Resource
Often in an arts education setting, it is difficult to pin down creativity, how we define it, how we develop it and also what it is we assess. Are we assessing a creative product? Or are we assessing how creativity skills have been used and developed through the activity. Many people fall down in trying to assess the creative product as it is difficult to set the parameters wide enough to capture the broad spectrum of creativity.
The website featured here: http://icreate-project.eu/ is a comprehensive resource capturing different aspects of creativity, from tips and techniques to activities which can develop creativity skills. It is targeted mainly at small to medium sized business to enable staff development and lifelong learning to support businesses as we move forward in an ever changing employment landscape. However, it is also applicable in an education setting as we prepare young people to become adaptable and creative in our changing world.
There is a wealth of information to mine on this website, but a point worth considering is that creativity can fall loosely under two categories. Firstly there is Creativity which is adaptive. Taking ideas already in existence and developing them to meet the needs at the time is creative. Often this is where we are positioned in an educational setting where particular needs of learners are met through the development of resources designed to support our current standing.
The second type of creativity could be described as innovative. Innovation is looking at a situation from a completely different angle and developing something to meet a need which is new. Pushing the envelope can be a risk taking business but ultimately lead to fresh ideas and new approaches that we didn't even know we needed until we can't live without them. It is sometimes difficult in an educational context when we are hemmed in by various external constraints to provide a platform for both teachers and learners to be innovative.
The i-create project is a comprehensive resource where everyone should find something from which to take away.
