Creativity for an Unknown Future - A Tool for the Curriculum

Use This Grid Strategically to Embed Creativity in Your Curriculum

To prepare children for the uncertainty of the future we need to ensure that we are promoting creativity within our curriculum. In order to do this I have curated the most commonly cited methods that help to ensure that children think creatively. 

Simply choose one of the elements to focus upon each half term. Ensure that they are securely embedded in your curriculum by planning for their use carefully, including them in planning documents and sharing practice between staff during an evaluation period.

Download the document here to use in your school.

MUST WATCH: Richard Gerver - Leading Change

Author of my favourite book- Creating Tomorrow's Schools Today, Richard Gerver discusses the process of change

Educational Book Recommendation

Despite the advent of the kindle and e-books, educational books are still best bought in paper. Here is my recommendation to support your own research and development. 

Creating Tomorrow's Schools Today

"...Education is the platform for our success or failure, but is our system still fit for purpose? Will our children be equipped to face the challenges the future holds: the rapidly changing employment patterns and the global environmental, economic and social crises ahead of us? Or will our children grow up to resent their school years and blame them for their unfulfilled potential and achievement?

Creating Tomorrow's Schools Today explores these questions in the context of early schooling and primary education, presents powerful arguments for change and highlights strategies that offer a solution...." from the Bloomsbury website

Richard Gerver sets out how the school that he led developed their own curriculum. The curriculum he sets out seems to be both inspirational  and then very real and within reach at the same time. Key  Skills sit along side innovation and enjoyment. This is a model of the true creative curriculum.

This book is immensely enjoyable and very easy to read. Whether you are leading a school and want to see flashes of inspiration or are looking to redevelop your curriculum to take in the broader range of disciplines, you will definitely get something out of reading this book. It should be on every teacher's bookshelf.

Educational Book Recommendation

Despite the advent of the kindle and e-books, educational books are still best bought in paper. Here is my recommendation to support your own research and development. 

Evidence Based Teaching by Geoff Petty

"...Evidence Based Teaching is for teachers with some experience. It makes use of the most rigorous research on what has the biggest impact on achievement, and shows how to use this in your teaching..." from the EBT website 

 Geoff Petty analyses the collection of research by Marzano from America and John Hattie from New Zealand in terms of the effect on learning. You will be surprised as some common myths are shown to be not so relevant (class size, finance etc) and less surprised at the methods that are the most effective. 

This book also looks at how to make best use of these methods and further how to conduct evidence based research in your own classroom so that you improve the learning of the your children. For anyone with a thirst for more educational insight. Easy to access and understand. This is a must for anyone's educational library. 

Tweetdeck - As esssential as Twitter

Educational Tool Recommendation

If you use and recognise Twitter as an essential tool for Education: used for keeping up-to-date on the latest educational thoughts and developments; communicating with a network of people for answers to educational conundrums, then Tweetdeck must be also considered as an essential.

You create an account then sign into it with your twitter and Facebook accounts. Where as I don't use it with a Facebook account, it allows me to sign in with my personal twitter account (used for following the football and comedy etc) and also sign in with my educational twitter account. The account I dedicate to all things teaching. This is the account I spend the majority of my working weeks using. but with both accounts attached I can switch between the two at will to browse or to tweet and keep both audiences separate.

Tweetdeck can:

• send tweets from either account
• filter to multiple streams, searches and hashtags
• schedule tweets
• be accessed via a chrome add-on
• be downloaded to the desktop

These functions make it as valuable an add on as twitter itself. Don't open twitter, open Tweetdeck.