ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1 we argued that creativity – whilst it tends to be rather loosely defined in educational contexts – is definitely worth cultivating in primary classrooms, since children engaging in creative activity can become agents of their own learning. We also introduced the idea that science can be creative, both for scientists who engage in the ‘Big C’ creativity of global originality and for children who may develop original ideas in their own terms (‘little c’ creativity) or collaborate to approach scientific activity in novel or unusual ways (‘middle c’ creativity). We challenged the accepted view that creativity is more closely associated with the arts than with science and argued that science is a worthwhile element in the primary curriculum because it can promote scientific literacy and environmental awareness, introduces children to powerful ideas and can develop transferable skills. This chapter considers in more detail what creativity in learning science might look like, and what we as teachers can do to help support it. However, the title of this book is ‘Teaching Science Creatively’, so we must first consider our own creativity as teachers, what creative teaching in science might look like and how we support each other in developing and maintaining a creative approach in the classroom. Teaching can be regarded as one of the ‘creative professions’: conscientious teachers that recognise motivation as the key to learning will apply their creativity to conjure up engaging learning activities that enthuse children. Cremin et al. (2006) have proposed a model highlighting three interrelated dimensions of creative practice, summarised in Table 2.1. It may be helpful to consider creative pedagogy from two different perspectives: ‘teaching creatively’ (TC), where the focus is on ‘using imaginative approaches to make learning more interesting and effective’ (NACCCE 1999: 89) and ‘teaching for creativity’ (T4C) where the focus is on scaffolding the creativity of the learners. Having introduced this distinction, Jeffrey and Craft (2004) have warned of a danger of dichotomies emerging that are concerned with ‘effective teaching’ or ‘empowering learners’. Frodsham (2015) identifies how teachers can be creative in different ways, but their innovative practice does not necessarily support creative learning. McGregor (2007) suggests that to support creative learning teachers need to frame learning activities that are differentiated in process and outcome(s). Pedagogy that encourages children to generate their own
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ideas; encourages speculative thinking; creates unfettered learning opportunities; values diversity (in thought and action) and generally celebrates innovation can be helpful. Encouraging collaborative working, discussion and exchange of ideas through children working together to achieve shared outcomes can also successfully support creativity (McGregor and Precious 2014). This chapter is organised in two parts to consider, first, teaching creativity, then to examine supporting creativity in learning.
