Change I do hope so

Writing this while attending a creativity conference organised by Creative Junction. I should be in a workshop but I am just too old to 'do drama'. It is sharing and celebratory meeting for schools in the current ‘Change School’ programme. This is a Creative Partnership three year funded programme which involves schools working with creative practitioners to develop creativity in the curriculum and in teaching and learning.

One salutary reminder from a keynote address was that that the current funding pattern is probably secure until 2011. It occurs to me that a real issue for all of us is to consider what will be left in 2012 for the next generation of children. How is this work ensuring that teaching, pedagogy and the curriculum is being changed and how are we evaluating and then embedding any significant new practice we are developing. I worry that we are spending our time (and finite funding) on projects for children which simply confirm what we already know - that children enjoy and become enthused by changes to routines and access to artists. But if the programme is predicated upon this level of funding for artists in schools I fear it is simply not sustainable. Far more important for me is the need to change, inform and inspire teachers so that they can lead creativity for this and all the subsequent generations they teach.

The role of artists, or creative practitioners is also an intriguing issue. I worry that too often they fall back into the simplistic default role of workshop leader. This is the least important role, not least because children’ work should be led by teachers who are always best placed to manage and lead learning. The artist as workshop leader is a problem for various reasons. They may not be good teachers - why should they be? They may respond to the expectations the school has of them by setting up formulaic workshops in which children are no more than apprentice labourers in the production predefined by the artist, with little ownership and little access to first hand creativity.

Earlier there was a significant presentation by Priory School about work they are doing to support the peer and self review of creativity for pupils. It unpacks and reinterprets the conceptual framework of creativity developed by Ken Robinson and transforms these into a set of cards/pictograms which enable children and teachers to reflect upon different aspects of creativity. It was used to confirm and analyse the nature of creativity being developed and through reflection, sustain and improve the experience.

But it was good to once again join a group of teachers excited, dedicated and discovering for themselves why it is important and exciting to be a teacher.