Creativity And Creative Pedagogies In The Early And Primary Years

Whilst recognition of the role and nature of creativity and interest in creative pedagogical practice has grown, tensions persist at several levels, particularly in accountability cultures, where international comparisons of literacy, numeracy and science frame, shape and often limit policy, practice and curricula. Responding to this context, the book draws together the work of a number of eminent scholars of creativity and creative pedagogies. It offers diverse perspectives from Colombia, Denmark, England, France, Poland, Hong Kong, and the USA and highlights differences as well as similarities across cultural contexts. Individually and collectively, the authors reveal both the complexities and the possibilities of creative pedagogies. While some focus more upon conceptual challenges, others examine classroom practice, both that of teachers and visiting artists, and identify difficulties as well as potential possibilities. In offering hope as well as challenge, creative approaches to learning are of interest to all educators. This book was originally published as a special issue of Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education.

Creativity is firmly embedded in curricular, exam and inspection schemes. Focusing on children aged three to eight, this book discusses the teaching of creativity, explaining the implications for practice, theory and policy, through a consideration of pedagogy, curriculum, learning and assessment.

Teaching Outdoors Creatively offers guidance and a variety of exciting ideas to suit the full range of primary schools and locations. Underpinned by current research and practical experience, it investigates innovative approaches to working creatively with children beyond the classroom. While recognising the diverse needs and opportunities that primary schools have to develop the outdoors as part of their curriculum, it presents a broad range of activities, philosophies and approaches. Key themes explored include: Understanding and using local and home environments Investigating streets and buildings in your area Planning fieldwork Using rivers to inspire children Forest schools Beach schools Physical education outdoors Learning through adventure. Teaching Outdoors Creatively supports teaching and learning in a wide range of settings, from schools in rural and urban areas, to off-site outdoor education centres and residential visits. With a focus on developing effective and stimulating learning environments for children it is a must-have resource for all busy trainee and practising teachers.

The creativity of children and the adults in their lives is explored here with particular reference to engagement, the learning environment, the arts, technology and global trends.

"An alien spaceship crash landed in my playground today" For one primary school in England, this was not an ordinary day. It was a fabulous day of inspiration, writing, drawing, discovering and learning for the pupils, the staff and the parents. But the best thing of all? The only truly out of the ordinary thing was the alien spaceship. So how do you make creativity a more everyday part of primary teaching? Teachers and trainees agree that creativity is a fabulous thing. But to get creative approaches into everyday teaching, you need to tackle the question - what is creativity? This book explores this question in an accessible and practical way. It helps trainees to do more than ‘know it when they see it’, by helping them to understand the separate and very diverse elements of creativity. The third edition of this popular text retains key material, but it has been updated and revised to include two new chapters on the creative curriculum, along with links throughout to the Standards and the new National Curriculum. This book will help you enhance your teaching so you and the children in your class can be: fellow explorers, adventurous discoverers and spontaneous investigators!

Taking a fresh look at the role of creativity within the early years, this accessible guide explores what is meant by creativity and considers how creative skills, behaviours, and thinking can be identified and fostered in the individual child. Underpinned by the latest research and policy, chapters illustrate how creative attitudes can be adopted in all subject areas, and opportunities for creativity maximised. Creative Learning in the Early Years acknowledges the power of creative processes in helping children reach their full potential in the early years and beyond. Photocopiable work tools enable the reader to plan, observe, assess, and record progress as they develop playful and creative approaches, whilst practical advice and demonstrable examples are easily integrated into existing practice. Topics addressed include: recognising and encouraging creative tendencies stimulating the child’s imagination developing adult creativity and self-awareness creating enabling environments and creative spaces using documentation and planning to inspire creativity. An exciting and accessible guide which encourages exploration, experimentation, reflection, and development, Creative Learning in the Early Years will support current and future early years practitioners as they discover the rich opportunities opened by creative practice.

Ways by which teachers can enhance creativity skills of children in the classroom are addressed in this monograph. An overview of creativity first sets the stage for discussions on the child, curriculum, teacher, and environment. The goal is to show the many faces of the development of creativity in children and to recognize ways to enhance the child's potential to meet challenges. Following the introduction, chapter 2 (The Child) covers early creativity, developmental creativity, and how to recognize creative potential. Chapter 3 (The Curriculum) discusses the relationship of creativity to curriculum, the role of exploration and play, ways to organize classroom activities for creativity, feeling trapped by textbooks and curricula, research on creativity and schools, and curricula to encourage creative thinking. In chapter 4 (The Teacher) focus is on attitudes and styles that foster creative potential, including learning objectives versus performance objectives, the teacher's role as observer, and teacher characteristics that facilitate creative development. Fifteen key points are summarized in chapter 5. Supplementary materials, including a Preschool Creativity Rating Scale, are appended. Contains approximately 175 references. (LB)

What does creativity mean in theory and in practice? Can all children and teachers respond creatively? What sorts of strategies can we adopt to promote a creative approach? Creativity is a term often discussed in relation to education, particularly in primary schools. This book sets out to explore what it means in both practical and theoretical terms for children, teachers and the context in which they work. The key areas of planning, resourcing, organizing, managing and assessing creativity are dealt with in an accessible and readable style. Cameos and classroom examples are used in order to indicate effective strategies for promoting creativity within and across curriculum subjects. Creativity is shown to be a powerful force which can be harnessed to increase the learning potential of both teachers and children.