LEARNING TO BECOME A CREATIVE PROFESSIONAL Dr Jenny Willis SCEPTrE Researcher...
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Transcript of LEARNING TO BECOME A CREATIVE PROFESSIONAL Dr Jenny Willis SCEPTrE Researcher...
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
• Acknowledgements• Background to the research• What is creativity?• The research questions• Methodology and respondents• Findings: creativity• Findings: professionalism• Implications for life-wide learning
BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH (1)
CREATIVITY & THE POLITICAL AGENDA- Creative Partnership initiatives in the school sector by Department for Creativity, Culture and Education launched 2002
One of a number of programmes generated by the new national organisation Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE), the Creative Partnerships programme fosters innovative, long-term partnerships between schools and creative professionals, including artists, performers, architects, multimedia developers and scientists. These partnerships inspire young people, teachers and creative professionals to challenge how they work and experiment with new ideas. 2007
- Imaginative Curriculum project to examine creativity in HEWork in the modern British economy will increasingly involve creativity and innovation as a mass and everyday activity. (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2006)
ASSUMED VALUES: ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL
BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH (2)
CREATIVITY & THE INDIVIDUAL AGENDA- Preparation for workIt seems that students will be emerging into a world in which their claims to creative work are becoming increasingly important. (Edwards et al. 2006:71)
Creative learning empowers young people to imagine how the world could be different and gives them the confidence and motivation to make positive change happen. This helps young people to engage with their education and to achieve. (Creative Partnerships Programme 2002:.4)
- Self-fulfilmentTo exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. (Bergson (1911:7)
ASSUMED VALUES: SOCIAL AND INDIVIDUAL WELL-BEING
BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH (3)
PEDAGOGICAL CONTEXT- National Teaching Fellowship Scheme funding for Creative Interventions project, University of the Arts, London, in partnership with the Arts University College, Bournemouth, and SCEPTrE, 2008-2010
- Project examines creative arts student experiences of work-related learning activity in the public and third sectors
- How such experiences contribute to students’ employability skills, how these are identified by the students and how the activities are valued by students, the HEI and the external partners involved
ASSUMED VALUES: INDIVIDUAL, CURRICULAR, INDUSTRIAL
WHAT IS CREATIVITY?“If you create something, you’re creative, aren’t you?”
• Implies novel (creation) or new (recreation)?• Innate or learnable?• Common to us all or possessed by only a few?• Culture or culture?• A quality, skill, disposition?• A ‘wicked’ problem, how (can/should) we assess it?
We have to see creativity not as a stand alone skill but as part of a package of dispositions, qualities and capabilities for being successful in whatever domains learners choose to live and work (Jackson 2008:3)
THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Where in creative arts students’ personally determined life-wide curriculum are they able to express and develop their creativity so that they realise their creative potential?
2. What does being professional mean to creative arts students and how do they develop professional attitudes, capabilities and confidence to be a creative professional through their life-wide curriculum? This will identify the experiences through which they develop their capabilities within and outside the credit-bearing curriculum.
Case study Data collection and facilitation tools
Timeline
Young Design Programme
Focus groups (n=7) Interviews (student=6, tutor=3, WRL provider=3) Documents Observations Reflective journals (n=3)
October 2008 - March 2009
Design Thinking workshops
Facilitated engagement of staff Use of design thinking tools Video capture – film for disseminating techniques
January 2009
BA(Hons) Arts and Event Management
Focus groups (n=8) Interviews (students n=2 and tutors n=3) Documents
November 2008 -September 2009
Leeds Met-Festival Republic Partnership
Focus groups (n=6) Interviews (students=4, tutors=2) Documents
July - November 2009
Creative Transfer Between Practice-based Arts Education and Work
Video interviews (students n=19) November 2009 - June 2010
Learning to Become a Creative Professional
Interviews (students n=7) Questionnaires (respondents n=40) Video film production (students n=3)
March – July 2010
CREATIVE INTERVENTIONS OVERVIEWSource Wareing et at. (June 2010) Final Report to HEA
METHODOLOGY AND RESPONDENTS
• On-line questionnaire (Values-Exchange) for all UGs in Dance, Music and Theatre Studies, and GSA
• Follow-up interview with
representative sample
• Video films
• 40 respondents, representing all areas and from levels 1-3
• 10 selected for individual semi-structured, recorded, interviews, 6 attended
• 3 interviewees re-interviewed on film, edited to produced 3-minute monologues
CREATIVITY:What does the term mean for you?
• Originality, flair• Inspiring or provoking others• Coping with different situations• Quick and lateral thinking; thinking outside the box• Open-mindedness, willingness to compromise• Responsibility• Self-confidence• Risk-taking, bold choices• Sensitivity, understanding others• Being organised and directed• Cultural awareness• Expression• Self-motivation• Self-discipline• Technical ability• Integrity, respect• Dedication, commitment• Ambition, resilience
I think, um, someone who possibly has a mind that is, er kind of a little bit erratic, who can think a train of thought and then suddenly kind of switches it to, kind of branches out a lot more rather than like thinking in one direction, kind of branches out to different things. I think its, er, I don’t know, it’s really quite a strange thing, creativity … (O, Music)
For me, it’s everything, because it’s all I’ve ever really done or wanted to do. I made friends through creative courses, events, it was where I could relax, for instance, at GCSE level, you had to take so many options under each bracket, and I’d already taken Drama and Music and Dance and I really wanted to do Art. So I took Art as an extra subject and just did it at home just for that release that you can just forget about other things and, you have a moment to yourself, and you have the satisfaction of completing something at the end, that you have done creatively. I came out with a B and that was just basically from doing the hobby at home, it was an extra, it wasn’t because I needed it or…Because I’ve always been, what I’d say, more of a well-rounded creative person. It just doesn’t stop at dance for me – I enjoy the drama, I enjoy music, I can play the clarinet, I enjoy art – like I’d happily, I dunno, go off on a water colour course if the opportunity came up, things like that. But I do them for different reasons – like when I was doing my A-levels, even though I was doing performing arts A-levels, I still felt that I needed that release from the stress and I did other dance classes, outside of school, which were for other exams but it was different. It gives you that momentary release from what you’re having to achieve, that stress you get put under, so I think it’s really important, well to me personally, anyway. (A, Dance)
I think, put it this way, creativity for me is probably, probably not a product, you don’t see it as a product, you see it as a process. How you approach things as opposed to what came out from being creative. (J, Dance)
CREATIVITY: How do you express your creativity?
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Through re la ted job
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• studio and recording work
• teaching
• entering competitions
• joining ensembles, societies, clubs
• member of local and national orchestras
• volunteering e.g. at a festival in the USA; charity work e.g. for elderly
• ran own business/company; set up own group/team
• other performance training
• student representative in department
• part-time work involving social interaction and management
• participation in performances (theatre)
• practicing other forms of creative art
• keeping abreast of local and national tours
• getting to rehearsals on time
• psychology of learning – exercise and healthy living
• music arranging and transcription
• choreography for other companies
• mentoring
TRANSFERABILITY OF CREATIVITY
• you have to be creative in how you transfer such creativity for it to be successful
• it is the attributes of creativity that makes a person successful in any field• confidence developed is transferable• ability to work in a team is being used in other domains e.g. part-time
(unrelated) work• resolving any problem demands analysis, group work, communication and
creativity• aspects of abstract thinking and problem-solving are involved and these are
transferable• ‘creativity is not about an art form, it is a mindset’• thinking outside the box and being original are always transferable to new
ideas and other jobs• ‘the forms of creativity needed to be a professional musician are the same
as needed to be an amateur musician – the only difference is luck’• transferable from everyday situations to specific contexts
CREATIVE TRANSFER
Yes, creativity is not about an art form, it is a mindset. Someone who creates new technologies is creative as much as an artist, or film director. Being creative is about coming up with new solutions to a problem (whether that problem is real or artistic). I regularly collaborate with choreographers, and then transfer my creativity into the emotional content of dance, as well as the visual element of the performance. My creativity extends into lighting, and the physical positioning of performers. (R47)
With music, you can kind of branch that onto anything, I mean for instance, if you want to be a political activist towards something then you can use music through that. If you want to relax, or to vent anger, or if you want to bring people together, or you know, music can be useful for almost anything really. And the creative side of it, you know you can kind of mould the music into whatever sort of use you want it to have. …. Yeah, it’s using the creativity through the music to achieve, yeah, all kinds of things, yeah. (O, Music)
Building confidence has proven effective. Through acting, you gain a confidence to talk in front of other; beneficial for giving presentations or speeches. When learning about the body and physicality, gestures and emotions become apparent, and so when handling different situations, it is helpful to visually understand how that person is feeling, ultimately leading to resolving the situation. (R39)
I think being able to approach a problem from multiple different directions is a skill which can be used across a wide selection of work areas. Throughout my course I have had to work with teams of people, learning how to work successfully without arguing about everything. Learning to compromise and put others before me in a team helped me to live alongside my housemates and avoid any major disagreements. (R73)
CREATIVITY: CONCLUSIONS• PoS and extra-curricular activities are the domains of greatest creative expression
• (These creative arts students’) extra-curricular activities are closely related to their discipline
• No single definition of creativity: associated with range of dispositions and personal qualities which vary according to disciplinary background
• Creativity seen as both innate and something that can be nurtured
• Distinguish between natural creativity and extraordinary creativity
• Natural creativity conceived as transferred to other contexts
• The findings confirm much of the existing literature on creativity
• Views on nurture and transferability validate curriculum development aimed at increasing opportunities for creative expression
• Qualitative data convey extreme personal fulfilment derived from being creative
• External approval is sought, but respondents motivated predominantly by intrinsic rewards
• These students may not be typical of other disciplines in importance they attribute to being creative
PROFESSIONALISM:What does this term mean to you?
• being creative• assertiveness• technical competence• ability to work with all types of people• good literacy skills• analytical and research skills• problem-solving• leadership• optimism• emotional sensitivity• team management• patience• organisational skills• appreciation of others• imagination• self-exploration, self-awareness
• critical evaluation of self• adaptability• communication skills• passion• self-motivation• resilience• ‘am impeccable work ethic’;
professional attitude• attention to detail• aspiration• determination; be committed• decisiveness• responsibility• self-confidence• cope with lack of sleep• be healthy
PROFESSIONALISM:How do you learn to be a creative professional?
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Figure 108 The 12 most significant dimensions of professionalism for respondents
CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS:Dimensions of greatest perceived significance
PROFESSIONALISM:Where do you learn to become
a professional?
Developing through PoS Qs 4-5 % 4/5
Developing whilst student, Q 8 % 4/5
Developing beyond PoS, Q 9 % 4/5
Subj Knowledge 80 8.1 Looking after yourself 90 9.1 Find/apply for job 20 Analysis 78 8.2 Being a parent 0 9.2 Interview prep 13 Evaluation 85 8.3 Caring for someone 13 9.3 Being interviewed 13
Synthesis 58 8.4 Having a job that IS related to your chosen career 33 9.4 Learning in work context 15
Problem solving 38 8.5 Participating in the professional training scheme 28 9.5 Applying classroom learning 15
Design solutions 55 8.6 Creating or running a business 3 9.6 Gaining work experience 28
Enquiry skills 85 8.7 Volunteering
38 9.7 Understand how business works 15
Research skills 68 8.8 Significant travel experience 35 9.8 Being managed 8 Written communication 83 8.9 Living in another country 23 9.9 Professional skills 30
Verbal communication 85 8.10 Meeting/interacting with other cultures 53 9.10 Written communication 35
Active listening 88 8.11 Coping with personal illness 15 9.11 Verbal communication 45
Use of IT 55 8.12 Organising something
65 9.12 Graphical/visual communication 25
Visual/graphical 40 8.13 Fund raising 30 9.13 Listening skills 45
Other communication 5 8.14 Participating in marathon/other challenging experience 5 9.14 Assess a situation 35
Experience real work 65 8.15 Duke of Edinburgh Award 3 9.15 Find out for action 33
Team work 90 8.16 Learning another language
18 9.16 Make decision with little information 33
Adaptability 85 8.17 Learning a skill e.g. to drive
40 9.17 Evaluate/reflect on performance 40
Leadership 60 8.18 Experience of performing in public 78 9.18 How to improve performance 38 Being creative 90 8.19 Learning/playing a sport 15 9.19 How to use IT skills 18
Being enterprising 50 8.20 Learning/playing a musical instrument 55 9.20 Work with colleagues 43
Ethical awareness 53 8.21 Being part of a drama group 23 9.21 Interact with others 45
Self-management 80 8.22 Active involvement in other creative enterprises 30 9.22 Interact with clients 38
Reflection. Self-evaluation 80 8.23 Being a member of a student society 48 9.23 Socialise with other cultures 33
Learning another language 15 8.24 Mentoring or coaching others 38 9.24 Manage others 20
Perceived to be developing through programme
8.25 Participating in skills-based USSU activities 15 9.25 Manage self 38
acquiring greater confidence and assertiveness
8.26 Participating in Careers Service events 15 9.26 Manage emotions 35
opportunities to perform 8.27 Participating in SPLASH events 10 9.27 Behave ethically 30 learning from other students’ strengths and weaknesses
8.28 Participating in other skills-based activities 38 9.28 Negotiate with others 25
refining interpersonal (‘people’) skills 9.29 Persuade others 25 listening and observing 9.30 Understand career goals 40 collaborations and social interaction 9.31 Challenging situations 28 applying academic knowledge to real life situations
9.32 Risk taking 25
‘delving into our past and our personal emotions’
Key
9.33 Managing challenging responsibilities 20
practical (‘logic side’) of career planning Green = personal management/ taking responsibility 9.34 Being creative 55
re-establish links with cultural background
Pink = practical skills and work related knowledge 9.35 Confidence in own abilities 40
increasing motivation Blue = generic skills 9.36 Other 3 aspiring to a more professional standard
Yellow = dispositions
become more independent Orange = metacognition
CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS:Most and least significant dimensions
Looking after yourself 90%
Team work 90%
Being creative 90%
Active listening 88%
Adaptability 85%
Evaluation 85%
Enquiry skills 85%
Verbal communication 85%
Written communication 83%
Subject knowledge 80%
Self-management 80%
Reflection/self-evaluation 80%
Looking after yourselfOrganising somethingPerforming in publicLearning/playing a musical instrument
Creativity: 55%Interaction with others: 45%Verbal communication: 45%Listening skills: 45%Interaction with clients: 43%Critical reflection/evaluation of self: 40%Understanding career goals: 40%Self-confidence: 40%
Being a parentCreating or running a businessLiving abroadChallenging physical experienceDuke of EdinburghUSSU activitiesCareers Service eventsSPLASH activities
CREATIVE PROFESSIONALISM:Key developmental components
• Programme of study: Study skills - subject knowledge, analysis, evaluation, enquiry and synthesisCommunication skills – written,
verbal and listening skillsOther – team work, adaptability,
creativity, self-management, self- evaluation
• Whilst a student: Looking after yourself, public performance, learning/playing an instrument
• Lifewide: Self-evaluation, working with colleagues, interacting with others, self-management, being creative,
and self-confidence [email protected]
CONCLUSIONS: WHAT IS PROFESSIONALISM?
• Associated with self-management and subject knowledge
• Metacognition and critical reflection important elements
• Communication skills (oral, written, listening, IT and non-verbal expression) highly significant
• Self-confidence and adaptability important dimensions
• For these students, practice and performance strongly related to extra-curricular domain, but this finding likely to be characteristic of their discipline and not common to all others
• Mix of skills, dispositions, knowledge and metacognition found supports findings of other researchers on complexity of professionalism
• If typical, respondents point to general lack of interest in extra-curricular activities offered by the university and Students’ Union
• Caution urged in reading data quantitatively: individuals cited whose unique stories contradict apparent statistical trends
CONCLUSIONS: WHERE DO STUDENTS LEARN TO BE PROFESSIONAL?
• PoS is most significant domain for learning to become professional at this stage in students’ lives
• Clear evidence in respondents’ narrative accounts of extensive professional learning in domains other than PoS but this not acknowledged commensurately in quantitative data
• Likely that students unused to evaluating and valuing professional learning in informal contexts
• Suggested this may reflect need for learning in other domains to be made explicit e.g. through feedback on performance
• Schemes such as Lifewide Learning Award may provide framework within which to reflect critically on professional development
• Most significant means of learning to become professional are through developing ability to manage personal lives, work well with others, develop strong communication skills and hence become self-confident
• Findings produce image of professionalism as ‘package’ combining dispositions, skills and knowledge, as found in recent literature
1
Life Map Autumn 2009: level 3 music recording student Take a few minutes to think about your life and ask yourself the question, what are the main areas in my life where I have my everyday experiences through which I interact with other people and learn and develop as a person? Use a different box for each domain e.g. study, work, volunteering, caring for someone, looking after myself and the other areas of your life. In a typical week how much time do your spend in each area of your life? What sorts of situations arise in that area? Who are the significant people you interact with? What are the challenges? What do you learn and how do you develop as a person?
My course Time I spend, what I do, what I learn/ how I develop 8 hrs Lecture / 15 hrs Studying Lectures, studying, creating music, tutorials A substantial amount of time is spent writing music or practising. Self-study is crucial for essays – sources and references. Tutorials are very useful for the musical side of things – developing a clear sense of musicality and ways of creating or reinforcing meaning through the use of music. Mixing and production help, constant learning process that requires different methods and approaches for every piece of work.
Part-time work/volunteering.. Time I spend, what I do, what I learn/ how I develop 4-8 hrs part-time work Covering the occasional shift at a local bar. This has helped in developing my interpersonal communication skills. I do not do any volunteering though it is something I often think I should research or look at.
Co-curriculum experiences Time I spend, what I do, what I learn/ how I develop 5-10 hrs Work experience, developing portfolio, collaborating with others From working artistically with other people, I have learnt how to interpret suggestions or comments regarding my work, as well as how to approach constructive criticism myself – a very important aspect in music production. Being able to stand back and constructively assess a piece of work, deciphering how to improve or enhance it, is an essential skill developed through collaborations with others.
Home/looking after myself/ family Time I spend, what I do, what I learn/ how I develop 100 hrs Housework: Cooking, Cleaning, and Tidying. Other: Entertainment, Work and Relationships. Socialising and ‘dealing’ with housemates can be a challenge in itself – making sure the house stays tidy and people pull their weight with the housework. I have been in charge of the bills, so this has been a useful learning experience. Simple things such as cooking and cleaning and independence have been massively refined whilst being at University. Parents recently split up – this has helped me to become more responsible and has forced me to ‘grow up’ to a certain extent. Interestingly as a result, I feel I can connect more with my parents now than I could before. Being vegetarian has its own issues attached to it – a positive is that it forces me to have a healthier balanced diet; a negative is the amount of flak often received from non-vegetarians!
Travel Time I spend, what I do, what I learn/ how I develop Annual holidays 2-3 weeks per year: Go to different places, often with friends – never the same place twice. Try new things, see new sights, explore. This builds confidence in myself – asking directions, chatting to other travellers or native people of the country, expanding my horizons and trying new things. At University: 5-10 mins per day: As I live very close to the campus, I do not feel I develop or learn anything significant during this time.
Running a business Time I spend, what I do, what I learn/ how I develop 0-5 hrs Technical consultant for my mum’s business – ensuring their office is working and fully functioning, solving any issues that crop up, helping them learn new software. I have limited knowledge of most of the issues that arise, but possibly due to the generation gap I am very quick at troubleshooting technical issues – this is therefore also a learning process for me, as each problem requires research into the issue, followed (hopefully) promptly by solutions to the issue. Hobbies
Time I spend, what I do, what I learn/ how I develop
20 hrs Bass guitar, Music, Games, Socialising, Internet Music – collaborate – work as a team in a band Games – trial and error, problem-solving, replaying scenarios to work out the best outcome, quick decision making. Internet – There is a fine line between wasting time on the internet and being productive – whilst it is very useful for pretty much any aspect of my education, the amount of distractions associated with it are rather large too.
Occasional events like travel/conferences Time I spend, what I do, what I learn/ how I develop 2-4 hrs Learning new things, different views / experiences. Aside from knowledge gleaned directly, after-talk networking sessions are highly useful – learning to approach people with more confidence – creating opportunities for myself.
GUIDING CRITICAL REFLECTION
Capability Recent & current activities/experiences that help me develop and demonstrate
these aspects of capabilityWHAT? WHEN? WHERE?
How would you rate your overall performance?Lots of scope for improvementOkay – but could be improvedCompletely satisfactory – cant imagine how I can improve
Additional activities I can undertake in the next 6 months to help me develop and
demonstrate my capabilityWHAT? WHEN? WHERE?
Managing myself Finding work experience in two London-based studios over summer.Organising a trip around Europe for Easter.Actively seeking collaborations with other musicians.Prioritising coursework – setting myself early deadlines to ensure everything is completed to a high standard.Ensuring I eat a balanced vegetarian diet.Practising bass regularly – constructively finding and working on weak areas to improve my playing.
Okay.When I set my mind to something and have the focus and self-motivation to achieve my goals, the results are usually pretty good (for example attaining a 1st).However, building up this momentum and drive is not always an easy thing to do, and with more motivation I feel I could have created and participated in a muchwider range of activities, which would have enhancedmy learning.
The final semester of the year will also be the most challenging, with all of my final-year projects coming to an end.I believe that once my degree is over I will have the time, but also the pressure and motivation, to actively seek assignments and work for myself.Similarly, I have planned to engage in a wide range of sports and activities over summer, as I feel that I havesomewhat neglected my physical fitness during mytime at University.
Being able to deal with and create situations, solve problems, work with challenge and take advantage of opportunity
There are many examples from my work experience placements from the summer.Working for my mum’s business often involves creative thinking and problem solving.Attending seminars and conferences related to my course, initiating conversations with other attendees in an attempt to build up a network of contacts within the industry.Applying for schemes such as the Life-wide Award hopefully demonstrates an out-going and constructive attitude to personal development.
Okay.Critically speaking, I would say that I have engaged in less situations that I have found through my own impetus, and instead have participated more in situations that ‘found’ me instead.However I would stipulate that this is simply becausethis is the way that university is tailored –the University hand-feeds us opportunities to an extent, so perhaps once I have finished my course I will be able to create my own opportunities more.
Similar to the above – finding work within the music industry is all based on networking and who you know, as well as being in the right place at the right time.Once my degree is over, I will have the time to begin to exploit some of the contacts I have built up during my course. Finding this sort of work requires some abstract thinking and innovation in order to get oneself noticed.
“If you create something, you’re creative, aren’t you!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPAboXKI3mU
FIN
Thank you for your interest
For references and further information, go to http://learningtobeprofessional.pbworks.com/Becoming-a-creative-professional
