Tag Archives: learning

Creativity across Learning #1 – Introduction⤴

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Creativity in Education

 

A couple of weeks ago I attended another wonderful Creative Conversation organised by Linda Lees of  Edinburgh City Council. It was a session led by Paul Collard, CEO of the international foundation Creativity Culture and Education. The impact of CCE is really impressive and I really enjoyed the breadth and depth Paul brought to the conversation.

On the way back north I got thinking about creativity and was reminded of the summer of 2001 when I moved from being an education adviser with Dundee City Council to a newly created role as head of future learning and teaching at what was Learning and Teaching Scotland (subsequently merged into Education Scotland).

One my first jobs was to help pull together a publication around the theme of ‘Creativity in Education‘. I had always been sceptical about the term ‘creativity’ – it seemed to me to be a very poorly defined concept. I couldn’t understand why reproducing an opera exactly as it had been written 100 years could be called ‘creative’. In my experience the world of science and technology was just as creative as the so-called creative arts – brimming with the new, the beautiful, the innovative and the imaginative. Furthermore new industries such as computer games were breaking the false dichotomies between the disciplines. A great game depends just as much on wonderful graphic design and a compelling narrative as it does on the accuracy of the coding. Whilst the notion that some people are born creative and others not just struck me as profoundly anti-educational as well as largely counterfactual.  The LTS publication ‘Creativity in Education‘ set out to debunk some of these myths, reframed the concept and to my mind broke new ground in what has become a crucially important discourse.

Anyway 10 years later in 2011 I was once again asked to support some work on this theme. The Advisory Council of Learning and Teaching Scotland asked me help to update ‘Creativity in Education‘ in the context of the new Scottish Curriculum (aka Curriculum for Excellence). I was delighted to work once again with an inspirational group of people and the result was a draft publication entitled ‘Creativity across Learning‘. The document was lost in the merger of LTS with the Scottish schools inspectorate and unfortunately never saw the light of day. Over the next couple of weeks I want to reflect on the seven questions that ‘Creativity across Learning‘ raised:

  1. What do we mean by ‘creativity’?
  2. What does a ‘creative learning environment’ look and feel like?
  3. How do we respect and build on the ‘learner’s world?
  4. How can leaders go about transforming the culture so that everybody promotes creativity in learning?
  5. What needs to be done to promote creativity in professional learning?
  6. What kind of assessment and qualifications would best support creativity in learning?
  7. What kind of inspection, quality assurance and accountability regimes would best support creativity in learning?

I think these are still great questions and look forward to sharing some of the answers that were suggested in 2011.

 

 

 

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#Flashbulb Memory by @TeacherToolkit⤴

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How good is your memory? How much can you recall from your own schooling and can you think why this has stuck with you? Context: As I get to grips with writing my second book, I have been increasing the breadth and depth of my own research and re-thinking how memory can all be applied … Okumaya devam et →

Learning and Thinking in the 21st Century⤴

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Some very stimulating infographics appearing on Pinterest aimed at teachers. This one highlights some of the assumed skills young people will need in the 21st Century. Many of these are not new, eg “find information” but the emphasis is switching to collaborative approaches, to learning as a social activity, where engagement is vital. The importance of validating and evaluating information is ever more significant as pupils learn that all sources of knowledge have their limits and bias. Discernment and judgement are essential when using the internet as a research tool.

This infographic was created by Canadian educator Med Kharbach, and you can find out more on the website Educational Technology and Mobile Learning . See here for other posters from this site. Also check out some good references on Med’s Google Plus page. One that caught my attention was Danah Boyd’s  ‘”It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens”

As always, learning needs to be placed in a wider social context, and Boyd uses extensive research among American adolescents to show how young people create their own rules for negotiating the complex social network life that they inhabit.

Learning and Thinking in 21st Century

Great teaching at Stonelaw High⤴

from @ Interim reports

Great to see Alan Byrne at Stonelaw High in the Cambuslang Rutherglen area of SLC recognised in the TES awards. The full article about the awards  is here

The following quote from the TESS explains about Alan

“A South Lanarkshire teacher has won the top honour for a lifetime’s achievement in the first UK-wide TES Schools Awards, presented yesterday at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Alan Byrne is no stranger to Scottish teachers and pupils, having worked with thousands of them in his 40 years as a PE teacher. For 27 of them, he has taught at Stonelaw High, putting the school firmly on the national map with countless sporting victories.

In the past year alone, Stonelaw produced four Scottish Cup-winning teams in volleyball (two), cross-country and football, and seven internationalists from six sports. Three of the current Scottish volleyball team come from the school.

Mr Byrne’s pioneering approach to setting sport in S2 won media recognition four years ago for boosting the achievement of the best athletes while increasing the fitness of the young citizens of Rutherglen, who sported pedometers with enthusiasm as they strived to raise their exercise levels and enjoyed sessions on the trampoline or running through the local heritage park.

School inspectors have praised his PE department’s “new and creative approach to improving the health and well-being of young people”, recommending it as an example of good practice. And Stonelaw has won bronze, silver and gold awards for being a health-promoting school.

His Higher course materials are used by more than 100 schools and he leads national and local authority inservice training. He has also, through “caring counsel and motivation to students who struggled elsewhere”, produced some of the best PE exam results in Scotland.

On top of that, Mr Byrne, whose teenage daughter died 15 years ago after years of 24-hour care, has helped other similarly-afflicted families and managed to fundraise over £80,000 for charity.”

The school’s nomination drew a vast range of testimonials from colleagues past and present, which reflected their admiration and affection for him. The words “inspiration”, “energy”, “commitment”, “passion” and “enthusiasm” ran through them, as did “respect” and “regard”.

Uddingston teacher Jean McLeod said: “He epitomises the phrase ‘Deeds, not words’, leading by example in teaching, managing his department, moderating for SQA or taking extra-curricular activities. He shares knowledge and experiences.”

Another teacher, Lisa Polombo, said: “In leading the curriculum, Alan is informed and his opinion valued. Revered across Scotland, he comes into lives and makes big differences, whether you’re a pupil, colleague or friend.”

His headteacher, Brian Cooklin, simply added: “I know of no other colleague who deserves this award more. Alan is unique.”

The TES judges were overwhelmed by Mr Byrne’s achievements, saying: “The sheer range of sport that he’s taught is impressive – but it’s even more impressive when you see so many of his teams have succeeded at such a high level. And on top of this, he has done unstinting work for charities. He’s done it all.”