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Memorandum submitted by Museums Libraries Archives (MLA) South East
1. Executive Summary - The wider importance of 'creativity' and 'creative learning' outside of schools, the relevance to work and leisure and for learning throughout the 0-19 age ranges. - There is initial evidence to suggest (from the Culture Shared programme) that there is an impact on the learning programmes of cultural organisations. - To embed 'creativity' and 'creative learning' into the school curriculum it is not only the schools that need skills development but also those sectors working with them and in partnership with them to enable this cultural shift. The Culture Shared programme is an example of this approach for the MLA and wider cultural sector, where a joint CPD programme is enabling a wider understanding of 'creative learning' and developing skills for both the sector and the schools. - There is a need for the MLA sector workforce to be more responsive to schools curriculum and the Creative Partnership model is a way of developing skills and understanding. This is especially relevant in light of new announcement allowing more freedom to teach the curriculum. - There is a need for a common understanding of 'creativity' and 'creative learning'.
2. Introduction to the submitter - MLA South East is the strategic development agency for museums, libraries and archives in the region. We are part of the wider MLA Partnership with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and the eight other regional agencies. Together we work to improve people's lives by building knowledge, supporting learning, inspiring creativity and celebrating identity. The Partnership acts collectively for the benefit of the sector and the public, leading the transformation of museums, libraries and archives for the future.
3. Strategic Commissioning is a national education programme funded by DfES and DCMS and managed through the 9 regional MLA agencies. Through a model of supply and demand, it aims to build sustainable partnerships between museums/archives and schools, especially those who have not previously used museums/archives within the curriculum. Through effective local and regional brokerage, it works with non-Hub museums and complements the Renaissance programme in the delivery of a 'cultural' offer to all children and young people.
4. Surrey, East & West Sussex Museum Development Service (SEWS MDS) is one part of the network of four sub-regional Museum Development Services established as part of Renaissance by MLA South East and the South East Hub. Museum Development Officers (MDOs), based in each of the sub-regions, deliver the service to all registered non-hub museums and those working towards Accreditation in the region.
5. Broader statement about the importance of creativity to the future of the country - as highlighted by recent announcements and reports about the creative industries importance to the UK economy, there is evident need to support creativity in the curriculum and in learning to enable this to continue and ensure a vibrant creative economy for the future. There is evidence to support the claim that cultural providers are (and can be) one of the key deliverers and delivery partners for creative learning now and for the future. However, there is also still much more to develop, explore and exploit in this area to support creative learning.
6. Impact on the learning programmes of cultural organisations - MLA South East has worked with Creative Partnerships in each of the four sub regions (Slough, Kent, Southampton and Hastings) in a variety of ways- some of which are more in depth than others. Until a recent restructure, MLA South East sat on each of the CP Boards and provided strategic overview and synergy between both sectors and areas of work. It is intended that the new Learning and Skills Manager will sit on the CP Boards once in post. The Strategic Commissioning programme has used some of its funds to jointly support the Creative Learning Co-ordinator post at Slough Museum together with CP Slough. A series of events which highlighted museums as launch-pads for creativity was undertaken last year and these case studies have been written up into a recent publication. Contribution funding from CP Kent into a Museum Education Development Co-ordinator in Canterbury as part of the Beaney project helped to facilitate a 'pupil led' approach to service development. The work with CP Hastings and East Sussex is detailed below.
7. SEWS MDS and the Culture Shared programme (Jan 2007 - Jan 2008) a year long supported CPD programme particularly aimed cultural organisations in East Sussex, using the Creative Partnerships model of engaging with and delivering to schools. The programme is a three-way partnership between cultural organisations, schools and creative practitioners. As the programme is still on-going and evaluation not yet complete, only anecdotal evidence is available to support this submission.
8. There is evidence to suggest that there has been an impact on the learning programmes of cultural organisations, as Culture Shared aimed to up-skill professionals working in the cultural sector with a learning remit. By working with and developing partnerships with their partner school over the course of the programme, participants are developing an understanding of creative learning and the power of creativity in the curriculum as a way of engaging and working with schools. This in turn is building knowledge and understanding of schools and the school agenda and also of the cultural organisation.
9. As a programme Culture Shared also aims to help to build capacity for cultural organisations to work with schools by better understanding each others environments and agendas, as well as by working together on developing and implementing projects, it aims to build sustainable relationships.
10. Culture Shared has proved important in cultural organisations gaining access to other areas of the curriculum, for example, traditionally many museums, libraries and archives are pigeon-holed to providing support to the history curriculum. This programme, by working with specialist schools, is expanding horizons not just for the schools but for cultural organisations to work more widely and creatively across the curricula.
11. The 'buddying' model (adopted by Culture Shared) of partnering schools and cultural providers at an early stage in the programme, so far, has proven to be a successful method of developing relationships and joint understanding.
12. Culture Shared also provides developmental opportunities in working with creative practitioners in a partnership environment to help develop understanding of not just creative working practices but of that of all partners and to skill-share.
13. Programmes such as Culture Shared not only offer training and development opportunities for professionals but also for the young people to engage in and develop student-led work. Young people are involved in steering the direction of the project and given the opportunity to reinterpret existing cultural resources and develop their own. As well as gaining, building and developing their own skills and behaviours.
14. By participating as a group in the training element of the Culture Shared programme, cultural organisations have developed an informal network across East Sussex. This has enabled participants to gain an understanding and knowledge of creativity and creative learning as a sector and help to work towards creating a common understanding of terminology, agendas and practice.
15. Definition of 'creativity' and 'creative learning' - MLA South East's Strategic Commissioning programme uses the definition of creativity from 'All Our Futures' which is supported in the QCA document 'Creativity - find it promote it'. The QCA key features of creative learning encompass a much wider curriculum stance which link well into work related learning. One of our SE LA Adviser colleagues has written a paper about how museums promote creativity and how this links into other areas of pupil learning such as motivation and self esteem (PSHE/Citizenship), available on our website: www.mlasoutheast.org.uk.
16. The Strategic Commissioning programme uses one of the 5 'generic learning outcomes' from MLA's 'Inspiring Learning for All' framework (Enjoyment, Inspiration and Creativity') to collect evidence from participation within the programme
17. Although the Culture Shared programme sought a common understanding between participants of 'creativity' and 'creative learning' more widely, there is in the wider sectors still a lack of a shared definition. As identified and highlighted in the Arts Council South East report 'Creative Learning Hubs, future and feasibility', different sectors use the terms 'creativity' and 'creative learning' in different ways. If Creative Partnerships continues to work across and with these sectors to develop these relationships, there needs to be clearer definition and common understanding on terminology and its uses.
18. 'Creativity' and 'creative learning' is much wider than Creative Partnerships, this programme is just one of the approaches that link in to creativity and the curriculum.
19. Cultural shift in schools and cultural organisations - to facilitate the flexibility within the curriculum to deliver creativity across curriculum, a cultural shift is needed in schools. There is a tension between the reality of teacher expectations and the aspiration of creativity in the curriculum and this tension also reflects across in to many cultural organisations. As consultation with cultural organisation for the Culture Shared programme identified, there is also still a need to shift the philosophy, perceptions and working practices of those working with the schools in addition to the cultural shift within schools
20. Ensuring that this area is explored as part of initial teacher training would help encourage effective teaching and learning practice and instil practitioner confidence within new teachers in the short term whilst helping to integrate and embed creativity across school curriculum plans in the long term.
21. Outside the school curriculum and schools - the Strategic Commissioning programme covers the 0-19 age group. It is important to recognise and stress the focus is on the child/young person rather then the school within creative learning. Creativity and creative learning should therefore encompass those children and young people not in education or training and learning outside the classroom through the wider extended services agenda and should be personalised to their needs.
22. Assessment of creativity - whilst it is difficult to assess creativity to some extent (and this links back to a need for a shared definition), it would be helpful to agree some common mechanisms and traits surrounding assessment, such as portfolios. Should there be some form of creative approach to assessment which reflects creativity itself?
23. The Arts Mark is helping to acknowledge the role and importance of the arts in schools, but is there a need to extend this to a wider 'culture mark' to include all cultural organisations as part of the notion of cultural entitlement?
24. Links to work/leisure - Creativity and creative learning should feature as an important aspect of work experience for young people. If we can teach young people to be creative in their thought (making connections, questioning and challenging, reflecting critically), these skills will be transferable to other areas of their life, such as future work and will in turn help them to be active, informed and responsible citizens in the community.
July 2007 |