Contemporary Issues in Innovation, Teaching and Learning

 

What is the context/argument being explored? 

“Assessing Creativity in Formal Education” explores the complexities of evaluating creativity in formal education settings. It argues against the idea that creativity is an innate talent, instead suggesting that it can be nurtured through structured learning. The author’s emphasize that creativity must be assessed through specific aspects such as: knowledge of context, skill sets, understanding of the process, outcomes and originality. They highlight the pitfalls of traditional assessment methods which often focus solely on the final product, neglecting the learning journey involved.

How do the ideas/arguments relate to your understanding of innovation in teaching and learning?

This exploration of creativity relates directly to ideas about innovation in education. Creativity requires critical thinking, adaptability and with regards to teaching, a focus on teaching in a holistic manner. Modern teaching philosophies also emphasize respecting the teaching journey and not just focusing on the end product. The chapter’s emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches and the importance of understanding the creative process aligns with prioritizing student agency and collaborative learning. By integrating creativity, environments can be cultivated that encourage risk-taking and exploration.

Questions for the Authors

1. How can we effectively evaluate / assess the creative process in situations when students and parents expect a performance indicator or a grade?

2. How can teachers then justify a certain performance indicator or grade that is allocated to creative process or a design thinking cycle? (to students and parents) when much of it is probably subjective?

3. When it comes to providing a more holistic education with opportunities for creative pursuits, how do we transition parents into being less fixated on performance indicators?

4. What biases might teachers have when evaluating creative pursuits? 

What are the implications for your own practice? 

As a PYP teacher with a decade of experience, and who has also predominately taught in East Asia where parents heavily attach themselves to grades and indicators, I feel like the above queries have always been at the forefront of my mind. Given that my grade team is teaching a year long unit about The Design Cycle this year, I feel like these will be ongoing conversations that I continue to have with my grade team.

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To be honest the next article really appealed to me as my grade team is teaching a year long Design Cycle unit.

What is the context/argument being explored? 

This article looks at how design thinking and enterprise education can go together. The author argues that innovative and experiential learning methods can develop entrepreneurial skills. The author also critiques traditional business education and suggests a more creative / problem solving approach including Design Thinking, aligns more closely with the way that business is evolving. He emphasizes skills like creativity and resourcefulness. The author suggests that students should be enabled to navigate complex real world problems through authentic learning experiences.

How do the ideas/arguments relate to your understanding of innovation in teaching and learning?

These arguments resonate with current trends in education that prioritize holistic, student centered, problem-based learning models. The design thinking model aligns with critical thinking, adaptability and creativity in students. Students can also learn in a more collaborative process. Students engaging in real-world challenges and developing practical solutions can enhance engagement and foster a deeper understanding of the content. I am an inquiry based educator and so this approach very closely aligns with my own, and as I am teaching both a Design Cycle and economics unit this year, I would like to explore this perspective even more.

Questions for the Author

After reading the article, I have several questions for the author:

1. How can educators effectively assess student learning and outcomes in design thinking contexts, particularly when dealing with ill-defined problems?

2. How can educators overcome institutional barriers that may hinder the adoption of design thinking methodologies?

What are the implications for your own practice? 

In discussions with my grade team about the Design Cycle year long unit, we opted to have students design products after the “Sharing the Planet” unit, looking at solving an issue or helping with an issue related to the earth’s environment. Later on they will be creating prototypes or thinking of how they can apply ideas related to sharing the planet, to an entrepreneurship exercise, so of course in creating their product they will need to look at how sustainability factors in and think about how they can reuse materials. 

We are hoping that within this unit students will learn more / start to become more aware of sustainability and how it has become an important issue for businesses to address. 

At the end of the day Design Thinking can be applied to many different types of real world problem solving capacities.

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What do these two articles have to do with diversity and inclusion?

It is through reimagining assessment to take on more creative forms / to tackle real life local problems that students can help in identifying, that learning can: 1. become more meaningful / personal, 2. students may become more engaged in their learning, 3. they are being prepared more for the world that they will enter into as adults, which will require a range of different skills. 

Also through a more process based approach students will have more opportunities to reflect, have accountability for their own learning and their should be a deeper engagement based on the principle that students have more voice and choice.

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Resources

Houghton, Nicholas and Tony Reeves (2021). Assessing Creativity in Formal Education. In Peters, M., Heraud, R. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Educational Innovation. Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2262-4_193-1

McLuskie, Peter. (2021). Design Thinking Education and Entrepreneurship. In Peters, M., Heraud, R. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Educational Innovation. Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2262-4_193-1