Creativity,+Imagination+and+Assessment

Page started 1st March 2012

VERY loose notes below - Don't bother reading them yet Maz, they don't make any sense. I guess we need to write it as we would speak it in the podcast, do you think? Therefore how do we reference it?

16/3/12 hi Jan, had a quick read, looks great to me. Have you seen the webpage: The Influence of the Creative Learning Assessment (CLA) on children's learning and teachers' teaching. I'm going to try to insert a link for you now.[|CIE Assessment] Oops! I just noticed you've got it already! Yes, definitely, it's always better to speak from the heart than just read but all the notes and ideas we put out will be synthesized to create something that is logical for our listeners,readers. As for referencing I'll do a bit of research to try to find out. Would it be APA referencing? Talk soon \Maz

Wiki The Creative Wheel - Creative Partnerships.(Sefton-Green, 2008). Retrieved from [] Pdf file – the creative wheel, teacher resource The Creative Wheel was developed between Westlea primary school in Durham (UK) (part of the creative partnerships programme) and the Creative Parnerships Durham Sunderland in 2004. The principal asked ‘how can we show that we...... if we have no way of assessing it?” see pdf file note Why assess creative development? “the principal purpose of assessing creative development is to better understand pupils’ needs for appropriate experiences that will promote and develop their creative behaviour.” P 3 of 16 of pdf file Avoid checklist approach – needs to be part of a shared vision p 4 of 16 Aimed at key stage 2 (7-11) but whole school approach Define creativity - in this instance it’s 'Find it, Promote it' (p4 of 16) 1 – think or behave imaginatively 2 – the imaginative thinking must be purposeful (to achieve an objective) 3 – above must generate something original 4-the outcome must be of value in relation to the objective Before starting find out what teachers are already doing in their classrooms, could it be bettered? What subject areas are lacking? Maybe do a survey (see p 5) Find a coordinator Give time for teachers to watch other teachers promoting creativity in their classroom(s) can use proforma p 7 – but ask questions like have pupils been behaving and thinking creatively? How did you know? What impact did it have on pupils’ achievement and attitudes to learning? Are there opportunites for creative dment in homework? Analyse proforma or questions? What creative behaviour was most frequent? Why? Less frequent? Why? Any unexpected outcomes? Did you know what you were looking for? Why are opportunities for creativity more likely in some subject areas than others? Can you develop opportunities in the less creative subject areas? Ask kids – what is a creative school, pupil, teacher? The creativity wheel helps teachers tailor their teaching toward pupil improvement, involvement and motivation. You share goals with children (NOT A CHECKLIST), involving them in ongoing assessment process. Everyone’s wheel is different. Should be applied across all areas of the curriculum. **Wheel broken up into 3 sections**, **imagination with purpose -** having purpose and taking action. Expanding possibilities, making new connections **originality** (__individual__ to them, __relative__ to their peer group or age, or __historic__ (original compared to anyone eles ever), imagination with purpose, (intuitive thought, or working toward something original) and value. **VALUE –** has value in relation to it’s pupose. Children need to idenitify this. Is it useful, effective, enjoyable? Satisfying?

Work through wheel throughout year, 7 segments term 1, 5 in term 2, 5 in term 3. Introduce wheel at start of year. Have kids put sticky notes on where they think they have done something as mentioned on the wheel. Reflect at end of week.. Week 2 introduce wheel to individual students. Week 3, discuss imagination – what is it? Who uses it? In their work?

READING Ellis, S., & Lawrence, B. (2009). The influence of the Creative Learning Assessment (CLA) on children’s learning and teachers’ teaching. Literacy, 43(1), 3-10. From pdf in folder Mod 2 readings saved CLA as a means of evidencing, supporting and promoting children’s creative learning in arts-based contexts. Note – CLA was only used in the arts field. Teachers only used a few students and assessed their own teaching to promote the children’s creativity. Should we be attempting to assess creativity at all? Do we risk losing it if we do? P 3

Teachers in Lambeth, London with the help of researchers from the centre for Literacy in Primary Education developed a framework for qualitative assessment in creative arts subjects. They wanted to show "the value of creative arts in children’s learning achievement and to support creative approaches to learning in their schools” to develop an assessment system that would have relevance and validity for schools. First model consisted of an observation framework, a portfolios of children’s work with reflective commentary (for individuals, groups or class), and 5 point scale of progress based on national curriculum statements. Consists of 6 interrelated dimensions of learning 1. Confidence, independence and enjoyment, 2 collaboration and communication, 3 creativity, 4 strategies and skills, 5 knowledge and understanding 6 reflection and evaluation. Teachers can record “in what ways are the children able to take risks and experiment with their learning"? – “do they generate ideas, questions and make connections?” and “are there examples of responding to and commenting on their own and others work”? teachers “saw it as an opportunity to find out what children know and can do as a way of developing a deeper understanding of individual approaches to learning (Schon 1987) on p 4 of Ellis. “ considering each of these elements in this section helped me as a teacher go beyond ‘delivering’ what I assumed was a ‘creative curriculum’ to assessing whether I was actually providing opportunities for children to be creative in their thinking and practice. It helped me to understand what ‘creativity’ means.” __Therefore is this article more about assessing the teacher’s creative approach???__ Eg responds to and comments on own and other’s work, responds to artistic/creative experiences, analyses and constructively criticises work, review and evaluates own progress. Evaluations and reflections complete the circle of learning. As great way to assess their understanding, enjoyment etc. Using video techniques, questioning. Kids became more elaborate and criticised more constructively. In the end they were far more accepting of critical feedback. Maybe curriculum doesn’t give enough time to reflect, but it has a significant effect on children’s learning. Portfolios good for relection, children can look back and give themselves constructive criticism. Findings – children’s language progressed, more technical and confident. Teachers had to incorporate time for reflection. Curriculaum became more negotiated and collaborative. The CLA meant that the” teacher’s attention was directed at the learner, and the learner’s response to the teaching. “ From the findings they felt that this could be applied cross curriculum – “focusing on creative approadches to learning enabled teachers to see the links with the rest of children’s learning: risk taking, making choices, reflection and persistence transfer across subjects” last page “by recognising children’s strengths in creative contexts, teachers were able to build children’s confidence and success in other curriculum areas”. - : Writing was found to be a key area of improvement for children, supported by the expansion “ “ in developing an assessment framework of this kind, we have attempted to give recognition to the complex, dynamic and creative nature of learning and teaching.”
 * Confidence, independence and enjoyment** Realised such things as kids liked working alongside others but on their own work, were more productive. Realised that what the children got out of it (enjoyment, engagement, focus, self motivation) was better than realising what they could and couldn’t do. Observing their confidence and self motivation gave better insight to how they learn.
 * Collaboration and communication** eg “ works effectively in a team, contributes to discussion, makes suggestions, listens and responds to others, perseveres, overcomes problems, communicates and presents ideas.” Without the CLA “I would have missed observing these unplanned events and ......would have missed the opportunity to foster and encourage them further”
 * Creativity** – “ is imaginative and playful, generates ideas, questions and makes connections, risk takes and experiments, expresses own creative idea using a range of artistic elements”
 * Strategies and skills** – “eg – identifies issues and explores options, plans and develops a project, demonstrates a growing range of artistic/creative skills, uses appropriate subject-specific skills with increasing control” helped the teacher focus on what the children could to and how he/she could move them on.
 * Subject knowledge and understanding ;** eg awareness of different forms, styles, artistic and cultural traditions, creative techniques, uses subject knowledge and language and understanding**”**
 * “I** was learning alongside the children. My vocabulary and explanations became more specific and explicit; I was ising the technical language of the subject with greater confiecne and understanding. Gradually the children’s talk also became more skilled. They took on the patterns of talk appropriate to the artisit context, began to use subject-specific language and expressed their thinking more clearly and with greater focus”
 * Reflection and evaluation**
 * Reflection and evaluation**


 * Re Reading :** Craft, A., Chappell, K., & Twining, P. (2008). Learners reconceptualising education: widening participation through creative engagement? Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 45(3), 235-245.
 * assessing creative outcomes - p243 assumed " attribution of originality in creative endeavour conveyed through consensus among appropriate observers" "giving and receiving feedback ......end engaging in discussion around their success."

**Can Creativity be assessed?** **Maggie Rogers Goldsmiths, University of London and** **Melanie Fasciato Manchester Metropolitan University**
 * Re :reading**:

**Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Glamorgan, 14-17 September 2005**retrieved from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/150029.htm " Should we be trying to assess it? Is it best nurtured but not measured?"

taken from **All Our Futures** -" creativity can be 'taught'. Teachers can be creative in their own teaching; they can also promote the creative abilities of their pupils. The roles of teachers are to recognise young people's creative capacities; and to provice the particular conditinos in which they can be realised. Developing creativity involves, amongst other things, deepening young people's cultural knowledge and understanding." p12 "assessment and insepcgtion have vital roles in raising standard of achievement in schools" p12 "creative teachign and learning can enhance literacy and numeracy" p13 "children with high academic ability may have other strengths that are often neglected. Chidlren who struggle with academic work can have outstanding abilities in other areas" p15 this is saying that we need to reshape the whole curriculum to promote creativity whereas the creativity wheel fits into all subject areas in any curriculum NOW. "all young children need an education that helps them to find meaning and to make sense of themsselves and their lives" p25 "all people are capable of creative achievement in some area of activity, provided the conditions are right" p30 //teaching creatively and teaching for creativity// "young people's creative abilities are most likely to be developed in an atmosphere in whinc the teacher's creative abilities are properly engaged." p104

"assessing creative developmenet in education has to take acocunt of the valeu of the porcess, and of children's training and acheivement thorugh it as well as of the inherent qualities of the public products that result" p 128

[|www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Critical-and-creative-thinking/Introduction/Introduction] “ By applying a sequence of thinking skills, students develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the processes they can employ whenever they encounter problems, unfamiliar information and new ideas. In addition, the progressive development of knowledge about thinking and the practice of using thinking strategies can increase students’ motivation for, and management of, their own learning. They become more confident and autonomous problem-solvers and thinkers.”

16/32012 Comment by Maz
 * Thanks so much Jan. This is great. I have experience of using Portfolios for children as above. Children take pride in seeing their work samples build up and it's easy for parents and teachers to gauge how children are progressing.
 * Portfolios also lend themselves to one to one discussions between pupils and their teacher and is an excellent assessment tool.
 * I agree there's not enough time given to reflection. I think that it's when we reflect that we take a step closer to making creative thoughts into something more tangible.
 * I think it was Edison who had to repeat his experiment nearly a thousand times before he was successful in "creating" the electric light bulb. He said "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration." Do you think this could translate to creativity and imagination?
 * Do you think that education in the 21st century including assessing creativity in children might be related to making the curriculum more personal?
 * I think it's important not to underestimate what our children are capable of; presenting subject knowledge and understanding in appropriate language is an effective tool in stretching children's thinking processes - if they don't know what a technical term means they enjoy the challenge of finding out for themselves and this can lead to the opening up of other areas of learning. My own experience bears this out. Showing respect for children's intelligence creates a good space for creative learning and assessment.

18/3/2012 - Maz - thanks for those comments. It's good to hear your experience with portfolios and to know they work. I will try to put some emphasis on reflection in my final draft as it keeps popping up everywhere so it must be important and given it's due. I live the Einstein quote, and yes I think it applies to C&I as well for sure. I think if anyone was to adapt the creativity assessment tools that I have studied so far that the effect would be making the curriculum more personal, for sure. I think the Creativity Wheel when applied for the first time may seem like 'hard work" but like most things, I think after doing them once it would become easier (what I'm trying to say from a teacher's point of view it looks like a lot of work, but once you've done it once and seen the outcomes, it would get easier and easier to apply and work with). I really like your last point - I think that by assessing childre's C&I we are showing them respect their thinking. Do you mind if I reword that a bit and use iyt in my podcast? (unless you were going to of course!!)

Hi Jan, 18/3/2012 Yes, you can certainly used what I said in your podcast. Assessing creativity and imagination has to be done as part of the process of education but as Ken Robinson (2009) The Element, Penguin Group NY p 249, points out standardized tests are not really very helpful especially in relation to how he sees CIE in 21st Cent. He says that standardized testing rarely raises educational standards and when it does it is at the price of developing Cr. and Im. in our students. (Robinson, 2009, p 249). He cites A+ schools in England which use "enriched assessment tools" that help students with ongoing tracking of how they are doing. (Robinson 2009, p246) It seems that for appropriate assessment of C&I there has to be an appropriate curriculum first? Or perhaps by tackling the modes of assessment first the curriculum has necessarily to shift. That seems to be one of the points above in the findings where curriculum becomes more collaborative and negotiated.

Jan 19/3 thanks for the feedback Maz - I've just been reading Ken Robinson so have come across the points that you said, it's nice to see that we have highlighted the same things from our reading. I am going to work on this all day today so hopefully I should have some shell of what I am going to say in my podcast by the end of the day..........hopefully. It seems from the set readings that I will focus on The Creativity Wheel (reading 9 )and the CLA (reading 5). I have taken a little bit out of reading 3 as well but the other readings seem more suited to yours and Liam's topics, do you agree? I am going to use the Amazing Sir Ken Robinson as well, and I thought I'd have a look at the way Adam will be assessing us in this unit and see if I can link it in as well. I'm not sure if that last bit will work, it was just an idea.

__**PODCAST VERY LOOSE DRAFT SO FAR**__ - do you think I'm heading in the right direction Maz?Is it coming across ok? Obviously I need to sort out the referencing at the very least...

20/3 __**// OK - I have deleted the draft from before and have squished it up into the following. What do you think? It's 408 words without reference. I'm not sure how to reference The Creativity Wheel either. //**__ Firstly I think we should first look at //why// we should assess creativity and imagination. Regarding creativity**,** **Rogers & Fasciato (2005)** ask “Is it best nurtured but not measured?” I believe we need to do both. Everyone is innately creative and we as teachers need to use the right tools to enhance individuals’ creativity, by teaching creatively. We also need to be able to be accountable for what we teach - therefore we need to evaluate the outcome so that everyone (the student, the teacher and the parent) can see progress and benefits. Before we assess children’s outcomes we should first assess our teaching practices**.** **The National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education [NACCCE], 1999)** states that “young people’s creative abilities are most likely to be developed in an atmosphere in which the teacher’s creative abilities are properly engaged”. By looking at our teaching methods we can assess if we are teaching creatively to enhance the learners’ creativity or, in other words, whether we are teaching creatively //for// creativity. We should observe what is already happening in the classroom and reflect whether it could be improved. For example, in the **Creativity Wheel**, when evaluating their own teaching processes, teachers asked themselves questions such as- Have I seen the creative process take place? How? Could it be enhanced? Is there room to make homework more creative? From asking these questions and others teachers can evaluate where they need to improve and how they could incorporate creativity across the curriculum. **Schon (as cited in Ellis & Lawrence, 2009)** describes this as “an opportunity to find out what children know and can do as a way of developing a deeper understanding of individual approaches to learning”. Teachers can then observe their own classroom and evaluate how the children as a whole and individually are learning.Teaching style can then be tailored towards children’s learning practices to promote optimum learning experiences in the classroom. So, by teaching creatively we open up the learning process to become more creative. If children reflect on their learning they can become aware of how they learn and can be self critical. If this is an ongoing process where children discuss and note their outcomes they can improve on them. This can be implemented across any subject in the curriculum at any age level. Each student’s reflections will be unique to them and the assessment will come full circle from teacher, to learner, to outcome. Ellis, S., & Lawrence, B. (2009). The influence of the Creative Learning Assessment (CLA) on children’s learning and teachers’ teaching. //Literacy//, 43(1), 3-10. National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education. (1999). //All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education.// Retrieved from http://www.cypni.org.uk/downloads/alloutfutures.pdf Rogers, M., & Fasciato, M. (2005). Can //Creativity Be Assessed?// Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Glamorgan. Retrieved from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/150029.htm The Creativity Wheel. Creative Partnerships. (Sefton-Green, 2008). Retrieved from http://www.creative-partnerships.com/area-delivery-organisations/durham-sunderland/resources/the-creativity-wheel-resource-for-teachers,217,ART.html