Moving from the Margins…… Creating Spaces in teacher education: wonder, theory and action ITU 2005 Avril Loveless

Brighton - pier and pavilion Greetings from Brighton - an historical, contradictory and creative town in which we work as teachers and researchers

Wonder … –What would happen if….? –How do we make sense of …..? –Why do we feel like this …..? –How might things look differently …..? –Who else shares these questions and longings……? …the emergence of ‘Creating Spaces’

Theory …. –How might we find ways to describe and explain what’s going on? –How might we make sense of how we see the world? –How might we need to change the way we see the world? –What might creativity look like when expressed through tools such as ICT? … the development of conceptual frameworks

Action …. –What might this look like in the context of teacher education? –What challenges does it raise for our understanding of professional knowledge and creativity? –How might active, practical projects be a catalyst for change in teacher education, in research, and in policy? …the design of a series of research and development projects in our practice

Wonder ……

Creating Spaces…. Meetings at the margins of conferences Connections and affections Networking and Notworking

Creating Spaces ~ Some numbers ~ –2000, 5, 30, 60, 15, 5, 2 …….. Sharing ideas, capturing moments, helping each other to think and act in our different contexts

Keys to imagination ~ evaluation of visual arts online DfES, BESA surveys, Ofsted reports, Clore Duffield Foundation Unrealised and unrecognised potential Pockets of exemplary practice Value Motivation Creativity Environment Resources Funding Connections

Notworking …… … a conference that was not a conference, but a space and time for people to share and explore ideas through talk, play, drama, eating and drinking, and enjoying themselves……..

Theory ……

How do we move beyond …. Creativity is ‘having good ideas’ Creativity is ‘making pretty things’ Creativity is ‘having a good time’ Creativity is ‘easy’ Creativity is ‘taught on Friday afternoons’

Creativity ~ an interaction between people and communities, processes, domains and the wider social and cultural context

Individuals in local communities and wider social and cultural groupings Learning to learn - asking questions, solving problems, thinking on appropriate scales, looking for patterns, coping with disappointment, mapping out and representing subject domains, acting in relationship to others.

Resilience Reflection Resourcefulness Relationship ~~~ Guy Claxton - 4Rs of learning

Big C creativity & Little C creativity ~~~ Anna Craft - possibility thinking

A framework for creativity Using imagination A fashioning process Pursuing purpose Being original Judging value ‘All our futures’ NACCCE 1999

Creative processes Questioning and challenging; Making connections and seeing relationships; Envisaging what might be; Playing with ideas; Representing ideas; Evaluating the effects of ideas. QCA Creativity Pack

Developing habits of mind……. Language: Could be … not is Learning … not work How… not what Effort … not ability Transparency of processes Modelling work in progress Learning Power

Developing creative places & spaces …… To think To be inspired or challenged To express To celebrate To share

What does ICT contribute to creativity?

Features of ICT Provisionality Interactivity Speed and automation Capacity and range Quality Multimodality Neutrality & social credibility

ICT capability Finding things out Developing ideas and making things happen Exchanging and sharing information Reviewing, evaluation and modifying work …….Higher order thinking

Action ……

Can we develop a conceptual framework for thinking about creativity?

How might this inform our understanding of professional learning in teacher education and transition?

What are the implications for research- based practice in teacher education?

How do we represent what we are seeing in our developing practice and research?

Looking back on our progress …….

Creativity with ICT ~ an interaction……. Creative processes & a framework for creativity - imagination, fashioning, purpose, originality, value Affordances of ICT mediation and appropriation ICT capability - higher order thinking

TTA BA (QTS) Creativity Research The Brighton Creativity and CPD project ……

Phase 1 Going to the movies ~ a context for hard fun! Playing with new toys Open ended - possibility thinking Focus on process, not performance Experiences in the University Experiences in the classroom Reflections as QTS graduates

Gleanings and interpretations Asking questions - video box, group discussion, free text questionnaires, assignment Looking and listening - work in progress & DV movies from students and children, presentations and assignments

Creative processes Affordances of ICT ICT capability Teacher knowledge & learning Ecology of learning environments Emotional demands of creative practice Professional needs and cultures of students and NQTs

Phase 2 Being Newly Qualified Teachers (NQT) Using the media kits in school contexts First six months of NQT year Contact with University tutors & students Visits, feedback and case studies

Themes emerging …… Conditions for creative practices –contexts and communities, –habits of mind or add-on activities? Transitional identities –capable, critical students to untested, pragmatic first year teachers ICT and digital media - a matter of trust –Tools, treats and teaching resource –Pedagogy, epistemology and expectations Taking a different view of our teacher education practices –catalysts for change

Using the work of Shulman & Shulman to elaborate on an interactive model –vision, motivation, understanding and practice –Levels of individuals, communities, capital Conceptual frameworks ~

Models of creative practice…. High expectations of activity, reflection and analysis; Permission to question, explore, risk, and collaborate; Acceptance of students as capable; Mindful of preparation for transition.

Finding openings for developing new modes of working in the field ….. … non traditional settings … arts based educational research …research based practice Research-based practice in teacher education

Analysis & Representation How do we find appropriate modes in which to represent our analysis, theory and practices? How do these modes of representation reflect an integrity in our use of the technologies, and in our purposes for education in the 21st century?

So what? for teacher educators? school partnerships? researchers? policy makers?

Balance…..?? Productivity, motivation, ability, creativity….. Conformist Rebel Withdrawn/diminished Transcend/balance From Suzanne Richter, 1990

Impact and implications What are the implications of creativity becoming more ‘mainstream’? How might we recognise and sustain the creative tension and energy that is generated from ‘the margins’?

It takes courage to see things from a different perspective…… Resist easy measurement; Support the difficult and challenging research on recognising and evaluating interaction, process and community; Support longitudinal studies of people’s creative trajectories; Show courage, care and community