Icing The Curriculum Camborn Research Day 22.06.11. Warren Evans

Icing the Curriculum: The ICE House Project

at Cornwall CollegeWarren Evans, ICE Curriculum

Developer

The use of educational metaphors and making generalisations…

“The theory of fuzzy logic suggests a way of encapsulating the claims to educational knowledge of qualitative empirical research”, Bassey, M. (1998)

“Metaphorical projection is a mechanism through which a given culture perpetuates and reproduces itself in a steadily growing system of concepts”, Sfard, A. (1998)

Discourse on ICE

• Sir Ken Robinson (Creativity author), ‘Do Schools Kill Creativity’, TED Talks February 2006, ‘Changing Paradigms’, RSA Edge Lecture June 2008

• Steven Johnson (Science author), ‘Where do good ideas come from?’ RSA Lecture 2009

• Matthew Taylor (RSA Chief Executive), ‘The 21st Century Enlightenment’ RSA Lecture 2010

• Tim Brown (IDEO CEO), ‘Creativity and Play’, TED Talks 2011

Ken Robinson on Changing Paradigms…

Ted Wragg on ICE

“It is a pity that the notion of creativity in education has to be fought for or reclaimed, as it should be a central feature of teaching and learning. It is the crucial element in each generation’s renewal and enhancement of itself. Without it, society would not even stand still. It would gradually roll backwards…thinking up fresh ideas is what teachers are paid for”Ted Wragg in Eastwood, 2009

Albert Einstein on ICE

“A society's competitive advantage will come not from how well its schools teach the multiplication and periodic tables, but from how well they stimulate imagination and creativity”Isaacson, 2007

The context of the ICE House Project…

• EU Commission Conference "Entrepreneurship Education in Europe - Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets through Education and Learning", Oslo October 2006

• Outcome, “Oslo Agenda for Entrepreneurship Education in Europe”• Cornwall College, University of Plymouth, Cornwall Learning• Embed teaching and learning methods that develop and support

learners’ skills in innovation, creativity and enterprise• Focused on the redesign of the college’s Teacher Training and

Professional Development programmes, out of which grew two Modules;– Teaching for ICE– Teaching for employability

• The project group started work in August 2009 and is due to finish in June 2011, when the first cohort of trainee teachers will have completed training that embeds ICE ideas and methodology

So what did we do?

• Spoke to ‘experts’ in the field• Collaborated with lead practitioners at Cornwall College• Literature Review• Published articles• Attended conferences• Ran workshops on ICE at University of Plymouth, South

West Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training, Lifelong Learning UK (LSIS)

• Developed partnerships with Barrier Breakers• ICE Conference in April 2011 – ‘Curiosity and Imagination:

Exploring the challenges and opportunities for teaching and learning in the 21st century’– Professor Anna Craft, University of Exeter and The Open

University– Dr Joe Harkin, Oxford Brookes University– Penelope Tobin, Barrier Breakers

From which…

• A DMR• A standard scheme of work• Assignment brief and associated

lesson plans with ICE tutor guidance notes and activities to support the delivery

• A virtual learning environment on Moodle

• A pilot study

ICE PrinciplesTeaching was delivered using six underpinning principles:– Providing opportunities to do things in different ways– Provide the opportunity for ‘talk’ or ‘experience’ around

concepts and context, in particular:• Mindset shifts• Creative problem solving• 21st Century skills• Personal transition cycle• End in mind – what needs to be achieved

– Coach and Facilitate - Posing questions NOT providing answers

– Modelling – doing it ourselves not just talking about it– Continuous formative observation of learners engaging with

the process throughout the module.– Constantly asking our students a key question:

‘How will you use what you have learned/experienced today with your own learners?

Developing an ICE ‘Mindset’

The work of Professor Carol Dweck, Stanford

“Promoting a growth mindset”

Curiosity

“Judge a person by their questions, rather than their answers.” Voltaire

Resilience / Perseverance

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” Marie Curie

Fear of failure

“We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. It is a powerful obstacle to growth. It assures the progressive narrowing of the personality and prevents exploration and experimentation. There is no learning without some difficulty and fumbling.” John W Gardner

Risk

“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” Pablo Picasso

Uncertainty

“Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life. Security is an insipid thing.” William Cowper

Disposition / Ready, Willing and Able

“We know next to nothing about virtually everything. It is not necessary to know the origin of the universe; it is necessary to want to know. Civilization depends not on any particular knowledge, but on the disposition to crave knowledge.” Non-attributed

Honesty

“No legacy is so rich as honesty.” Shakespeare

Noticing / Awareness

“The only thing that can save the world is the reclaiming of the awareness of the world.” Allen Ginsberg

The participants…

• Between September and Oct 2010 on four different sites across Cornwall six part time groups comprising a total of 62 Cert Ed trainees and 9 PGCE trainees took the ICE modules with 60 Cert Ed and 7 PGCE trainees completing the module

• Following this in January and February 2011 on two sites in Cornwall three full time groups comprising of 3 Cert Ed trainees and 45 PGCE trainees took the ICE modules with 3 Cert Ed and 41 PGCE trainees completing the module

Feedback and a return to the educational metaphor…

• “The captain has abandoned the ship and let the crew take the helm. He is trying to relax on his little boat, bobbing along in the wake of the larger vessel but the turbulent waters around him are making him nervous and he starts to question whether or not he has made the wisest decision in leaving the young crew – what if they wreck the boat? Do they really know what they are doing? Did I leave the clear directions and do they have the necessary charts. If they choose a different course from the one I had intended? Can I cope with that are their enough supplies on board to survive – we have a deadline/ we need to be in Port Exam having rounded Cape Coursework by Christmas before the seas get to big.” (ITT Student, Vocational Diploma Tutor)

On teaching for creativity…

“Being creative was new for me. I have always considered myself to be a logical kind of person. The ICE Module allowed me both be and experience creativity” (ITT Student)“…the change in my students has been dramatic” (ITT student AS/A2 Level tutor)“Will help me vary my teaching methods and make lessons more interesting for me and my students” (ITT Student)

On creative problem solving…

“We’ve learnt new tools form the module and gained new ideas from peers” (ITT Student)“Overall, I feel that the ‘ICE’ module has probably been the most beneficial module so far with regard to application of theories to learning; in a ‘hands on’ practical sense.” (ITT Student, Access tutor)

A final word from Ken Robinson…

Video clips

Sir Ken Robinson (Creativity author), ‘Do Schools Kill Creativity’, TED Talks February 2006 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY&feature=player_embedded

Sir Ken Robinson (Creativity author), ‘Changing Paradigms’, RSA Edge Lecture June 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCbdS4hSa0s&feature=related

‘Steven Johnson (Science author), ‘Where do good ideas come from?’ RSA Lecture 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU

Matthew Taylor (RSA Chief Executive), ‘The 21st Century Enlightenment’ RSA Lecture 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5ZjSEqWQQU

Tim Brown (IDEO CEO), ‘Creativity and Play’, TED Talks 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjwUn-aA0VY

ReferencesAllen, E., Duch, B. and Groh, S. (2001) The Power of Problem Based Learning Sterling: Stylus Publishing

LLC.Boomstrom, R. (2005) Thinking, New York: Teachers College Press. Browne Report. (2010) Securing a Sustainable Future for Higher Education. Available at

http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/corporate/docs/s/10-1208-securing-sustainable-higher-education-browne-report.pdf [Accessed on 26th November 2009]

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2009): Higher Ambitions – The Future of Universities in a Knowledge Economy.

Available at http://www.bis.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/publications/Higher-Ambitions.pdf[Accessed on 26th November 2009]Deloitte (2009): Employability Skills - About the employability initiative.Available at http://www.deloitte.co.uk/employability[Accessed on 22 November 2009]Eastwood, L., Coates, J., Dixon, L. et al (2009) A Toolkit for Creative Teaching in Post-Compulsory

Education Berkshire: OUP.Gilbert, C. (2006) 2020 Vision - Report of the Teaching and Learning in 2020 Review Group Nottingham:

DFES.Holt, J. (1965) How Children Fail, New York: Dell.Hornbrook, D. (1998) On the Subject of Drama, London: Routledge. Isaacson, W. (2007) Einstein: His Life and Universe, London: Simon & Schuster UK Ltd. Kowalik, T. and Mitchell, W. (1999) Creative Problem Solving.Major, C. and Palmer, B. (2001) Assessing the Effectiveness of Problem‑Based Learning in Higher

Education: Lessons from the Literature Academic Exchange Quarterly, 5(1)Available at http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/mop4spr01.htm[Accessed 12 November 2009]Robinson, K. (2009) The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, London, Penguin.Seltzer, K. and Bentley, B. (1999) The Creative Age London: Demos.