Teaching for creativity in schools must be prioritised to equip young people with the skills they need in later life, according to the recently published report from the Durham Commission on Creativity and Education report.
The Commission, a collaboration between Arts Council England and Durham University, found evidence of the positive impact of creativity and creative thinking in our lives.
It therefore suggests all schools, from early years to post-16 education, should be better enabled to support teaching for creativity for all young people, whatever their background.
The Commission believes that through engaging in opportunities for creative learning, grounded in subject knowledge and understanding, students’ creative capacity will be nurtured, and their personal, social and academic development greatly enriched.
With these advantages, the report finds that young people will enter society and the world of work able to think and work creatively across disciplines and sectors and champion the UK as a leader in creativity.
The report calls for a range of organisations to deliver this vision, encapsulated in its core recommendations:
- The development of a pilot national network of Creativity Collaboratives set up through joint working between DfE, the Arts Council and education trusts
- Better recognition, research and evaluation of teaching for creativity in schools and a recognition of this teaching in the Ofsted inspection process
- A clearer focus on digital technology and its role in a creative education
- Inclusion of the arts as standard in the curriculum to key stage 3 and a National Plan for Cultural Education
- A focus on early years learning including training for the workforce
- Creative opportunities out of school hours and in the world of work
The full report is available here.