Sunday 7 December 2008

What do learners need to be more creative?

Over the last 6 months, the Creativity Action Research Group have conducted consultations with staff and students in an attempt to establish what everyone thinks learners need to become more creative at Tallis. On Wednesday 3rd December, staff members met again to agree actions for implementing their previous recommendations. Working in 12 groups, each team were asked to discuss and reach consensus on 1 action each. Here is what they agreed:

* Training for staff to act as facilitators
* Encourage problem solving and reflection in lessons
* Establish a systematic approach to differentiated group work
* Encourage students to personalise the presentation of their projects
* Create a range of active tasks that offer a range of learning opportunities for students
* Audit the current range of learning opportunities for students
* Promote a variety of teaching strategies
* Create a means for students to decide how they meet their learning objectives
* Ensure equivalent access to ICT hardware and promote the sharing of best practice amongst staff
* Redesign the timetable, create smaller class sizes and create opportunities for more extended, discovery based learning both on and off site in well-resourced learning bases
* Invest in good ICT and better resources
* Establish themed workshop days
* Explore ways of organising time and class size to create learning experiences related to students' needs

The next task for the group of senior staff charged with the responsibility of co-ordinating this aspect of change management is to reflect on these 12 actions, create a list of short, medium and longer term priorities and to agree an implementation strategy in order to deliver the actions. These decisions will be reported back to staff members as quickly as possible so that everyone feels that the process is fair and manageable.

2 comments:

Soren Hawes said...

I think the meeting revealed a high level of consensus on what creativity is, its vital importance in making motivated and independent learners, and also its desirability in ensuring we have a rewarding and stimulating environment to teach and learn in.

I think it's important to ensure that we don't end up with statements of intent rather than action points that will see creativity entrenched in the learning experience of students. I think the distinction was very clear at the meeting and that there is a real opportunity to make substantive developments in the creative opportunities we offer our students.

So many portents seem to right: creativity is being sponsored and even insisted upon by educational bodies, new technologies are becoming much more accessible and offer a host of new ways of working , we have opportunities to remodel and slim down the curriculum ...


Mr. Hawes

Jon said...

The co-ordinating group met tonight after school to try to make sure that these aims were grouped together into actions. We decided on three categories related to pedagogy, structures and resources. We will present our recommendations to the whole Senior Staff group after Christmas in order to seek their approval for the set of proposed actions. watch this space.