education Report (1999, p.29)

Gardner (1997) believes creativity is the ability to solve problems and to think and raise questions.

Moyles (2010) views creativity as important because it allows us to react to the changing world, encouraging risk taking, innovative and flexible thinking and to have an imaginative response.

With the use of wordle.net/ I created a small collage of a few words that can be related to the idea of creativity and what it is.

(wordle.net/)

When regarding creativity within education the initial reaction of the majority would be to think of subjects within the curriculum such as Art, Design, Dance, Drama and Music. This perception that creativity takes place amongst these subjects has developed over the years, although as the government began to realise that creativity is an important aspect of an effective curriculum, they also became aware it could be applied to many subjects. The NACCCE (1999, p. 28) states that ‘Creativity is not unique to the Arts. It is equally fundamental to advances in the sciences, in mathematics, technology, in politics, business and in all areas of everyday life.’

As Early Years education has evolved the concept of creativity has too, in the generation of today, creativity in the curriculum is not only viewed as something of the arts but as a device that allows children to become independent, to think for themselves, to gain new experiences and to learn from them, gaining a new knowledge and understanding.

A significant contributor to the introduction and influence of creativity in the curriculum, is that of Maria Montessori. Montessori focused specifically on the learning methods of the early years, although there was no set curriculum to her method of teaching, she created a classroom environment where children could freely explore new skills and experiences without any force of direction from teachers. This freedom allowed children to learn independently and creatively. She particularly noticed the movement of the hand as a tool for children to express themselves, and encouraged this by providing ways for the children to work indirectly. Montessori defined this system of teaching children to draw and write as ‘indirect’, she explains that when they are taught in this way children are more capable of expressing themselves. (Montessori, 1986)

Being able to think creatively can be seen as a key skill for successful learning across the National Curriculum as there is potential for it in every subject with it being not a single power but multi-dimensional.  With encouragement from teachers for children to think creatively and to embed this skill into their learning, it can help them to gain confidence and raise their self-esteem. Fisher & Williams (2004) build on the concept of bringing the teacher and pupil together, believing that the encouragement for both teachers and pupils to be creative can help lead in the right direction for the development of more creative people.

When considering creativity in the curriculum, a frequently used term in education to illustrate the level of creativity is that of the big ‘C’ versus the little ‘c’. Researching the creativity requirements for both the little ‘c’ and big ‘C’ led to findings that little ‘c’ creativity is associated to every day problem solving and considered an important aim in early education by Craft (2002). Whereas the big ‘C’ creativity is that of much more value as Feldman et al. (1994) describes it as the accomplishment of something remarkable and new, for example a recognised piece of art, a masterpiece or life changing discovery. How can creativity be so easily restricted to these two terms when there is no real way to measure what is creative, or even a precise definition of creativity itself?

Teachers have control over their own pedagogy therefore they are able to create opportunities for themselves to teach creatively. (Bob, Jeffery & Woods, 2008) Creativity in education is beneficial because it is where the ability to think of new ways to do things stems from, a process essential to problem solving which is key in all areas of the curriculum.

References:

Bob, J., Jeffery, B. and Woods, P. (2008) Creative Learning in the Primary School. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Craft, A.(2002) Creativity and Early Years Education A Lifewide Foundation. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.

Feldman, D., Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Gardner, H. (1994) Changing the World: A Framework for the Studay of Creativity. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.

Fisher, R. and Williams, M. (2004) Unlocking Creativity: Teaching Across The Curriculum. David Fulton Publishers.

Gardner, H. (1997) Extraordinary Minds. New York: HarperCollins.

Montessori, M. and Costelloe, J. (1986) Discovery of the Child. Random House Publishing Group.

Moyles, J. (2010) The Excellence of Play, Berkshire, England: McGraw-Hill International (UK) Ltd.
National Avisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (1999) All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education.London: DfEE [Online]. Available at: http://sirkenrobinson.com/pdf/allourfutures.pdf (Accessed: 9 December 2014).