It is almost 10 years since I (along with Matthew Hopper) contributed a chapter to the first edition of Creativity in the Primary Curriculum. 10 years on and Dominic and Russell have updated the book and we have completely rewritten my chapter this time with Dr Alan Cross.
So what has happened in those 10 years?
Well apart from most of us having new jobs or having moved on the issues remain the same and some could argue are worse.
My view of creativity has never been that it is a binary – it is not either or – so throughout the mid 2000 period during the emphasis on the literacy hour, numeracy and national strategies my belief was that creativity became more important and could be used to resuscitate and enliven even the dullest of topics. We also had a period of interest from the government (Blair & Blunkett) of the time (despite the national strategies) in promoting creativity. Equally we had QCA promoting creativity across the curriculum and we had Creative Partnerships developing research informed creative practice and where Dominic Wyse and I researched the term ‘ Creative Learning’.
So 10 years on – where are we?
It would seem we face the same struggles again as creative teaching, creative learning and creativity across the curriculum are not terms that are readily popping out of the mouths of government ministers (or at least not in the UK). The new draft curriculum looks bland and the Ofsted inspection framework is suited to the risk averse. So whilst we face the new problems; they are in a new context and the hope remains that the majority of teachers will still value, promote and recognise creativity albeit in a culture that temporarily fails to signal the importance of creativity.
Happy reading…
Dr David Spendlove's Blog 