Creativity, Challenge and Change

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Creativity, Challenge and Change Judy Durrant
with Peter Thompson INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF
SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPROVEMENT Vancouver,
BC, Canada, 4-7 January 2009
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Creative Partnerships a flagship initative

• initiated and managed by Arts Council England
• developing young peoples skills, raising
  aspirations and achievements, opening
  opportunities for the future
• Creative Professionals work alongside teachers
• school-based projects for creative learning and
  school improvement

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Evaluating impact

• Contradiction in terms to try to evaluate
  Creative Partnerships by the same standards and
  criteria as the national programmes and
  standards-based approaches it aims to challenge
• (Sefton-Green, 2007)

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How can we measure or prove
inspiration
engagement
motivation
creative potential
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Creative Partnerships legacy might be
generating enough accounts of practice which
describe meaningful models of change
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Creative commentaries

• Independent researchers exploring 5 themes in
  Hastings and East Sussex (23 schools)
• Every Child Matters
• Learning Environments
• Partnerships
• Language Development
• Pupil Voice
• Commentary not evaluation a weaving of
  evidence...

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Discussion, collaboration and reflexivity
amongst the research team led to powerful
shared understandings and questions...
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Challenging our assumptions

• Re-conceiving outcomes what do we
  measure?
• Re-conceiving boundaries challenging
  practice and interpretation
• Re-conceiving time-scales for
  long-term improvement
• Re-conceiving partnerships valuing
  dissonance and conflict

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long-term development cannot be evaluated yet
OUTSIDE THE BOX
conflict and dissonance are part of the creative
process
INSIDE THE BOX outcomes measured according to
prescribed criteria, pre-conceived ideas and
aims to do with raising standards
softer, less measurable outcomes with less
apparent validity
unexpected outcomes
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If we only use evaluative frameworks that are
inside the box, we miss much of what is good and
limit our perceptions of improvement.

• If we plan and implement change inside the box,
  we limit learning, stifle intervention and
  creativity and put a lid on change

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What are the implications - for teachers and
principals, researchers and policymakers?