September is the start of the new academic year, therefore a
time of moving up in primary school – an opportunity for new experience and
leaning. Yet if children are moving onwards, we need to consider what is making
them move upwards too.
Academically speaking, the ‘upwards’ is perhaps more
regimented than is healthy for children, in the form of The National Curriculum.
The word ’Curriculum’ by Latin definition means ‘race’ and this is reflected in
the league tables students as well as teachers are taught to aspire to. Struggling students being pushed on by
stressed teachers. It is no surprise that this can result in students prioritising
looking ‘outwards; to society and standards, rather than ‘inwards’, to their
own imagination and creativity. In a recent TED Talk, Sir Ken Robinson
reflected that ‘we grow out of rather than into creativity in schools.’[1]
As children get older it as seen as desirable that they shed their imagination
in favour of advancements. Evidence of this is not only in the form of the
National Curriculum, but even how academies operate learning – across the
board, schools seem to be killing creativity. And this must stop.
Why? Because rather than being pushed along the race-track
of achievement, children should be encouraged to diverge – to be creative. Creativity
is an exciting capacity within all of us. It is the process of using the
imagination and originality to purposefully develop and communicate a variety
of ideas. It certainly isn’t an empty activity. Therefore creativity isn’t exclusive to the
arts, or to those ‘gifted’; it is a process people can explore in their own
way, seeing situations from different or ‘creative’ angles. It is no wonder
that this can actually improve and enhance decision-making; and it is a skill
which can be facilitated for in schools.
The environment of schools, including play equipment, the company of
other children and challenging scenarios, provide an ideal opportunity for creativity
when it is encouraged. And encouraging can lead to flourishing: where creativity has an important place in the
curriculum, pupils generally have very positive attitudes towards learning[2].
It does allow for achievement too, as even in key stage 1, pupils involved in
Creative Partnerships activities make significantly greater progress in
essential skills speaking and listening.[3]
Yet we seem to be failing to learn from the past – something this article
emphasizes.
Comparatively, the National Curriculum seems to so often
limit creative expression for children.
In 2014, David Cameron proposed an introduction of a ‘tough
and rigorous’[4]
curriculum to primary schools; the kind of language which made me feel uncomfortable.
It again emphasized the curriculum as some trying and exhausting race. Many
predicted it would not get off to a good start.
And a desperate scramble for positions it surely was. 2014
surely gave us a lesson we needed to learn regarding schools, The National Curriculum
and how creativity can be spoiled. Before it was even introduced, 100 academics
had signed a letter arguing that the draft
edition of the 2014 curriculum was asking "too much, too soon" of
children” – including the rote-like requirements of year 4 being able to recite
their twelve times tables, and 11 year-olds mastering the subjunctive[5].
2014 was also a year which interestingly and disturbingly found that children in the UK ranked 14th out of 15 countries for overall life satisfaction, according to research by The
Children’s Society and The University of York. Primary school-age children emphasized worry especially
about confidence and self-image, which
can be significantly improved by creativity. Rote-learning offers little
opportunity
And still the rote, regimented learning continues.
In 2015, the National Curriculum has already come under
fire. In Maths, children are expected to
learn even more at a younger age, whilst in science there is set to be a shift
towards ‘hard facts’ rather than experimentation and expression. In education
as a whole, there seems a pressure for children to consume as much information
out there as possible – more, more and more – rather than add to it. The result?
A lot of bloated unsatisfied students.
Is being full of and spewing facts more desirable than
opening up appetites for exploring the past? A prime example, History, is a subject which when taught well, comes
alive and captivates children. I loved exploring eras, building history models
and visiting sites; as I am sure many children would.
However, the format
of the current Curriculum seeks to introduce an even greater chronological
approach to the teaching of history; with a series of facts and dates seen as
useful. There is a priority placed on remembering the numbers rather than
considering the reasons why. In turn, history becomes another subject where many
children feel they can only do ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ - when in fact it offers opportunity for
children to argue their own interpretations
and to defend their own views, when they are encouraged in creative
reasoning. This is much more valuable for life than the trained ability to
spout figures. Yet in a society we are increasingly
encouraged to look ‘forwards’ and ‘progress’ from an early age, history in
schools seems slimmed down from valuable human experience, to little more than
a status of ‘subject’.
It is this reduction of
potentially creative subjects into convenient codes for examination which kills
creativity too. In history, children may be deterred from asking questions and
just replicate what they have been told.
In English, children cram their writing tasks with words they have ‘remembered’
get them the best marks, so it is not really creative at all. More than 30
authors have already this year criticised the impact of the National Curriculum
on children’s self-expression, as a “prescription for how to teach children to
write (to pass the tests), with quite adverse effects on their writing skills.”[6]
This is especially the case in English,
where objectives such as ‘use a wide
range of subordinating connectives’
places children in a position of using language to score points, rather
than to be creative. Children are at risk of becoming subordinate to the methods used to ‘score’ them.
Therefore, it is this pressure placed on children to ‘pass’ and ‘progress’ which is extensive, with the priorities still
around figures and rankings seeming somewhat archaic in itself. It occurs in academies as well as state
schools too – as our children as a whole are some of the most intensely
examined in the world[7].
We socially equate scored success with
job prospects, examination with resultant occupation. The old idea seems to
still be imposed upon children ‘if you don’t do well in your exams, you will
not do well in getting work.’
Yet the occupation which matters most in our daily lives is in our heads. We have to live in our
[8]
– and so on. But we can see the evidence
ourselves… creativity counts. Children typically enjoy being creative and
expressing themselves in a way they are comfortable with. And it really does
count too. Figures published recently reveal that the UK's Creative Industries are
worth at least £76.9 billion a year to the UK economy[9]
– the grown-up world youngsters are set to grow into.
Yet we will only grasp this value and grow as a society when
the younger generation feel valued in themselves. Look beyond the numbers, the
grades, and recognise creative importance; that’s the first step.
[1] http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?language=en
[2]http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/randd-creativity-for-learning.pdf
[3] https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/CPAB01/CPAB01.pdf
[4] http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/jul/08/new-national-curriculum-published
[5] http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/apr/01/new-curriculum-teaching-concepts-younger
[6] http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/23/national-curriculum-is-damaging-childrens-creative-writing-say-authors
http://www.societyofauthors.org/sites/default/files/SATS%20letter2.pdf
[7] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/our-children-tested-to-destruction-779790.htm
[8] http://www.edutopia.org/blog/intrinsic-motivation-growth-mindset-writing-amy-conley
[9]
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