Creative Partnerships.

 

Creative Partnerships support art across Swansea with this initiative.

Creative Partnerships bring artistic professionals including scientists into schools around the UK to educate and inspire children and youth in order to enhance their life chances by encouraging aspiration and achievement (Creative Partnerships, 2012a). Between 2002 when it was first set up and 2011, ninety thousand teachers and one million children have had creative experiences through Creative Partnerships (Creative Partnerships, 2012b). The organisation set up seven key priorities to be delivered within sessions including the promotion of creativity within teaching to support teacher retention and recruitment, improvement of children’s self-worth as learners, improvement of school ethos and place within the community, equipping of young people with skills and also raising standards of attainment by the tool of creativity (Hall and Thompson, 2007).

 

Elephant design influenced by a model seen in a local primary school and the Poetry of Dylan Thomas.

Creative Partnerships was set up by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) within England in order to encourage ambition in youth from disadvantaged areas (Ofsted, 2006). Ofsted found that children found it difficult to apply qualities such as collaboration, risk taking and improvising during the initiative however recognised improvement in key skills and the establishment of a basis for creative development (Ofsted, 2006b). Creative Partnerships collaborated with Artangel in order to commission Wendy Ewald to support young migrants (Butler, et al 2007) which affirms the high regard they put on inclusion and the importance of multiagency working.

Children used technology as well as sticking and glueing to convey a message.

Creative Partnerships believe that positive impact on children takes place because high functioning is expected meaning that; children are socially, emotionally, physically and cognitively involved in the learning process and become learning resources in themselves (Creative Partnerships, 2012c). During a visit to see the work Creative Partnerships do in Swansea, I was able to view the work of children and believe that they are able to express themselves within their art and make their creativity personal and unique to themselves. Creative Partnerships play a large part in equipping children with creative knowledge and skills and at the same time provide an enjoyable experience that encourages curiosity and interest in creative activity. Children embark on a project focusing on a subject such as poetry with a cultural aspect such as the work of Dylan Thomas within Swansea. They enjoy exploring different media such as photography and I.T as well as making models from recycled objects and paper mashie. Children have the opportunity to use different art utensils as well as a variety of materials.

Children model design depicting the Olimpic games.

 

According to Parker (2014), teachers recognised an impact on their own and other practitioners leadership, interpersonal and personal skills thereby impacting positively on their careers. For this reason, I consider Creative Partnerships to play a leading role in shaping education because the impact they have on educators can extend into all areas of the curriculum. Creativity also builds confidence regarding the way in which a school represents itself as artwork would be seen by parents and visitors to the setting. Children will also gain a sense of place due to their individual and group art work being displayed throughout the classroom, school, community or City.

Children's model depicting World War II

A lecturer called Kate Pahl was funded by the Arts Council through Creative Partnerships in order to conduct research regarding the work of visual Artists as well as in popular culture and children’s literacy (Pahl and Rowsell, 2006). Creative Partnerships has therefore been conductive not only in offering a service within the education sector but have also impacted on the area of research. The information they share is helpful for all who work in teaching and policy making as well as parents and people within the community. Due to the impact Creative Partnerships has had on myself, I now consider the use of creativity to promote self-esteem, collaboration and academic success in children.

 

References:

Buttler, D., Reiss, V., Abdu’Allah, F. and Astante, B. (2007) Art of negotiation, UK: Arts Council of England.

Creative Partnerships (2012a) About Creative Partnerships, http://www.creative-partnerships.com/about-creative-partnerships/ (Accessed: 10/12/14).

Creative Partnerships (2012b) Creative Partnerships, http://www.creativitycultureeducation.org/creative-partnerships (Accessed: 10/12/14).

Creative Partnerships (2012c) Changing young lives, http://www.creativitycultureeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/Changing-Young-Lives-2012.pdf (Accessed: 10/11/14).

Hall,C. and Thompson, P. (2007) Creative Partnerships? Cultural Policy and Inclusive Arts Practice in One Primary School: British Educaitonal Research Journal, Vol. 33 (3) pp.315-329 (June) JSTOR [Online] Access at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30032613 (Accessed: 10/11/14). 

Ofsted (2006a) Creative Partnerships: Initiative and impact, http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/creative-partnerships-initiative-and-impact (Accessed 10/12/14).

Ofsted (2006b) Creative Partnerships: initiative and impact, The impact of sustained partnerships between schools and creative practitioners as a result of Creative Partnerships initiatives, http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/surveys-and-good-practice/c/Creative%20Partnerships%20initiative%20and%20impact%20%28PDF%20format%29.pdf (Accessed: 10/12/14).

Pahl, K. and Rowsell, J (2006) Travel notes from the new literacy studies: Instances of practice, UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

Parker, D (2014) Creative Partnerships in practice; Developing creative learners, London: Bloomsbury Education.

Bibliography:

Buttler, D., Reiss, V., Abdu’Allah, F. and Astante, B. (2007) Art of negotiation, UK: Arts Council of England.

Crafthouse, A. (2003) The limits to creativity in education: Dilemmas for the educator: Journal of educational studies Vol. 51 (2) pp.113-127 (June) JSTOR [Online] Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3122416 (Accessed: 10/12/14)

Creative Partnerships (2012a) About Creative Partnerships, http://www.creative-partnerships.com/about-creative-partnerships/ (Accessed: 10/12/14).

Creative Partnerships (2012b) Creative Partnerships, http://www.creativitycultureeducation.org/creative-partnerships (Accessed: 10/12/14).


Creative Partnerships (2012c) Changing young lives, http://www.creativitycultureeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/Changing-Young-Lives-2012.pdf (Accessed: 10/11/14).


Hall,C. and Thompson, P. (2007) Creative Partnerships? Cultural Policy and Inclusive Arts Practice in One Primary School: British Educaitonal Research Journal, Vol. 33 (3) pp.315-329 (June) JSTOR [Online] Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30032613 (Accessed: 10/11/14). 

Ofsted (2006a) Creative Partnerships: Initiative and impact, http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/creative-partnerships-initiative-and-impact (Accessed 10/12/14).

Ofsted (2006b) Creative Partnerships: initiative and impact, The impact of sustained partnerships between schools and creative practitioners as a result of Creative Partnerships initiatives, http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/surveys-and-good-practice/c/Creative%20Partnerships%20initiative%20and%20impact%20%28PDF%20format%29.pdf (Accessed: 10/12/14).


Pahl, K. and Rowsell, J (2006) Travel notes from the new literacy studies: Instances of practice, UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd.


Parker, D (2014) Creative Partnerships in practice; Developing creative learners, London: Bloomsbury Education.


Pirola-Merlo, A and Mann, L (2004) The relationship between individual creativity and team creativity: aggregating across people and time: Journal of organizational behaviour, Vol. 25 (2) pp.235-257 (March) JSTOR [Online] Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4093827. (Accessed: 10/11/14).


Woodman, R.W., Sawyer, J.E. and Griffin R.W. (1993) Toward a theory of organizational creativity, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 18 (2) pp.293-321 (April) JSTOR [Online] Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/258761. (Accessed: 10/11/14).