Our 3rd session started with some warm up name games. I asked if people had thought about the creativity question from last time and we found that a lot of people had forgotten about it. Someone suggested using email as a reminder so this week I’ve emailed those present with the homework question.
We continued from last week’s creativity theme with a look at conformity. Often conformity is useful (driving on the left), but in solving problems (as one of our participants put it), if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.
One way of challenging conformity is to turn it on its head. We played a game where everyone wrote down an issue that bothered them, and we put these into a hat. The hat went round and everyone pulled a paper and had to ‘turn it on its head’. So if I had written traffic jams, then the person pulling that out could have said “traffic jams are good because they slow the cars down and there will be less accidents”.
We used a physical feedback method so I could get an understanding of how people found the workshops so far in terms of value (people said medium to high), pace (slow to medium) and fun (medium to fun).
We then moved on to the second part of the workshop: motivation. To start we played a game of paper, scissors, stone to pick who would go first. The 2 teams took a story about motivation and had 5 minutes to prepare a bit of theatre to illustrate the story. This was a lot of fun!
We then split into small groups to discuss how motivation can be increased in schools - an answer a lot of us are interested in! Suggestions from the groups included:
- using praise, allow everyone to solve problems in their own way,
- finding a way to make the learner need the understanding,
- for the learner to know why they are learning,
- find a way for the learner to experience in different ways the material.
The homework question that we finished on was “How can we get motivated to do things we don’t want to do naturally - and is this even possible?”
In this workshop we started off by looking at how beliefs about ourselves (mindset), are formed - especially through the way we communicate.
The group got into groups of 3; a coach, a listener and a talker. The talker told the listener about a challenge they were facing, and the talker tried out different forms of encouragement. The aim was to experience what it is like to give and recieve communication that puts us into the growth mindset (I can do this), as apposed to a fixed mindset (this is too difficult, I’ll give up).
This exercise was inspired by an experiment performed by Carol Dweck, that showed the way we communicate has an important effect on how we perform and behave subsequently.
We then moved on the the second part of the workshop - creativity. We started by solving the problem: how can you build a free standing tower of a certain height that is stable enough to be moved? I supplied each team with a can, 2 peices of cardboard, some string and a length of sticky tape. In fact, no group met the challenge completely, but the exercise showed that there are many ways of solving a problem.
This illustrates one of Roger von Oech’s ideas about creativity - always look for the 2nd right answer. Each team tried to solve the problem in a different way. It’s only by coming up with lots of ideas that we can choose the best. I also raised the point that schools often encourage people to think that there is only 1 right answer; tests, questions etc.
We had a group discussion about creativity and how it is useful. I documented our discussion as a mindmap:
I presented another idea from Roger’s book: a whack on the side of the head; the usefulness of ambiguity. We split into groups and each group came up with an problem that we could solve with some creative ideas. Each group chose a random word and had to use this as a ‘jumping off’ point to solve their challenges.
Finally I asked people to consider the question: “where could you use more creativity in your life right now” as homework for the next session.
I participated in Music for Change’s excellent course 2 weeks ago. Much thanks and gratitude to Donna and her team’s work!
It was great to meet all the participants, facilitators and creative practitioners - really inspiring! The more people I meet who are directly involved in creative social change the more I’m convinced that this is my path. And it’s great to see proof of it working, to experience it, and to be inspired to create more myself.
The workshops also proved to be a mine of information; finding out about funding, other organisations, networking, games and lots of interesting ideas about creative curriculum.
I’ve since used some of the ideas in a beatboxing songwriting workshop for the teenagers in my youth club - it went down well!
“Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything” George Lois
I just went to a great seminar on creativity, hosted by the Campaign for Learning. As well as being inspiring, I also got the chance to meet lots of people who are embracing creativity in their professional lives - very refreshing! There was plenty of opportunity for networking, and I’ve since made some really supportive and positive connections with other participants.
The day was split up into sections, with different activities and speakers. This was good because it kept us feeling alert and awake! There was even 10 minutes of drumming which was very energetic!
A really good idea was having people there to facilitate different discussions on creativity. There were 6 sessions to choose from, and spaces for one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This allowed people to follow their own interests, and allowed for us each to customise our day slightly. I’ll definitely use this idea in one of my own workshops!
The venue was great, with an outdoor area, plenty of support from the CFL staff, and fantastic food as well! Top marks!
Another great video from TED, Sir Ken Robinson explains his understanding of creativity, and why it is so important, especially today.
Creativity is a vital and innate part of all of us. A powerful tool that can solve problems, inspire others, bring excitement to lessons.
- Why do so many people claim that they are not creative?
- Where and how do we use creativity?
- How and why do we block our natural creativity?
This workshop aims to answer these questions with games and discussions, and leave the participants with some new tools to use in everyday life.
The workshop is 90 minutes with a 10 minute break. Home made cookies supplied by me!