ABSTRACT
In Chapter 2 we explored the meaning of interrelated terms such as creativity, imagination and innovation. In this chapter, it is creativity that we focus on, and some of the relationships between creativity, knowledge and the curriculum. Chapter 2 discussed approaches to creativity, noting that some emphasise
the locus (person, collective or process), some emphasise the product (idea or physical outcome) and some emphasise impact (global or local). All, however, see creativity as involving the generation of novel ideas. In considering creativity in education, and in relation to knowledge and the curriculum, it is appropriate to draw on the NACCCE (1999: 29) definition also introduced in the last chapter, i.e. creativity as ‘Imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are original and of value’. How does creativity in this sense relate to knowledge? And to curriculum? As context to exploring the answers to these questions, a thumbnail sketch of the difference between the two is presented. We can think of knowledge as the building blocks of understanding,
organised in domains that overlap in focus and style but which have distinct priorities, values, codes of engagement and forms of expression. Learning can be seen as enculturation into the working practices of a domain. Thus, mathematical knowledge is distinct from musical knowledge, and knowledge in the biological sciences is different from theological knowledge, although in the case of each pair there are overlaps between them in terms of focus and expression. This could also be described as disciplinary knowledge – i.e. knowledge of the discipline; disciplinary knowledge, being developed by experts in the area (usually as a result of years of immersion within the
discipline, domain or craft) (Gardner 1999, 2000). Gardner even describes the immersion as being rather like an apprenticeship; indeed, in some cases it may actually involve an apprenticeship. He describes the period of becoming an expert as involving the discarding of irrelevant habits of thinking and tools for doing, and also ‘the construction of habits and concepts that reflect the best contemporary thinking and practices of the domain’ (Gardner 2000: 123). Curriculum, by contrast, can be seen as the way in which domains of
knowledge are made available in a learning environment; in some ways, therefore, it is the ‘what’ of learning. Clearly, there are different levels of curriculum from the formal, explicit, curriculum statement through which implicit messages can be detected, about what is valued. Equally, the informal curriculum, which may have no codified curriculum statement, is a key part of any learning environment. Thus, the ways in which adults interact with children and with other adults would form a part of the informal curriculum, and could have an effect on children’s learning and yet may not be codified officially. We might be tempted to assume that curriculum and knowledge are the same thing, but they are clearly not, as the curriculum involves selection of certain topics for inclusion while others are excluded. A significant aspect of the curriculum is how it is made available to children. The teacher, team and school have an influence, in different ways, on what is included and how, within a wider framework of statutory or non-statutory guidance. And clearly, the selection and organisation of knowledge is underpinned by values and beliefs about how children learn. We will examine the dimension of approaches to learning later in the chapter. But first, what is the role of knowledge in creativity?
