What is Creativity? What does it mean to be Creative? How
do I teach creativity? These were questions to which I thought there were no
answers. However, when I enrolled in a PD on Creativity, these were the exact questions
that I wanted answered.
To kick off the PD, we were asked to bring along a unit of
work that we could develop. I chose a Year 3 unit because they were my youngest
class and my starting point to changing the way I added creativity to my units.
I thought this PD was going to be about me being creative. Creative in the way
I planned units of work and the way I delivered those units, but it was more
than that.
I’d
been teaching this unit for a couple of years and there some good learning had
happened. From a Design Technology point of view, the students were learning
skills with tools and machinery as well as working with and learning about
materials. I had also included in my planning opportunity for the students to
design and be creative. However, I was about to realise there was room for
students to be even more creative in their designing.
Usually
the way I had taught this unit was to:- Have the kids frame up the base
- Design the outside shape
- Attach and decorate the ply
The overarching idea was for the students to use the
product to convey a personal message. I was very chuffed that all of the
products achieved there desired purpose, but when I was asked why the kids all
make the base the same, the only response I had was “because that’s how we do
it.” …There it was! The most dangerous phrase in Education! Because that’s the
way we’ve always done it! In that light bulb moment, I realised that I had to
change this unit and I was now starting to think I needed to reflect on all the
other units I taught!
Conveying the message was still the overarching idea of the
unit. We were using the same materials, tools and machinery and had the same
time frame. I was uncertain about so many things. Did I have enough time to get
through it? Would the kids run with it? How was I going to teach how to
construct all the individual designs that would come from this? However, I was
excited about the possibilities and was willing to jump in and give it a go and
that was essentially the key!
The
big difference with this revamped unit was the kids were now going to design
their own bases. One of the strategies I used to help them visualise their
ideas was to model in cardboard. I cut cardboard pieces the exact size of the
materials they would be using for the base. They spent time playing with the
cardboard, manipulating it into shapes and designs. Lots of shapes and designs
and they photographed each one. They loved this process and wanted to share
each step with their peers and me. We then had a lesson where they had the opportunity
to discuss/share/critique each other’s ideas and this was the moment I realised
how powerful this learning strategy is. 
The kids had conversations about:- How suitable each other's designs were
- How strong they thought they would be
- How to best construct them
- Good and bad aspects of each and what improvements could be made
Reflection and cooperation – such valuable tools for
learning!
In yet
another departure from my ‘usual’ practice was that I let go of the reins. The
kids experimented with how materials joined and worked together. Literally, we
had boxes full of scrap materials that they joined and glued together, then
they broke them apart. Again, the kids analysed what worked and what didn’t and
why. Conversations about their learning flowed and there were no correct
answers. These were conversations that I would normally facilitate. Was I doing
myself out of a job?!
In the end, every student came up with a different solution
to the problem. Every child had worked through the design process, drawn on
their own experiences and created a unique solution to suit his or her
situation. But more than that, they had an explanation of why they designed and
made it like that and could and would explain this.
What stood out the most for me were:
- How engaged the kids were in this task.
- How giving them more freedom to design allowed individual creativity.
- The ownership they had of this task
- Through play/experimentation kids were learning more deeply than they would from me lecturing.
- How they were teaching each other
- And how by standing back or letting go allowed more critical, meaningful learning that also naturally fostered learning dispositions.
· Don’t get me wrong. Not everything was plain sailing. There
were lessons I had to change on the run. Sometimes I cut things and other times
I extended things to take advantage of the quality of learning. I still have to
make changes for next time I use this unit and, in fact, creatively speaking,
this unit and I will continue to change and evolve with each new set of
students.
