Project Research

P R O J E C T R E S E A R C HE N C O U R A G I N G C R E A T I V I T Y I N E D U C A T I O N

Josephine Andrew

I N T R O D U C T I O N

This research project will focus on creativity in education and whether it needs im-proving, and if so, how this could be done. Does something new need to be introduced to encourage the pupils to be more creative with their work? Are children afraid to let somebody see their imaginative side? Or the skills they have? Do they get enough chances in school to show off their creativity?

“Creativity improves self-esteem, motivation and achievement of learners.”

(Education Scotland)(1)

Creativity within schools and other forms of education is an important part of the curriculum. There is however, an apparent lack of creativity in second-ary schools today. With pupils being encouraged to make sure their project is ‘realistic’ and ‘workable’ (2) , it results in them thinking their ideas have to be low-key and unimaginative.

With more pressure to achieve higher grades in academic subjects which are seen as most important such as English, Maths and Science, creativity becomes increasingly less important and almost forgotten.

The aim of the research is to establish whether there would be a call for an inter-schools creativity competition for G.C.S.E and A Level students aged 14-18 studying creative subjects such as textiles, photography or art. The idea of the competition is to encourage pupils to be more confident in using their creative side, and explore what they can do when they have an open project. It would also aim to help them improve their UCAS application; by showing they have achieved individually on a higher level.

R E S E A R C H A I M S

-To find out about the lack of creativity in secondary schools, and why this is happening.

-To indentify whether a competition and exhibition would benefit less academic pu-pils.

-To find out whether teachers would be willing to support their pupils in entering a competition.

-To establish what makes a successful and experiential exhibition.

-To compare competitions within the creative industry.

-To identify if pupils would be interested in entering such a competition.

M E T H O D O L O G Y

To find the answers to the research aims, secondary and primary research has been carried out. The investigation into the topic of creativity in education will identify whether the concept is an appropriate solution to the potential lack of creative op-portunities for children in schools.

Focal Research points:

• exhibitions• competitions• creative opportunity in school• funding for creative organisations

Primary research will involve:

• An interview with a college fashion tutor, to find out what he looks for in potential candidates for the course who have come from secondary education, and whether he would support a creative competition. • Focus groups with G.C.S.E school children, 6th form pupils and college students, to discuss opinions of creativity in their education, and whether they feel they get enough inspiration and encouragement to do something a bit more daring. The focus groups will also test the interest and feasibility in the pupils on the concept of a creative competition in which they could enter, and the idea of an exhibition to show their work at the end. • Findings from visits into schools and experiencing the classroom environment in a textiles lesson, and how the pupils engage and take part in the creative side of the session.• Visits to a variety of fashion and art based exhibitions, to examine how they en-gage with the audience and what it takes to create a successful exhibition. Secondary research will involve:

• Books will be used to gain solid information on the topic.• Articles will be read to get facts and opinions.• Conference’s will be watched to see a different approach to what is already been discussed online. • Journals and essays will be read to see what is already being done about the poten-tial lack of creative opportunity in secondary schools.

C U R R E N T S I T U A T I O N

The research into the topic began when a visit to a known creative and success-ful school provided evidence that creativity was severely lacking in G.C.S.E students. There is always the exception of one or two particularly high achiev-ing students who show an outstanding talent for creative individual master-pieces, who didn’t have a problem with expressing themselves through their work. But it was apparent the rest of the class were shy of their creative side, and preferred to stick with copying something they had seen in their favourite high street store. Were they just afraid to show off a creative flare in front of classmates, who may be quick to judge? Or is it down to the teacher’s encour-agement to produce something original?

The ‘Assessment Criteria: Design activity’ the teachers follow to mark the work specif-ically states in the Initial Ideas section that it ‘Should be a creative Process’. However in the actual marking scheme, (even for the highest mark available) it says “alternative design ideas are realistic, workable and detailed.” (3) Suggesting that ideas don’t actu-ally have to be original and particularly creative and the teachers could interpret this as to make sure the pupils make something which isn’t too adventurous. John Steers (2009) asks “what student is likely to take creative risks if they think their ideas will be quashed as soon as they begin to form?” (4)

Does the unoriginal work the pupils produce suggest a lack of inspiration? Robbie, Head of fashion at Lincoln College suggests the internet is partially to blame when asked about how inspired his pupils are; “It’s very limited, I think there’s a lot of tech-nology that arrives now, that makes students quite lazy in terms of research.” (5) He points out how information can be received at the click of a button, when actually real inspiration can come from anywhere, and involves going out and experiencing what is around you. He also expressed in the interview that he found that the portfolios of candidates for the course were good in terms of drawing skills, but many were quite limited in terms of imagination and creativity.

A BBC report claims “students commonly reported that GCSEs in arts-related subjects “had not been an effective preparation” for their next qualifications.” (6)

A focus group with A-level students at William Farr school agreed they aren’t particu-larly inspired, “The trip we went on was okay, but it was all like history of art... so not very exciting. It was a bit vague for what we had to do, would be better if we saw things we could link in with our work.” (7)

Another BBC news report suggests something needs to be done to encourage creativ-ity back into schools; “Creativity in schools needs to be taken “far more seriously” if it is to avoid being squeezed out of a crowded curriculum, says reports from MPs.” It goes on to say “The commons education committee warns that creativity is a “second-order priority” in England’s schools.” (8)

Many people agree that creativity is an important part of education, “we need to nur-ture creativity” (9) (Sir Ken Robson February 2006) so why is everyone talking about it but not doing anything?

T H E C O N C E P T / P R O P O S A L

The idea is to create an exciting inter-schools creativity competition. It would include pupils who study textiles, art and photography, and the best pieces would be displayed in an exhibition in London. It would have different categories depending on age and level of education, such as G.C.S.E and A-level. The competition could also be open to college students studying creative subjects like fashion and media. There would be a new theme each year, for pupils to use as a guideline and to give them inspiration for what they could create. Themes could be anything such has re-cycling, nature, futuristic or new technologies. Entries would include garments, pho-tography and works of art.

The purpose of the competition is to help bring back creativity in schools and educa-tion. With the apparent lack of pupils showing off their true creative potential, the contest allows them to do just that, in a less demanding and formal manner. The concept of the competition is for it to be a very free and open project, where the pu-pils entering can create anything they want, no matter how daring and extravagant, unlike in school where projects are suggested to be realistic and feasible. Obviously the pupils entries have to be completed on time and to a good standard if they wish to be in with a chance of winning, but the project aims to give them as much freedom in their designs as possible.

There is the question of whether or not competition can kill creativity, but it can help to produce more elaborate ideas and encourage people to be even more adventurous with their designs. Keith Sawyer points this out in an article from 2003; “Multiple par-allel projects in competition with each other, can drive innovation forward because they generate more potential solutions.” (10)

The end outcome would be an experiential exhibition of the chosen best pieces of work. Focus group research has suggested that the exhibition would be best held in an exciting city, ideally London. This would provide a lot of encouragement for the pupils entering because the idea of having your work on display in somewhere like London has never been an option for them before, and quite often no one gets to view their work, unless the school has organised a fashion show or mini exhibition. All schools would be invited to visit the exhibition, to help inspire their own pupil’s creativity, and get ideas for what they could do for the next competition, giving them some inspiration for what to aim for. The best of the entries, if not all of them, will be on display for people to admire and appreciate. The exhibition itself would be reason-ably temporary, and would potentially be shown for around 2 months. It would be a fully interactive exhibition, full of things to see and do, and would be a place of inspiration in itself. Research into interactive and modern exhibitions will help devise a layout design for it, and give ideas on how to make it appeal to a wider audience.

Throughout the school year extra sessions/workshops could be taught to provide the pupils with new skills and ideas, so they feel confident they can complete an exciting piece for the competition.

This idea was generated through one of the focus groups taken to research this pro-posal, When college fashion design students were asked what would help them be more creative, one replied “maybe things like workshops that introduce you to new medias and ways of working?” (11) This idea was then proposed in other focus groups and everyone agreed they would like workshops as part of the competition, even after school. When the year 10 group was asked if there was anything in particular they would like to learn about, one person said “I’d like to learn hand stitching, like different methods you can use.” (12) The workshops could be given by different creative profes-sionals related to the three topics involved; (photography, textiles and art), and skills could be demonstrated and taught. This will hopefully provide them with inspiration for what they could create.

In the book ‘Letting the Buggers be Creative’ (Sue Cowley 2005) it says “When offer-ing children some form of inspiration you are essentially giving them a stimulus to get their creative thinking going.” (13)

Objectives

• To inspire students to come up with creative ideas• To motivate teenagers to be more creative with their work• To give assurance to less confident pupils who find it hard to be daring and take risks with their creative work.• To help improve pupils UCAS and college applications, and prove that they are well motivated and passionate about the subject they would like to take into higher educa-tion.• Help pupils to enjoy their work and be more enthusiastic• To give less academic teenagers a chance to prove themselves and their self-esteem.

T H E B R A N D / C O M P A N Y

The competition has potential to become a well known inter schools event to be enjoyed and appreciated of by all those involved; pupils, teachers, parents and industry professionals. It will aim to be a ‘cool’ project for students to do, and as it will be an open op-tion i.e. not compulsory, it is essential that the brand/company has a positive vibe that makes pupils want to take part. It will be an inspirational competition that will improve the level of creativity in school, as it will aim to encourage the students to be more adventurous and daring with their work. Their work should become a lot more original and show they have gained confidence, and help them to feel proud of what they can do.

To achieve this, the brand needs to be encouraging creativity in way that ap-peals to the target market. So primarily it needs to be fun and enjoyable for pupils and students to take part in. The brand needs to be popular amongst schools and their pupils, and to achieve a high level of interest it needs to be well advertised and promoted. This could include visits to schools from different creative professionals who could provide workshops and inspire the children to take part to become creatively successful. There could also be or-ganised trips to visit exhibitions, and after the first year, schools could visit the exhibition of work from the previous competition to encourage pupils to take part.

T A R G E T M A R K E T

Primarily the target market is the pupils who will take part. They are the foundation of the competition and the reason for it being created. It will include school pupils at G.C.S.E and A-level, and college students. The age range is 14-18. The textiles side of the competition is likely to attract girls more than boys, as the visit into school con-cluded that the subject was definitely more popular with girls with less that 2 boys in each group – compared to approximately 30 girls. However, the art and photography section of the competition may see more boys entering as they are more popular crea-tive subjects.

The competition will appeal to pupils who are already quite advanced creative stu-dents, and they will be keen to take part as they already feel confident in their work. The focus groups conducted with the school children and college students provided evidence that they would all be interested in taking part. When asked about their views on the idea of a competition they were all very keen to express their interest and would be really keen to take part.

However the competition also would aim to attract those who are usually not so con-fident in their creative work. Pupils who aren’t interested in going to university or col-lege are likely to be less concerned in taking part in an optional competition (which aims to improve their university application) , so to attract this market it needs to be seen as a fun and rewarding activity to take part in.

T Y P I C A L C U S T O M E R P R O F I L E

Sophie Sprittles

College: Colchester Sixth Form

Subjects: Textiles, Art, French, English literature, critical thinking, EPQ in textiles. Taking up business next year

Interests: fashion, vintage & retro clothing, textiles, recycled clothes & customiz-ing: charity shops, boot sales, vintage markets. retail, fashion industry, journalism and marketing, making quirky jewellery, vogue, fashion blogs, Vivienne Westwood’s

work, global village and travel, languages, art, old literature and photography!

Favourite subject: textiles

After college: foundation in art at Colchester institute, then progress to a BA hons degree in art and design: fashion and textiles at one of London universities - London College of Fashion, Central st Martin’s, University of the Arts London or Westminster.

“hoping in the future start to my own business buying and selling vintage clothes along with own designs, also considering teaching/lecturing textiles, being a buyer,

fashion journalism, catwalk stylist/director.”

A S P E C T S T H A T W I L L A F F E C T T H E C O N C E P T

The concept of an inter-schools creativity competition could face a number of prob-lems. One of the main problems which could occur is schools and its pupils not will-ing to take part. This could partially be down to teachers not wanting more work load, or not be willing to give extra time for a competition which is not actually part of the curriculum.

The competition needs to become a popular and positive thing to do, and benefit schools by encouraging their pupils to work harder and be more creative and con-structive with their school work. This can be achieved as the workshops provided by the completion organisation can benefit the pupils school work as well, as they will learn new skills they can incorporate into their coursework projects.

The issue of teachers not willing to take part and help the pupils with the competition is down to the individual teachers’ interests. However the competition is optional to the students, so it unlikely all of them will take part., which means a smaller work load for the teachers. But also the competition isn’t meant to be worked on in les-son time, and so the participants should be mostly working on it at home, or in their lunch times or after school if they need to use school equipment, As they need to be supervised to use equipment (sewing machines for example) the teacher will have to be willing to give up lunch times or after school sessions. But because the competition should help improve school work this does end up useful for teachers as their pupils will gain better grades.

The issue of pupils not wanting to take part can be overcome by successful advertising and promotion. It is important that potential candidates are shown how the competi-tion will benefit them, for example helping them with their UCAS application, add-ing to their portfolio and helping them learn new skills and new ways of working. It also has to be fun to do if it is an optional project, otherwise it will only attract pupils who are already very committed to their subjects. This should be achievable as they can work with their friends to help each other create exciting pieces of work. Having their items shown in a big exhibition should encourage them to take part as well; it’s a unique opportunity which teenagers wouldn’t get without this competition.

C O M P E T I T O R S

Competitors for the project are other inter-school competitions and other exhibitions which would be on at the same time, and equally unique and interesting. Other competitions for schools do exist, and some more popular than others. The concept for this competition however is unique as it is just for creative subjects (art, textiles and photography) and aims to cover as much of the England as possible. Small local competitions or internal school competitions will not particularly be a com-petitor because this competition has a bigger end outcome and will be recognised by more potential employers and Universities.Most large scale creative based competitions are aimed at University students so will not concern the pupils and students applying for this competition, only to inspire them.

T H E R O C K C H A L L E N G E

The Rock Challenge however, is something which could affect the commitment to this competition. It was brought up in the focus group with 6th form students, as one of them was participating by designing and making garments for a production.The rock challenge is an inter schools competition for performing arts. It has become popular worldwide, and in the UK alone in 2009 over 23000 people took part. (14) The organisation is aimed at promoting healthy life choices, so aspires to keep chil-dren away from alcohol, drugs and negative behaviour. Each team thinks up a theme for their act that reflects their own hopes and dreams for the future. There is then a regional show, and after that the winners go to a Southern or Northern Grand final, teams who succeed then go on to compete in a final held at Sheffield Arena. The idea of competing at such a big place is an excellent way to encourage people to take part, and with the meaning behind the programme to keep children away from negative choices, it is popular amongst 100’s of schools.

There have been numerous positive outcomes of the competition, including: (15)

• making new friends and getting closer to existing friends • Over 90% of rehearsals took place in out of school hours, showing high levels of commitment.• Attendance was improved throughout the rehearsals, on average 11 pupils in each school had improved attendance. • 99% of schools agreed self esteem was improved• Understanding of teamwork was improved• 96% of schools reported their pupils had achieved a ‘natural high’

T H E E N C H A N T ED P A L A C E

As there is not yet any exhibitions with the same concept as this one proposes, there is currently no direct competition. However there are constantly new exhibitions open-ing up and down the country, and especially in London. As the exhibition aims to be of a high standard, it’s competitors will be other big and inspiring exhibitions such as The Enchanted Palace at Kensington palace. The Enchanted Palace was a hugely successful and popular exhibition, and can be used as a tool of inspiration when the exhibition for this project is designed. It con-sists of several rooms set out to represent the princesses who have lived in the palace. It was a well thought out event and had sounds, voices, lights and installations to create a unique exhibition. To engage the audience, there was a challenge to guess what princesses belonged in what room, and clues were given throughout. “Visitors must use their eyes and ears to find clues that reveal the identity of the elusive royal residents” (16)

A booklet was given out on arrival which had information about what you were going to see and find. The whole experience of the exhibition gave the impression you had been somewhere totally different, every detail was considered, and the fact that it was a full experience gave it the wow-factor.

For the exhibition of children’s school work to be as exciting as this a lot needs to be considered. The theme of the particular competition will be the basis of the exhibition concept, and it needs to be explored as to how to make it creative and imaginative, and an exciting experience like the Enchanted Palace.

F U N D I N G

Funding is going to be the biggest issue to overcome. The government which could have been an option isn’t plugging as much money into creative subjects anymore, and it is highly unlikely to fund this project. An alternative funding opportunity would be to go through large commercial companies who need these kinds of projects to help improve their brand image. Companies such as Tesco and Asda have vari-ous involvements with children and schools, helping to improve education standards by providing vouchers for equipment, or events to raise money. Tesco have already shown interest in improving creativity, by providing “inspirational creative guides” for schools to download. (17) The creativity competition could potentially collaborate with one of these types of companies. It would benefit both parties as the competition needs the funding to run, and the company could use the positive outcome it has on education to improve their company image.

The Princes Trust is another good place to look for potential funding ideas. (18)There is a wide range of organisations that provide grants for projects that help to change young lives, such as The Arts Council, Awards for All and The Hilton Foundation Grant Scheme. These could all be considered to help fund the competition and ex-hibition

K E Y P R O P O S A L O B J E C T I V E S

• To develop a successful company image • To advertise the competition in a way that entices as many participants as possible• To inspire teenagers to be more creative and free with their project ideas• To create an experiential, successful exhibition.• To improve school and college work of pupils that take part• To give people a chance to improve their college and University applications• To teach pupils new skills within their chosen area

C O N C L U S I O NConclusionThis research document has suggested that the proposal for an interschool’s creativ-ity competition, with an outcome of an experiential exhibition is a possibility for the near future.

With first hand evidence of creativity lacking in secondary education, this idea is the perfect solution to creating a new way to encourage creativity in young people. It is apparent that it is a very important part of growing up and education, and discovering talents at an age where it an be taken further and enjoyed.

Although the government and various education organisations suggest that only aca-demic subjects matter these days, in actual fact a lot of careers and employment is based around creativity and the creative skills which are acquired in education.

The idea of the competition and exhibition proved popular with the students that participated in the focus groups, all age groups agreed that if the competition were to happen they would all be very interested in entering. If students are as keen in all schools and friend groups, as they were in the focus groups, then there is potential for the project to be extremely popular with the target market.

Working out how to fund the project is going to be the biggest problem to overcome. But potential funding solutions have been recognised, and as the concept develops more ways to get it started will become apparent.

In terms of competition, there isn’t currently any other projects like this, at least on the large scale this competition aims to be. This means there is a high chance it will be successful, and will provide pupils and students with the opportunity they need to show off their talents and enjoy the creatve side of learning.

R E F E R E N C E

1 http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningteachingandassessment/approaches/creativity/about/index.asp (APPENDIX 2)

2 The Assessment criteria: Design activity (APPENDIX 1)

3 The assessment Criteria: Design activity (APPENDIX 1)

4 http://www.slideshare.net/WAAE/creativity-in-english-schools-waae-john-steers (APPENDIX 2) 5 Interview with Robbie. (APPENDIX 1) 6 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7069614.stm (APPENDIX 2) 7 A-Level students focus group. (APPENDIX 1) 8 BBC 2011 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7069614.stm (APPENDIX 2) 9 Sir Ken Robson http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html (APPENDIX 2)

10 Does competition Kill creativity? Keith Sawyer 2007 Appendix 2 http://keithsawyer.wordpress.com/2007/06/15/does-competition-kill-creativity/ (APPENDIX 2)

11 Focus goup with fashion students at college (APPENDIX 1)

12 Focus group with school children in year 10 (APPENDIX 1)

13 Letting the Buggers Be Creative Sue Cowley 2005 (APPENDIX 2)

14 http://www.rockchallenge.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&topic_id=1&page_id=4 (APPENDIX 2)

15 http://www.rockchallenge.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&topic_id=1&page_id=4 (APPENDIX 2)

16 http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/stories/Palacehighlights/En-chantedPalaceintroduction (APPENDIX 2)

17 http://www.tescoforschoolsandclubs.co.uk/catalogue/creativity/inspira-tional-guide (APPENDIX 2)

18 http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/need_help/next_steps/funding_and_grants.aspx (APPENDIX 2)

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