What the teacher said about Creative Schools:
“It’s really good. It's been challenging in the sense that the kids initially found it difficult without parameters. Giving the students that creative licence to go to do work themselves was challenging for them mentally initially. I think they're so used to being told what they must do, when they have to do it, and how to do it, and now that they are given the freedom to create, they found it challenging to start with. I think that's probably been the fun, but also challenging part of Creative Schools for me; seeing the children’s mindset shift and change. They are allowed to and encouraged to make mistakes. And we are saying, go and make mistakes. We want you to make mistakes and learn from them. The kids are loving the experience, and they have embraced the challenges that Creative Schools has provided.”
What's it been like for you working with a creative practitioner?
Working with a creative practitioner is really good. Petros and I bounce ideas off each other. I've really enjoyed working with Petros and seeing things from a different perspective. I'm more of a logical rather than an outside of the box thinker. Doing Creative Schools has really opened up my eyes to see that I can do a lot more with the learning that we are given.”
What have you noticed about teaching the kids the Five Creative Habits of Learning and having a structure to teach creative and critical thinking?
“The students are more creative than the group that took part in Creative Schools last year. They understand what Habits of Learning mean, and they understand why we need them to produce a good outcome. I think it's important for these children to know they have to be able to be independent thinkers. That is probably one of the things that we are trying to teach them through Creative Schools: to be able to think for themselves and problem-solve.
Problem-solving is something that they struggle with and need to develop. We encourage this by asking lots of questions, I don't tell them the answer. I question them because otherwise they're not ever thinking for themselves. They're not just left to their own devices to problem-solve these days. It's very prescribed. It's very rigid and structured. There is very low risk taking, there is not that opportunity to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes.
Last year's students and this year’s group are the same. They're just frightened to make mistakes or to do it wrong. I think having the chance to learn about the uniqueness of individual creativity, that everyone has a different way of perceiving and looking at a subject, has been very important. Learning there's no real rights and wrongs, which is beautiful. They have got better at collaborating and working in groups. They are embracing [the fact] that they are working with all these people with different opinions and that it can create more interesting projects.”
What the creative practitioner said:
“Our focus with the students is developing their collaboration skills, but also covering the technology curriculum, along with learning about the environment and ecology of the school's environment, which is important to the school.
We are creating a film for our project, starting off with the kids doing storyboarding and then filming as a group. They are using different scenes from their story, building ideas, and then bringing the scenes together to create a film they’re putting on YouTube. It's based on the school's environment, and we're using field recordings to create an ambient film with sound effects.”
How are the students responding to Creative Schools?
“They love these activities. They really enjoy getting out of the classroom and working together, and especially filming. I think they really like working with technology, and they surprise me with their level of understanding, especially with technology. It’s great what they can do with their iPads. They can already do some filming and basic editing. We’re using their skills and building on what they are doing.”
Describe Creative Schools:
“It’s amazing because you never notice these fine details in nature and now, I’ve had the chance to really notice things in nature because of the Creative Schools project.”
“We always talk about the Habits. There’s a lot of nature activities in Creative Schools which I really like.”
How is this different to other lessons you do in school?
“You get to imagine things and do what you want. You learn through experience rather than being told. You learn so many new things that I never knew. Like there are so many ant nests in our school, I didn’t notice that before.”
“We go outside more, and we film.”
What have you noticed while you are doing Creative Schools?
“Everyone is happier doing Creative Schools. None of us have ever done anything like this before. The kids are more collaborative, and more people want to learn like this. In normal lessons we don’t pay attention, but kids like learning like this. We’re more inquisitive during Creative Schools.”
“We do lots of calming activities and think about what we would be like if we were a bee.”
What is it like working with a Creative Practitioner?
“It’s fascinating how Petros does things. He taught us how wind chimes work, the depth and width of the sound. It made me want to know more. It’s made me wonder how much more we can learn from places that haven’t been affected by humans. I’ve never met a sound artist like Petros before, it’s awesome.”
“It’s really good. Petros gets us to really listen to nature.”
Have you noticed your teacher using the Five Creative Habits of Learning?
“Ms Turnbull is inquisitive she makes us wonder and question and think so much.”
“She’s collaborative. She always helps us with our learning.”
Which of the Habits are you strongest/weakest at?
“I’m pretty persistent. Lots of my teachers say that I’m up to the right standard. Also, in soccer and basketball my coaches say I play to a good standard. I’m also inquisitive. I want to know more about the world. I have so many questions. Sometimes I ask too many questions which could get annoying. I’m not disciplined. I pay attention but I’m not the neatest and don’t present my work in a neat and tidy way. I also don’t do homework as it’s optional. I have sport after school I do soccer, basketball, swimming and church after school instead.”
“I’m imaginative. At home I make up my own games because my brother doesn’t like playing with me. Persistent is hard. I’m not that good at it. I’m a loud person so I’m not very persistent.”
Have you noticed a change in any of the kids in your class since they started doing Creative Schools?
“A lot of my friends are playing more games in nature during recess and lunch since Creative Schools. I’ve never been around the school as much as during Creative Schools, so now we know the school better and have found so many new places to play.”
“They are liking nature more. They care for the animals more. If they see a bug, they pick it up on a stick and have a closer look.”
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