The Creativity Cascade
Dr Ashley Compton
Bishop Grosseteste University College
Lincoln
“We’re trying to get our students into a certain
frame of mind. That they question, that there’s
no one right answer; that we can respond in a
number of ways. If we can get them to be
thinking like that then the likelihood is that
they’re going to go into school and be creative
and work with the structures that they have to
work within in a creative way.”
(Beth, tutor interview)
Outline of research
Objectives:
1. To understand the meanings of the word
‘creativity’ for tutors and students on this
programme
2. To explore the current practice and
perceptions of creativity in summative
assessment, from the viewpoints of both
tutors and students
3. To explore the current practice and
perceptions of creativity in school
placement
• Practitioner research – an undergraduate primary education
with QTS programme
• Paradigm: Interpretivist, social constructivist
• Methodology: Illuminative evaluation
Outline of research
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•
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Semi-structured interviews with all permanent tutors (n=9)
Virtual focus group with students
Semi-structured interviews with students (n=6)
Unstructured interview with ‘expert’ student (n=1)
Questionnaires with Y2 (n=32) and Y1 (n=55)
Document analysis
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All assignment briefs and marking grids
All SP booklets and RPD
Sample of assignment feedback
Sample of SP lesson observation feedback
What is Creativity?
I think it’s an extremely hard thing to say what
it means. And I think that even when you say
what it means there could be examples where
you’d say, ‘I didn’t mean it like that.’
(Fiona, tutor interview)
Creativity Pyramid
Layer 4
Layer 3
Layer 2
Layer 1
making something new and valuable to
society as a whole, working at the
pinnacle of the field in skills,
knowledge, understanding and vision
using skills, knowledge and imagination to make
something new and valuable to the peer group / local
community; challenging and engaging an audience;
original thinking; innovating
making connections; relating; showing insight; synthesising;
developing own style; independent thinking; solving problems;
transforming; exercising judgement / evaluating; challenging;
taking risks
noticing; taking an interest; observing; exploring; questioning; investigating;
researching; expressing thoughts and feelings; imagining; making choices;
creating; making
Shared Definition of Creativity
Tutors and Students
Factors promoting Creativity
Year 1, n=55
Year 2, n=32
Facilitates
Inhibits
Either
No effect
Being passionate
about the subject
Y1
93%
(51)
Y2
100%
(32)
Y1
4%
(2)
Y2
0%
(0)
Y1
4%
(2)
Y2
0%
(0)
Y1
0%
(0)
Y2
0%
(0)
Being confident in the
subject
80%
(44)
91%
(29)
4%
(2)
0%
(0)
16%
(9)
9%
(3)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
Being knowledgeable
in the subject
85%
(47)
81%
(26)
2%
(1)
0%
(0)
9%
(5)
19%
(6)
4%
(2)
0%
(0)
Having a real purpose
71%
(39)
77%
(24)
7%
(4)
0%
(0)
18%
(10)
23%
(7)
4%
(2)
0%
(0)
Free choice of content
55%
(30)
72%
(23)
15%
(8)
16%
(5)
29%
(16)
13%
(4)
2%
(1)
0%
(0)
Free choice of format
43%
(23)
81%
(26)
19%
(10)
6%
(2)
37%
(20)
13%
(4)
2%
(1)
0%
(0)
For an audience
33%
(18)
52%
(16)
24%
(13)
13%
(4)
43%
(23)
32%
(10)
0%
(0)
3%
(1)
Opportunities for creativity in assessment
Presentations
Investigations / Research
SoW
Engaging audience
Choice and interpretation
Essays
Exams NOT seen as creative
Prominent Creativity terms in Assignments
In briefs, marking grids and tutor feedback:
• Making connections
• Selection / choice
• Evaluation (less common in feedback)
• Presentation / Engaging an audience
Feedback also included comments related to
creative teaching.
SP and AfL
“The thing that placement gives is more of a chance to
restart or learn from experience and build very quickly.
Where what the assignment does is make you wait for a
month after hand in and then get feedback that may or
may not be relevant to you. Life may have moved on to a
degree and you’re never going to do that assignment ever
again. Whereas school practice, tomorrow’s another day,
if today was a disaster we can try something different
and just keep moving on, moving on, and the feedback’s
pretty much instantaneous.”
(Ian, tutor interview)
Creative Teaching / Teaching for Creativity
“Once you know what you’ve got to teach you can
always put your creative spin on it and how the
children are going to learn in a creative way or how
you can be creative to allow them to learn.”
(Keith, Y2, December interview)
“It’s what teaching’s all about. It’s designing
opportunities that are creative, that allow children
to be creative, that allow you to be creative.”
(Emily, tutor interview)
Types of Teacher and Pupil Creativity
Teacher creativity
Making / choosing / organising
resources
Cross-curricular approach
Providing choices / freedom
No.
23
Pupil creativity
Drama / role play / small world play
No.
30
16
16
Making a product
Exploring / investigating / experimenting
20
17
Use of ICT
Innovative approach
10
9
15
12
Providing a purpose / context
8
Making choices / own interpretation
Creating art work – painting, printing,
drawing, 3-D work
Writing composition – poetry, stories,
non-fiction, play scripts, news report
Teacher in role
Using the outdoor environment
Taking risks
5
5
4
Designing
Performing
Evaluating
6
4
4
Promoting imagination / originality
3
Composing – dance, music
3
Adapting the classroom environment
3
Imagining
2
Creative use of TA
Carousel
Being flexible with time
Challenging
2
2
2
1
Problem solving
Child-initiated learning
Asking questions
2
2
1
11
Factors Promoting Creativity on SP
Personal
Factors
•Confidence
•Subject knowledge
•Enthusiasm
•Perceptions of own
creativity
Pupil engagement
Pupil ownership
High quality outcomes
Collaboration
Child Factors
•Behaviour
•Enthusiasm
School Factors
•Ample resources / staffing
•Supportive atmosphere
•Time – sufficient and
flexible
•Supportive Mentor
Recommendations: Shared definition
• Tutors explaining what they mean by creativity
– In assessment
– On school placement
• Students encouraged to develop and apply
own definitions
Recommendations: Increased
constructive alignment
Objective
Teaching
Assignment
Brief
Marking
grid
Biggs, J. and Tang, C. (2007) Teaching for Quality Learning at University, 3rd edition, Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Recommendations: Greater use of AfL
•
•
•
•
More student engagement with marking criteria
Students helping to formulate marking grids?
More peer and self-assessment
Developing formative assessments which
involve children / public presentation
• Returning formative feedback before the mark
Recommendations:
Assignment Exemplars &
Teacher Mentors
Balancing support / encouraging individuality
Creativity Cascade
“…having the opportunity to be creative on this
course has enabled me to be creative as a teacher
because I’ve had those experiences myself.
…if you’ve been able to give your creativity you
know how to provide opportunities for the children
to be creative. So that’s also how I’ve been able to
do what I’ve been able to do on placement. From
having those opportunities myself on this course.”
(Julia, Y3, interview)