Dumfries and Galloway’s Curriculum Support team have produced a framework document which shows how creativity is a cross-cutting theme of Curriculum for Excellence.
The document helpfully identifies the characteristics of learning environments that encourage creativity.
Download the document here: Creativity in my learning community and learning environments that encourage creativity
I wanted to share with you a piece of work that Electric Theatre in D&G (who developed the Big Burns Supper Festival) are currently taking forward in our region. Its called ‘Make’ and its an incubator project that seeks to develop and promote the work of emerging performance makers from the region (most of which are young emerging artists).
Make is a residential laboratory for six performance makers who are about to start a year long journey to make six new pieces of original work in Dumfries & Galloway. Guest specialists will help to inspire and cultivate the performance making process by providing mentoring to each performance project through an intensive period of creative development. Each performance maker has created an idea for a new piece of work – and that work will begin it’s journey somewhere in Dumfries & Galloway.
I have attached information that tells you more about the project, but the incubation period also allows the makers to be mentored to understand and develop funding routes for their own projects.
I will let you know when performances finally hit the theatres!
One of the six makers is a former Transform Dumfries participant, and great to see that learning coming full circle! (he is second year student at the Royal Conservatoire – Directing). Electric Theatre is a key CLN partner in D&G and some of the other makers have worked directly on educational projects with us through CREATE and recent CLN activity.
We have other exciting work with Electric Theatre that I hope to share with you soon.
Lesley
In 2012-2013, the Creative Learning Network in Dumfries and Galloway is aiming to promote and sustain creative approaches to learning and teaching through a series of seminars which we are calling Creativity Matters. The aim of the seminars is to demonstrate the practical application of creativity within a learning and teaching context examining amongst other things – why creativity is a crucial skill for 21st century life. Guest speakers are invited to give their professional and contextualised views, thoughts and in some cases research findings on creativity drawing from their individual fields of expertise.
Our most recent seminar was held in Gatehouse on the 12th February as part of the in-service day, and we had the pleasure of hearing from OBE Paul Smith chair of the trustees for Creativity, Culture and Education www.cceengland.org and Alan McLean http://www.themotivatedschool.co.uk/alanMcLean.html author the Motivated school and Motivating every learner with another book in the pipeline.
Paul gave the seminar a strong flavour of creative and cultural systems and policy from his work with Creativity, Culture and Education and how to build on a creative generation, examining with us the conditions for creative and cultural education. One thing that will stay with me from the conversation was the point about working to create the demand rather than perpetuate the supply of opportunities, something that we as advocates of creative and cultural learning will strive to develop.
The theme of Alan’s presentation was creativity and wellbeing and wellbeing and creativity, with a dissection of autonomy and how the differing needs and abilities of learners can fuel and contribute towards creative participation. He had us all thinking rather deeply about learner’s needs and the Powers of Creative Participation and their relationship to the four capacities.
Also on the 12th February, we were very fortunate to have Janice Kirkpatrick Creative Director of Graven Images http://www.graven.co.uk/ at Troqueer primary school in Dumfries talking to primary and secondary Art & Design specialists. Janice shared her creative process and practice in relation to the work of Graven and re-enforced key messages about adaptive skills and resilience across a variety of platforms. Janice also exemplified how her company has grown and developed as a flexible model of how to work across the disciplines. It was ideal for the creative learning network to have someone like Janice who is actually from the region and attended primary and secondary school in Dumfries – what inspiration!
Speaker biog Janice Kirkpatrick Speaker biog OBE Paul Roberts Speaker biog Alan Mclean
You may also be interested to know that we asked participants to complete a learning from experience exit card, and to note what the event has inspired them to do… I will be following up the inspiration in the summer term, and will provide an update as to how things are progressing…
Lesley
National Creative Learning Network at SLF 2012
The National Creative Learning Network (NCLN) is a community of practice which has a leadership role in championing and advocating creativity in both formal and informal learning contexts. The Network is well represented at this year’s SLF, with members from local authorities across Scotland leading workshops and seminars throughout the two days of the festival.
Seminar Programme
Find out about the benefits of being involved in a Creative Learning Network at Fife’s CLN Showcase seminar, or find out what being creative means to Edinburgh’s young apprentices.
Visit the SLF website to view the full seminar programme
Education Showcase
The Showcase programme features demonstrations, experiments, drama and music making with NCLN contributions from a number of authorities:
To view the full Education Showcase programme click here
The NCLN consists of the the group of coordinators who lead each local authority’s Creative Learning Network. Visit the Creativity Portal to find out who your local Creative Learning Network contact is: http://bit.ly/Creative_Learning_Contacts
Find out more about the Creative Learning Networks by watching one of the short films on the Creativity Portal: http://bit.ly/CLN_Creativity_Portal
Members of the NCLN are contributing to this year’s Scottish Learning Festival – ‘Creative Learning…Creative Thinking’ – in a number of ways, whether presenting on creative initiatives or sharing Creative Learning Network news. The programme includes the following:
Creative Learners, Creative Thinkers, Creative Careers – Modern Apprentices and Student Councillor, Edinburgh
Showcasing Fife’s Creative Learning Network – Michelle Sweeney, Fife
What’s the Past got to do with us? – David Atherton, Aberdeenshire
Visit the SLF website to view the full seminar programme
Arts and Culture as a Catalyst for Learning: The Aberdeen Arts Across Learning Festival – Jacky Hardare, Aberdeen City
Inspiring Creativity – Amy McLeod, Highland
Supporting Drama through Literacy – Learners with Mild to Severe and Complex Needs – Lesley Sloan, Dumfries & Galloway
Challenging Creativity Creatively – Linda Lees, Edinburgh
The Big Drum Experiment – Susanne Batchelor, Scottish Borders
Little Rabbit – Pauline Meikleham, Angus
Teachers Realising their Creative Potential – Jacky Hardacre, Aberdeen
Write a Song in 30 Minutes – Marco Rea, Stirling
To view the full Education Showcase programme click here
Creative Learning Networks in Dumfries and Galloway have just launched their Facebook and Twitter pages to further share opportunities, events and competitions for young people in D&G.
Access these at https://twitter.com/CLNDG or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Creative-Learning-Networks-in-DG
Many thanks
As part of the second phase of the Creative Learning Network in Dumfries & Galloway, we have developed a public BLOG which allows us to share opportunities and events for staff and pupils, but on a platform that parents, and other partners can also engage with. The BLOG can be accessed at:
https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/dg/CreativeLearningNetworksinDG/
We hope to continue to develop this BLOG and encourage staff to post with requests for partners to work with them and their pupils in school which will allow relationships to strengthen between the education and creative and cultural sector.
Have a look at the BLOG and feel free to send us your comments or even leave a comment on any of the posts you can see!
We are planning a week of partnership engagement sessions w/b 27th Feb and we will share the outcomes of these on the BLOG, so keep an eye out to see what our future plans are.
