“All our futures”
I thought this report had some really interesting points, after seeing how long the whole report was I skipped to the chapters which I believed to be more relevant “Creative Education”
I found the four features of creativity paricularly interesting:
Imagination-producing something original, alternative through “mental play… serious play directed towards some creative purpose” (p31)
This feature of creativity expands possibilities, from looking at situations from a new perspective. I think Imagination is a key element in creativity and in our own personal development. If we are unable to see past what we believe to be true and what we physically see, we will struggle to make our own conclusions about situations which we find ourselves in and how to get past a problem which we may face.
Pursuing Purposes- “New purposes are found when an initial product or idea has emerged.” (p31)
This feature refers to the idea that creative insights occur on the way to something, so does this suggest that we have creative thoughts for a particular reason? Or do we have the creative thought and make something out of it if we see that thought as having potential?
(They are my intial ideas to what I just read not sure whether it really makes sense but oh well!)
Being Original- Individual, Relative, Historic
These are the different catergories of “being original”. Historic which may be the most creative catergory of being original as it refers an individual producing original work “in terms of anyone’s previous output” (p32) Which it is argued that it is “more likely to emerge from a system of education which encourages the creative capacities of everyone.” (p32)
Judging Value- Evaluative mode of creativity.
“creative thinking always involves some critical thinking” (p33) Evaluating creative ideas and processes is very important, being able to recognise when creative ideas have hit a dead end and finding ways to overcome them is a key process. I think it’s important to think critically throughout the creative process and not just at the end.
Another section which I thought was interesting was “The Processes of Creativity”
It highlighted the importance of teachers to allow their students to engage with their own creativity;
“A key task for teachers is to help young people to understand these processes and to gain control of them.” (p34)
“asking children to write a poem right away in their best handwriting can destroy the spontaneity they need in the intial phase of generating ideas… need to understand that creativity often develops in phases.” (p35)
I think children should understand that in their learning environment they are allowed to make mistakes, as this is what develops our creativity; by problem solving . All of these key points which I have included should be used to help the young explore their creativity. Imagination in particular should be encouraged within the education system as I agree with what the report suggests that imagination helps us develop our problem solving skills, a key aspect to our creativity.
