How do trainee primary teachers understand creativity

Abstract

This paper draws upon preliminary findings from\nresearch undertaken in three UK primary training\nproviders as part of the Creative Teachers for\nCreative Learners project, funded by a Research\nand Development Award from the Teacher Training\nAgency. The project aims to support the\ndevelopment of primary trainee teachers’\nunderstanding of, and teaching for, children’s\ncreativity in design & technology (D&T) and other\ncurriculum areas by producing an interactive bank of\nteaching and learning materials set within a Virtual\nLearning Environment (VLE). As an initial stage in\nthe development of these materials, the project team\nhas been exploring trainees’ current understandings\nand perceptions of creativity, both as a personal\nattribute and as fostered by the primary curriculum\nin England. This paper will focus upon two sets of\ndata generated as part of this process and the\nextent to which Harrington’s (1990) ‘creative\necosystem’ is a useful theoretical and evaluative\nframework for trainee teachers. At Bath Spa\nUniversity College, primary PGCE trainees have\nbeen set a directed task in schools during which\nthey select lessons from two curriculum areas to\nobserve: one which they expect to offer scope for\ncreativity and another which they judge to lack\ncreative potential. They have evaluated the support\noffered for children’s creativity in each subject area\nusing the framework drawn from Harrington (1990)\nand have frequently found their preconceptions\nchallenged. At Manchester Metropolitan University\nand Goldsmiths’ College, undergraduate trainees\nhave produced cartoons to express their own notion\nof the ‘creative person’. This has produced some\ninteresting outcomes with regard to where\nopportunities for creativity can be found.