Creativity:  Teaching  the  Teachers  

Sydney  Ideas,  Seymour  Centre  and  Vivid  ideas  3rd  of  June  2014  

*  Stereotypes  about  creativity  are  false:  some  are  NOT  “born  with  it”,  there  is  no  “creative  genius”.  We  all  have  the  capacity  for  creativity  

Robin  Ewing  

Creativity  is  a  decision  

Miranda  Jefferson  

*  Creativity  produces  a  “flow”  *  Novel,  high  ability,  high  challenge  tasks  =  novel,  high  quality  product  -­‐  discover  and  connect  to  something  new  -­‐  defy  the  status  quo  *  Being  a  scientist,  discoverer,  communicator,  builder  

Miranda  Jefferson  

*  Creativity  Pedagogy    *  The  4Cs  Foresee  the  Future  

Miranda  Jefferson  

Collaboration  

Communication  Creativity  

Critical  Thinking  

Julie  Dunn  

*  Making  children  feel  =  forces  teacher  to  feel    *  Imagination  &  emotion  work  in  unison  *  Feeling  +  thought  =  imagination  à  creativity  

Julie  Dunn  

Imagination  Paralysis  

Why?  The  school  system  

Separation  of  cognition  &  emotion  

Rules,  restrictions  &  constraints  

How  do  we  fix  it?  

Make  time  for  

playfulness  

Time  without  adult  constraints  Engage  with  

literature,  words  

Less  screen  time  

Imagine  self  as  creative  teacher  

Julie  Dunn  

We  are  passive  consumers  of  imaginative  products,  but  we  don’t  do  anything  with  it  

*  We  are  this  *  We  should  strive  for  more  

* All  creativity  involves  risk  *  If  you  DON’T  risk  are  you…  Boring?    Conservative?    Not  adaptable?  Successful?  Responsible?  * Creativity  is  high  stakes  

Kelly  Freebdoy  

*  Creativity  is  deliberate,  a  skill  which  needs  to  be  taught  and  learned    *  There  is  a  difference  between  a  new  idea  and  a  GOOD  new  idea  *  Skill  is  an  emotional  liberator  =  not  teaching  the  skills  of  creativity  is  shallow  

Kelly  Freebody  

Creativity  IS  discipline  specific.    The  curriculum  needs  to  specifically  &  

explicitly  articulate  what  creative  risk  looks  like  in  each  

disciplinary  area  

Kelly  Freebody  

Disembodied  learning  

“get  rid  of  every  desk  and  burn  every  photocopier”  

“  I  never  knew  a  child  who  grew  taller  by  measuring  them  more  often”  

When  a  single  crab  is  put  into  a  lidless  bucket,  they  surely  can  and  will  escape.  However,  when  more  than  one  share  a  bucket,  none  can  get  out.  If  one  crab  elevates  themself  above  all,  the  others  will  grab  this  crab  and  drag  them  back  down  to  share  the  mutual  fate  of  the  rest  of  the  group.    

Crab  Bucket  Theory