Creativity and Education

This post will be exploring different definitions and meanings of creativity as well as how creativity can impact on and be developed by schools.  

“As a result of growing recognition that creativity is an important element of economic prosperity, governments around the world have turned their attention to how children and young people might acquire the necessary attributes of creativity as part of their education” (Wise and Ferrari, 2015. p.30). “Creativity (including inquisitive comprehension, problem finding, and collaborative discussions) is perceived as a core skill to redefine the goals of education in the new millennium” (Binkley et al., 2012, cited in Wise and Ferrari, 2015. p.31).

“The seminal UK government commissioned report ‘All our futures’  emphasised the importance of a kind of transdisciplinary creativity that saw creativity applicable to all subjects in the curriculum” (Wyse and Ferrari, 2015. p. 31). The definition of creativity used in the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education report was, “imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are both original and of value” (NACCCE, 1999, p. 30). The NACCCE suggested that “creativity is possible in all areas of human activity, including the arts, sciences, at work at play and in all other areas of daily life. All people have creative abilities and we all have them differently. When individuals find their creative strengths, it can have an enormous impact on self-esteem and on overall achievement” (NACCCE 1999, p.6).

A research and development project, undertaken by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in England, aimed to help teachers both find and promote creativity. It proposed a policy framework which characterises creativity in education as involving “posing questions, making connections, being imaginative, exploring options and engaging in critical reflection/evaluation” (Cremin et al, 2006).

“Primary education in the UK has long been regarded as notable for its creative elements” (Wise and Ferrari, 2015. p.31). Qualitative researchers identified school culture and context as key to the development of creative primary schools, aspects drawn out in Davies et al.’s (2013) systematic review included the following. Firstly, the physical environment and the flexible use of space and resources, provision of appropriate materials and tools, including formless and digital ones, working outdoors and beyond the classroom, for example, in galleries and museums. Secondly, the pedagogical environment where children offered control and appropriate risk-taking, teachers balancing freedom and structure; using playful/games-based approaches, enabling children to set their own pace; mutual respect, dialogue and flexibility between staff and pupils; modelling creative attitudes; high expectations; encouraging collaborative work. Finally, the use of the outdoor environment. There is reasonable evidence across several studies that “taking pupils out of the classroom and working in an outdoor environment for part of their time in school can foster their creative development” (Davies et al, 2013). “A Forest School is an approach to outdoor education which offers an alternative teaching environment, to complement the indoor curriculum” (Davies et al, 2013). In his 2006 study, Borradaile concluded that the “characteristics of forest schools as ‘creative environments’ include use of a local woodland setting, providing freedom to explore using multiple senses and intelligences, and time and space for individual learning styles to be recognised and nurtured” (Davies et al, 2013).

Furthermore, research in America has found that “children who play in natural environments undertake more creative, diverse and imaginative play; which is seen as an important element in children's development. They engage in more explorative play and activities when in natural spaces that they can adapt and modify to meet their own needs” (O’Brien and Murray, 2007). Isaacs, (in Knight, 2013) recognised “the need for children to have time and space for making their own choices and expressing their creative spirit”.

The Forest School is an open ended environment and encourages children to interact with any materials they find there. Simon Nicholson’s theory of loose parts, proposes that access to different materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways, encourages children’s creativity and a greater range of opportunities. He suggests “in any environment, both the degree of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it” (Nicholson, 1972). 

There are many ways in which creativity can be developed through outdoor learning. During a Forest School session at Cardiff Metropolitan University, year 5 children from Llanedeyrn Primary School took part in many activities which inspired and encouraged creativity in an outdoor environment. The first task for this group was to look in detail at the lines on their hands, they then had to find some material, such as a tree or a leaf, with lines on which were similar to the ones on their hand. The children were allowed to explore the forestry with limited boundaries or time limits in order to achieve their goal. They then had to use their imagination to think about other uses for the material that they chose, such as “a house for a fairy to live” or “a fairy poem”. The children were then instructed to use role play in relation to their findings. After this, in accordance with Nicholson’s theory of loose parts, children were told to choose ‘special’ objects in the forest that they could use such as twigs, leaves or any other natural materials. The children were then encouraged to use their imagination by pretending that their object was something else. For example, when presenting to the class, one child proposed that “this stick is not actually a stick, it’s a fairy wand”. The other children were then encouraged to ask questions about the special object, such as “what is the wand used for” which allowed all pupils to use their imaginations even further. Although the activities were structured and pre-planned, the children were allowed to explore the forestry to appropriate lengths with no interruption and they used their imaginations and creativity skills to complete the activities. 

There are also many other ways of encouraging creativity in the forest school. As pictured below, in our sessions in the woods we were using our imaginations and creative thinking skills to build 'shelters' to protect ourselves from all the elements after our 'plane crash' and we used loose objects to create our teams' logo (a heart shape). 

References 

Binkley, M., Erstad, O., Herman, J., Raizen, S., Ripley, M. & Rumble, M. (2012) Defining 21st century skills, in: P. Griffin, B. McGaw, E. Care (Eds) Assessment and teaching of 21st century skills (Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London and New York, Springer), 17–66.

Cremin, T., Burnard, P. and Craft, A. (2006) Pedagogy and possibility thinking in the early years. Thinking Skills and Creativity. Vol 1, Pages 108-119.

Davies, D., Jindal-Snape, D., Collier, C., Digby, R., Hay, P. and Howe, A. (2013) Creative learning environments in education. Pages 80-91.  Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2012.07.004. Accessed: 06/11/2017.

Knight, S (2013) Forest School and Outdoor Learning in the Early Years. Second Edition. 

National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCE) (1999) All our futures: Creativity, culture and education.

Nicholson, S. (1972) Studies in Design Education Craft and Technology. The theory of loose parts, an important principle for design methodology. Volume 4, No. 2.

O’Brien, L. and Murray, R. (2007) Forest School and its impacts on young children. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. Volume 6, Pages 249-265. 

Wise, D. & Ferrari, A. (2015) British Educational Research Journal ‘Creativity and education: comparing the national curricula of the states of the European Union and the United Kingdom’ DOI: 10.1002.