This week in our Integrated Arts class there was a clear theme of Creativity. Our first workshop was to create our own paint brushes using different materials. We then used our paint brushes with paint to transfer onto paper what we understood, from a narrative of a painting that our class lecturer read out to us.

In our second workshop, we were improvising on the glockenspiel along to music played on the piano by our class lecturer, here we no music sheets to follow, just simply creating music with the cords C,D,E,G,A.

In partnership with the theme of creativity today I feel there is also a strong link to health and wellbeing, as I myself was feeling quite anxious about painting and playing an instrument, both of which I have not done for some time. What I realised after the activities, was that as soon as I started to think and act creatively, the anxiety lifted and I really enjoyed what I was doing because my head was clear and I was relaxed.

According to Csikszentmihaylyi the anxiety that I felt could be seen as a sense of arousel which is the start of the creative process, Csikszentmihaylyi describes the next step which was the period of time that I felt no anxiety as Flow. This is when I was focus intently on the task given, thus creating an optimal experience and 100% satisfaction from the overall experience (Csikszentmihaylyi, 1997).

Sometimes by giving someone a paintbrush or a sheet of music you are also handing over an expectation, an expectation that might be too high in the eye of the beholder. Therefor great anxiety and stress can be caused which in an educational environment of young children ‘excessive or unrealistic expectations must be avoided’ (Csikszentmihaylyi, 1997, p.9).  This is when creativity and day dreams are lost and it is here that schools run the risk of damping interest and reducing the curiosities that young children naturally have, (Csikszentmihaylyi, 1997).

Our lecturers today assisted with our creativity process by taking materials away from us.  Csikszentmihaylyi (1997), states it is thought the more materials you posses, the happier you will be, however by having more materials reduces your creativity processes, meaning you are in fact unhappy.

Initially when the materials were taken from us I felt a sense of disappointment and hardship when in reality, by taking materials away from me, it was then that my problem solving skills took over which in turn ignites my curiosity and extungishes my boredom.  ‘Creative individuals experiment with a number of alternative solutions until they are certain they have found the one that works best’ (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997, p.12).

The experiences and values that I have taken from this weeks inputs will be of great benefit to me as I progress towards my professional career. By experiencing these emotions for myself this will assist me to relate with young children during my lessons that may be going through similar emotions. I am certain that creativity will not be lost in education as in Scotland and in other counties around the world they have included creativity as part of the curriculum, as they understand that creative experiences and learning will ensure young learners have good future skill sets and the understanding of an ever changing world (Education Scotland, 2013).

‘Creativity is a process which generates ideas that have value to the individual. It involves looking at familiar things with a fresh eye, examining problems with an open mind, making connections, learning from mistakes and using imagination to explore new possibilities’. (Education Scotland, 2013, p.3)

References:

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997) Creativity: flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York. harper perennial.

Education Scotland, (2013) Creativity across learning 3-18. [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/cre39-impact-report.pdf. [Accessed: 21 September 2018].

Today was the first day of the Integrated Arts module. This is an area that I am slighty out of touch with, as I have not been around the Arts for some time. When I left school and became employed full time, the Arts were forgotten about as they were no longer a priority of mine.

This is a common theme, which we discussed in our seminars today. The Arts are unfortunately not seen as a priority with in the curriculum, unlike subjects such as, numeracy and literacy which are. In our discussions I discovered that the Arts allow us to use our imagination and give us oppertunity to express feelings that we cannot often speak of or write down. The Arts allow us to be creative, self-reflect and also to have self-confidence.

While looking at some children’s artwork today and playing with musical instruments, I could sense my imagination working, just like it did when I was at school.

It is with this kind of imagination and drive that great ideas/inventions of the future will be created and it is important that we as educators encourage imagination. This something I look forward to, when I go out on school placement.

“The differences between the arts subjects maybe as important as the similarities because between them they offer a range of expressive outlets, each making demands and offering opportunities that are unique and quite specific” (Ross, 1976 cited in Burnard , 2006).

References

• Burnard, P. (2006) Rethinking the Imperatives for Reflective Practices in Arts Education, in Reflective Practices in Arts Education Series: Landscapes: the Arts, Aesthetics, and Education, Vol. 5 Burnard, Pamela; Hennessy, Sarah (Eds.) Dordrecht: Springer.
• McAuliffe, D. (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11. London: Continuum.