The influence of the Creative Learning Assessment (CLA) on children's learning and...

The influence of the Creative LearningAssessment (CLA) on children’s learningand teachers’ teachingSue Ellis and Becky Lawrence

Abstract

This paper describes the development and use of theCreative Learning Assessment (CLA) as a means ofevidencing, supporting and promoting children’screative learning in arts-based contexts. The researchteam at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education(CLPE) worked with a group of teachers in inner-cityLambeth primary schools to develop an assessmentsystem to record the impact of a creative curriculum onchildren’s achievement and to enable schools to justifya broad-based provision. The Assessing Learning andCommunication in Creative Learning Contexts project,funded by CfBT Education Trust (CfBT), aimed to offerteachers a view of creative learning development and aframework for teacher assessment. It set out to providea close focus on the learner and a valuable sourceof information for curriculum planning. This articlediscusses the effect of working with the CLA on chil-dren’s learning and on teachers’ practice through acase study of one project school, and the implicationsfor schools and classrooms from the perspectives of theresearcher and the teacher.

Key words: creative arts, creativity, integrated curri-culum, language, literacy, personalised learning, pro-fessional development, speaking and listening, talk,teacher assessment

Introduction

The background to the development of the CreativeLearning Assessment (CLA) framework

What is creative learning? How can teachers evaluatechildren’s progress when they are creating sculptures,developing dance pieces or making a film? What kindof language exists to enable teachers to describe thiskind of learning, and are there any common threadswhich link creative learning in different arts subjects?Should we be attempting to assess creativity at all? Dowe risk losing it if we do?

With the help of a team of researchers from Centre forLiteracy in Primary Education (CLPE), some teachersin Lambeth set out to answer these questions and todevelop a framework for qualitative assessment increative arts subjects.

The CLA project was commissioned by a group of headteachers from schools in the Lambeth CfBT/EducationAction Zone (EAZ) with a strong tradition of work increative projects, supported by the EAZ (Ellis andSafford, 2005). They wanted to be able to demonstratethe value of the creative arts in children’s learningachievement and to support creative approaches tolearning in their schools. While encouraged by themomentum building in a national creativity agendathrough government reports (Department for Culture,Media and Sport (DCMS), 2001, 2002; Department forEducation and Science (DfES), 2003; National Advi-sory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education(NACCE), 1999; Office for Standards in Education(Ofsted), 2003; Qualifications and Curriculum Author-ity, 2003, 2004) and Creative Partnerships, schools feltconstrained in establishing a creative arts-basedcurriculum. The difficulties in evidencing the impactof creativity on achievement and the narrow focus ofassessment provided by the Standard AssessmentTasks contributed to this. Without the availability ofan appropriate assessment format, schools found theywere unable to provide convincing information. Theyinvited CLPE to develop a teacher assessment system,which would record children’s learning in a creativecurriculum and enable these achievements to bereflected in the Ofsted Self Evaluation Form. For it towork, schools needed a manageable and credibleassessment tool to support teachers in identifyingand documenting progress.

Co-authored by the team leader at CLPE (S. E.) and oneof the participating teachers (B. L.), this paper representsthe collaborative project and the process involved indocumenting children’s learning using the framework.

In devising the CLA framework, we were able to drawon earlier CLPE developments including The PrimaryLanguage Record (PLR) (Barrs et al, 1988), where thefocus on the child as a learner provides strongcontinuities with the emphasis on personalised learn-ing (DfES/DCSF, 2003). In developing the model, wewanted to include opportunities for self and peerevaluation (Black et al., 2004) and portfolios ande.portfolios (Barrett, 2000). By embedding NationalCurriculum Statements of Attainment (NCC/QCA,2000) within the CLA we wanted to develop an

Literacy Volume 43 Number 1 April 2009 3

r UKLA 2009. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

assessment system that would have relevance andvalidity for schools.

Following a 6-week trial of the prototype assessmentpackage in five Lambeth EAZ schools, the CLAmaterials were revised for a 1-year pilot (2006–2007)with a wider group of schools. Throughout both thetrial and the pilot, the project team regularly observedthe use of the CLA and collected evidence fromteachers about its value in the classroom. Revisionswere made to the materials following each stage of thedevelopment process. The main elements of the CLAmodel comprised:

� an observation framework, based on the CLA continuumfor use with selected individuals or groups

� a portfolio of children’s work with reflective commen-tary, to be compiled for individuals, groups or awhole class

� a 5-point scale of progress, based on the NationalCurriculum statements of attainment in arts subjects.

The creative learning continuum

The CLA continuum provides the model of learningunderpinning the CLA and offers teachers an explicitstructure both for observing and assessing progressand for planning children’s learning. The continuumbuilds on CLPE’s experience of developing the PLRand Patterns of Learning (CLPE) and encompasses sixinterrelated dimensions of learning:

1. Confidence, independence and enjoyment2. Collaboration and communication3. Creativity4. Strategies and skills5. Knowledge and understanding6. Reflection and evaluation.

These six strands form the key headings of the CLAobservation framework enabling teachers to observe andanalyse children’s learning behaviour in process, and toevaluate the product of their artistic endeavour.

The CLA scale of progress and development alsoreflects the continuum. It provides teachers withdescriptions, and a view, of children’s creative learningdevelopment over time.

Using the CLA observation framework

The CLA framework allows teachers space to recordwhat they are noticing while children are working on acreative project – it asks questions like:

‘‘In what ways are children able to take risks andexperiment in their learning?’’‘‘Do they generate ideas, questions and make connec-tions?’’ and,‘‘Are there examples of responding to and commentingon their own and others’ work?’’

Teachers found the open framework flexible yetsupportive in helping them to look closely at howchildren were learning in different arts subjects (class-room projects included painting, sculpture, construc-tion, animation, drama, dance and literature). Theysaw it as an opportunity to find out what childrenknow and can do and as a way of developing a deeperunderstanding of individual approaches to learning(Schon, 1987).

‘‘One of the children I focused on was often in trouble fornot concentrating, for disrupting others and not finishinghis work. When I really looked, I began to notice hisstrengths and understand better what the problems were.I shifted my approach to him and began to concentrate onwhat he could do and this turned it around’’ (TeacherB. L., Year 3).

Manageability was an important feature of the model ifteachers were to use the CLA, and for this reason theywere asked to focus their half-termly observations on asmall number of children, often two or three. Therewere some initial fears that this would privilegesome children at the expense of others. However,pilot teachers found that a sampling approach enabledthem to use the insights gained from a close focus on asmall number of children to inform and support thelearning of others.

‘‘I realised that he enjoyed working with others but didn’tlike making a joint piece. By working in a pair but on hisown design, he was more productive and happy to talk aboutwhat he was doing. This was true for quite a few of the boys’’(Teacher M. H., Year 2).

One of us now (B. L.) describes the experience of usingthe CLA with a Year 3 class of 7- and 8-year olds at HillMead Primary School in Brixton, London. Here a highproportion of children qualify for free school meals,more than half are bilingual, an above average numberare on the SEN register and pupil mobility is significant.The school has engaged in a number of arts projects andpromotes a creative approach to teaching and learning.

B.L.’s reflections on using the CLA

I selected six focus children for close observation,representing the range of achievement within the class.Over the year, observations and evidence gatheringfocused even more closely on two children: Elishaand Lazaro. Elisha, though identified as gifted andtalented, was underachieving and displayed challen-ging behaviour. Lazaro, a beginner reader and writer,rarely spoke to adults and found concentration achallenge in all areas of the curriculum.

Children’s creative learning was tracked and assessedthrough four arts-based projects over the year, which

4 The influence of the Creative Learning Assessment

r UKLA 2009

were also embedded in other areas of the curriculum.The first project, in the Autumn term, involved small-and large-scale sculptures of an Egyptian cat goddessas part of a history study; the second, in the Springterm, was a drama improvisation project inspired byAnthony Browne’s, (2004) Zoo; the third, in theSummer term, focused on watercolour paintings basedon Charles Causley’s (1996) poem What has happened toLulu? and a fourth was a short design and technologyproject of house building for the three little wolves. Theprojects were planned within the school’s Year 3curriculum but were increasingly influenced by theinvolvement in the research project and the on-goingfindings. As my familiarity with the CLA frameworkgrew, the projects were structured to allow for greaterchoice of outcome and incorporated children’s ideasand preferred ways of working. The observationframework influenced how I analysed what was goingon in the classroom and what children were doing andlearning.

Confidence, independence and enjoyment

For example, developing pleasure and enjoyment, engage-ment and focus, empathy and emotional involvement,self-motivation.

This is such an important starting point to assessingany learning, and an aspect that is often overlookedbecause we too quickly focus on what the child can orcannot do. Observing how the children approached thedifferent creative activities in terms of their confidence,independence and enjoyment gave me deeper insightsinto their interests and approaches to learning as awhole and often showed my own misconceptionsabout their learning styles, abilities and strengths.

The prompts within each heading gave me an oppor-tunity to look in depth at children as learners. Forexample, Elisha is a child who is always ‘‘on the go’’ andis frequently observed to be disengaged, unfocused andfidgety, particularly during whole class activities. Thisbehaviour was particularly evident during whole classactivities or demonstrations by arts partners. However,when observing Elisha working – drawing, painting,sculpting – he was very focused. So much so that it wasdifficult to interrupt him; for example, when usingwatercolours for his self-portrait he was reluctant to goout to play. In fact, during the various creative projects,Elisha was often more focused and engaged than manyof his peers, either working silently or asking questionsand making his own suggestions.

In observing Elisha’s developing empathy and emotionalinvolvement I noticed that in other areas of thecurriculum, and in social contexts, his concerns wereoften self-centred and detached. However, in creativecontexts and over time, Elisha demonstrated andarticulated increasing empathy and emotional invol-vement. One example of this was in his watercolourpaintings inspired by Charles Causley’s (1996) What

has happened to Lulu? He approached all his paintingsenthusiastically, he was decisive about what he wantedto paint based on his engagement in the poem: ‘‘I wantto paint the fire where Lulu’s letter is’’. His choices ofcolours (red, orange and black) demonstrated hisunderstanding of the darkness of the poem. Elisha’sportfolio commentary showed his increasing emo-tional involvement in the creative activity:

‘‘I had a vision in my head that she was crying in her roomand it was dark’’.‘‘I thought about Lulu’s mum’s feelings before detailingthe picture’’.

I was able to see Elisha’s sustained and deep engage-ment in the arts projects and recognise what it waspossible for him to achieve. His developing confidenceand ability to reflect on his work through talk andwriting were noticeable. This gave me confidence touse similar approaches, such as drama and drawing, tosupport his learning in other areas of the curriculum.

Collaboration and communication

For example, works effectively in a team, contributes todiscussion, makes suggestions, listens and responds toothers, perseveres, overcomes problems, communicates andpresents ideas.

This section made me question whether we createenough opportunities for children to develop thesecomplex skills to collaborate and communicate theirown and others’ ideas. In my class, collaboration was aparticular issue. At the beginning of the year, many ofthe children found it very difficult to work togetherconstructively or listen to each other.

In all four creative projects there were many opportu-nities for collaboration and communication, at differ-ent levels and in a variety of ways, between children, inpairs or groups and between children and the teacherand arts partner. Some of these opportunities wereplanned but many arose out of the children’s engage-ment within the creative context. Without the CLA, I amcertain, I would have missed observing these unplannedevents and, more importantly, I would have missed theopportunity to foster and encourage them further.

The planned events provided the children with oppor-tunities and a structure to make choices, discuss andwork together towards a clearly defined goal; forexample, making, painting and decorating the largeBastet cat sculpture; planning and rehearsing a shortimprovisation as a group; or reflective discussions at theend of an activity. These events were scaffolded, by theteacher and/or arts partner, supporting the children towork as a team, to share ideas and listen to others.

The unplanned events occurred and flourished whenthe children were engaged in the creative process and

Literacy Volume 43 Number 1 April 2009 5

r UKLA 2009

most often in a workshop context, ‘the atelier model’(Eisner, 2000; Safford and Barrs, 2006). The childrenspontaneously shared ideas, resolved problems to-gether and adopted each other’s approaches andstrategies. During a video interview at the end of thesculpture project, Elisha explained how he drew on theideas of the other children:

‘‘I looked at Lamarna’s cat’s ears and tried to make themstraight like hers, but then I made them this way . . . Iwanted to make my cat stand up like Lazaro’s. Next time Iwill make a standing up cat’’.

I was interested in his newly expressed willingness torework and develop his ideas and his ambition tocreate his planned sculpture.

The children worked in friendship pairs duringthe watercolour project, planned to encourage talkand peer support. Elisha described how he workedwith his friend:

‘‘Me and my friend Seyi talked about what detail weshould think about in our picture before we painted it’’.

I noticed that in the workshop atmosphere, childrendeveloped their ideas through more sustained con-versations, building on each other’s ideas, speculating,raising questions and making suggestions. Thesechained conversations (Alexander, 2006) supportedchildren to think more deeply about their work andallowed me to see what they knew and how I mightmove them on.

Elisha ‘‘My mum’s cat looked like Bastet. Did youfirst look at pictures to get an idea before youmade your work? Lazaro’s got a cartoon cat. . .How are you going to add the head? It’s notlike lego’’.

Hassan ‘‘I’ll scratch the two pieces of clay where I’mgoing to join them. It makes it stronger . . .and I’ll smooth it together like this. But theback isn’t right’’.

Elisha ‘‘Do you mean you have to shape it here to getthe slope of the back?She’s (arts partner) pinching it to make thecat’s back’’.

Hassan ‘‘I’ll shape it like Maddie’s (arts partner). Theclay is bendy’’.

Elisha ‘‘Why don’t you add some more clay for thefront legs? You’ll need a roll of extra clay’’.

This informal context also gave me opportunities toprompt further talk to help them think harder. In wholeclass and small group discussions I was interested inchildren’s in-depth responses and avoided the tempta-

tion to ask rapid right–wrong questions, drawinginstead on the Tell Me approach (Chambers, 1995). Ifound this had a direct impact on the way childrentalked together about their work as they began to takeon some of my language patterns and phrasing:

‘‘Why do you think the sculpture won’t stay up?’’‘‘I wonder what would happen if I added more clay here’’.‘‘Tell me how you got your painting to look so ghostly’’.

This added to the supportive atmosphere of collabora-tion in the classroom and the growing sense of a‘‘community of learners’’. There were also more child-initiated questions, which helped to generate a pool ofshared knowledge of the subject and a store oflinguistic experience with which to think about it.

I was learning how to use the observational frameworkand learning, how to look at what children were doingthrough a different lens. I began to apply this way ofworking in other subjects and became more explicit intalking to children about their strengths and found thisenhanced children’s independence and maturity inworking relationships. They began to seek supportfrom each other, substantially improving the socialhealth of the class.

Creativity

For example, is imaginative and playful, generates ideas,questions and makes connections, risk-takes and experi-ments, expresses own creative ideas using a range of artisticelements.

Considering each of the elements in this section helpedme as a teacher to go beyond ‘delivering’ what I assumedwas a ‘creative curriculum’ to assessing whether I wasactually providing opportunities for children to becreative in their thinking and practice. It helped me tounderstand what ‘creativity’ means. While I recognisethe importance of supporting the development ofchildren’s skills, knowledge and understanding withinthe arts curriculum, this is the area where children canhave the most freedom to experiment and explore,where there is often no right or wrong way.

The CLA helped me to identify the creative strengthsof children who struggled academically and whosecreative potential had not yet been realised. Lazaro, aninexperienced reader and writer who in Year 2 did notspeak to adults, found concentration a challenge. Fromthe beginning of the projects, Lazaro demonstratedcreative potential. He was willing to take risks,experiment and, for example, he was the only childwho sculpted a different Bastet cat from that modelledby the artist: a standing figure rather than sitting.Lazaro also showed significant progress during thedrama project when working in a small group,improvising the monkeys stealing the zoo keeper’skeys, escaping from the zoo and miming their adven-

6 The influence of the Creative Learning Assessment

r UKLA 2009

ture on a ghost train. Lazaro’s confidence in expressinghis own ideas grew tremendously through the dramaticimagining. At the end of a drama session Lazaro talkedto an adult, maintaining his character-in-role:

‘‘I’ve been in this zoo for seven months. Before that I wasin the jungle and they took away my brothers and sistersand I was alone. And then they came back for me. Thecreatures, they shot me and took me away and brought mehere. I don’t like it here. I’m lonely. I miss play[ing] withmy brothers and sisters. But I like having visitors’’(Lazaro’s talk scribed by S. E.).

This was a highly significant development for Lazaro,both in his confidence to speak to an adult and in hissustained and cohesive communication. Speaking inrole was a key enabler to him talking at this length andwith such confidence and clarity.

Lazaro’s writing is at a very early developmental stageand does not provide a true or complete picture of hiscreative potential. Observing Lazaro during his crea-tive endeavours tells a different story: a boy with agrowing understanding of complex meanings andartistic skills.

Strategies and skills

For example, identifies issues and explores options, plansand develops a project, demonstrates a growing range ofartistic/creative skills, uses appropriate subject-specific skillswith increasing control.

The framework made it possible for me to use a lessdidactic practice of teaching artistic skills and helpedme to focus on what the children could do and how Icould move them on.

Observing the children during the first drama sessionshowed that they had limited control of their move-ments and did not know how to represent the move-ments of animals. Before progressing to improvisation,the children clearly needed more experience of slowand controlled movements, more time to explore andpractise these skills. To encourage this, the actorconcentrated on demonstrating how a tiger, gorillaand penguin moved in a cage. The children’s mimingskills rapidly developed because they were moreinformed and supported. The sessions were videoedand the difference between the first and third sessionswas fascinating: from a riot of noise and movement tocathedral-like silence as children watched each othermove with poise and expression. By giving thechildren strong models, time to develop their skillsand opportunity to reflect on their dramatic inter-pretations, the children’s subsequent improvisationswere of high quality. This strongly echoes the work ofBrice Heath and Wolf (2005, 2007), whose small-scalestudies clearly demonstrate the power of drama as amedium for developing children’s learning.

Subject knowledge and understanding

For example, awareness of different forms, styles, artistic andcultural traditions, creative techniques, uses subject knowl-edge and language with understanding.

The teaching of the arts in their diverse forms can be achallenge, as many primary teachers do not haveformal art training. The project encouraged, thoughdid not depend on, the involvement of arts partners.An artist and actor were involved in three of ourprojects (the Bastet cat sculpture, watercolour paintingand improvisation based on Zoo by Anthony Browne).They did not lead the projects or replace my role as theteacher. Instead they worked alongside, demonstratingand modelling the activities and working with thechildren in small groups.

They impacted on my professional development: I waslearning alongside the children. My vocabulary andexplanations became more specific and explicit; I wasusing the technical language of the subject with greaterconfidence and understanding. Gradually the chil-dren’s talk also become more skilled: they took on thepatterns of talk appropriate to the artistic context,began to use subject-specific language and expressedtheir thinking more clearly and with greater focus.

‘‘I used the sculpting tools, cutting, scooping, smoothingmy statue. Can you see the fibres in the clay? I think it’lldry quickly as it’s warm in here. But if it dries too quickly– it might crack’’ (Lamarna).

Children love to experiment and use ‘big’ words andthe creative forms are full of technical and expressivelanguage. By experiencing the artistic form, thechildren were able to understand the meaning of these‘big’ words and use them purposefully.

‘‘Look how the clay is sucking in the paint. It’s because it’sporous it absorbs the paint . . . Clay can look very realistic.I like painting it [silver] . . . changing it from clay tolooking like metal. It’s good seeing my sculpture develop.This bit’s very delicate . . .’’ (Elisha).

As a teacher, I identified what experience the childrenneeded and planned this with each artist. For example,the children needed to develop their writing, so weplanned an improvisation project to support this. Iwanted the children to explore their own ideas throughdrama before writing. Following this, children’s writ-ing became far more expansive and vivid. It was dramathat supported them in writing more powerfully andconvincingly, from inside the text.’

Reflection and evaluation

For example, responds to and comments on own andothers’ work, responds to artistic/creative experiences,analyses and constructively criticises work, reviews andevaluates own progress.

Literacy Volume 43 Number 1 April 2009 7

r UKLA 2009

Children’s evaluations and reflections on their learn-ing complete the ‘‘circle of learning’’, which theobservation framework maps out and what betterway to assess a child’s confidence, enjoyment, under-standing, etc. than by giving them time to talk abouttheir experience? Time for evaluation and reflectionwas planned in each project and structured in differentways. It included whole class discussions at the end ofa session; group response and feedback after dramaactivities; individual video interviews; children’sannotations of photographs of their sculptures, pic-tures; responses to video clips of drama; small groupconversations and commentary on their portfolios.

At the beginning of the year the children’s reflectionswere limited to responses such as, ‘‘That’s rubbish’’, ‘‘Ilike it’’, or ‘‘It was fun’’, without further explanations.Their views became increasingly informed as theprojects progressed and with regular time given forreflection. For example, children commented duringthe drama project:

Ada ‘‘I would like to be better at improvising theelephants’’.

Ihab ‘‘I thought it was brilliant, fun and exciting’’.Tyrone ‘‘I want to do more of the tiger breaking out of

the zoo’’.Lamarna ‘‘I liked it when everyone was trying their

best, their voices were getting louder andtheir moves were more interesting’’.

Jared ‘‘I liked the other group’s performancebecause it was a lot slower and careful’’.

The children also became more open to constructivecriticism and suggestions from their peers. At thebeginning of the year, many of the children wereunconfident writers, worried about ‘‘getting it wrong’’and sensitive to any comments about their writing.However, by the end of the year they were far moreaccepting of critical feedback.

Before the project, I was aware of the potential andvalue of children’s own reflections in all areas oflearning. However, the many other pressures of thecurriculum and of initiatives for raising standards leftvery little or no time for this. My experience of theseprojects has shown how important children’s reflec-tions are, and the significant impact they have onchildren’s further learning.

Using the portfolios

Selecting work for individual portfolios was revealingbecause of the evaluation children were contributing tothe process, working in small groups or pairs, some-times with an adult. They could see how their workhad developed over time, giving them enormous

satisfaction. They revisited their portfolios, proudlyshowing them to their peers and occasionally toparents, further increasing opportunities to articulatetheir understandings and share their achievements. Asthey became more familiar with portfolios, I noticedthat they would comment on what they could havedone to improve their work:

‘‘I could have made the flames come out more to make itmore dramatic’’ (Elisha talking about his painting).(End of B.L. case study.)

Using the CLA scale

All teachers in the pilot project were asked to placechildren in their class on the 5-point CLA scale at thebeginning and end of the year. The CLA scale providedan explicit view of progress in arts-based subjects andthese recognisable descriptions of learning behaviourhelped to deepen teachers’ understanding of whatconstitutes progress in creative learning and how tosupport children to be creative learners.

‘‘I could see what I was aiming for. It drew my attention tothe different ‘parts’ of creativity. The scale has made memore aware of planning time for reflection, evaluationand commenting on others’ work’’ (Teacher K. S.).

Pilot teachers reported that this informing structurehelped them to become more professionally confident inplanning for rich learning experiences and ensuringprovision for children at different stages of development.

Moderation

The use of the scale to make a judgement of children’sprogress was effective when teachers could draw on arange of evidence of different art forms and learningcontexts. Teachers saw the need for evidence thatilluminates the full range of strands in the scale. Teacherswho had been using e.portfolios (Barrett, 2000; Loveless,2002) collected examples of photographic, audio andvideo material. They regarded evidence of process andproduct as vital for making accurate judgements, andteacher observations were seen as crucial.

‘‘The moderation process was confirming. I felt moreconfident about my judgements afterwards’’ (TeacherN. F.).

Teachers saw the value of the moderation process as achance to share their experience and deepen theirunderstandings of assessment. As developers of theCLA, we were encouraged by the very high level ofagreement during the moderation meetings whichsupported teachers’ professional judgements and con-firmed the validity and value of teacher assessment.

8 The influence of the Creative Learning Assessment

r UKLA 2009

Conclusions

Following analysis of the data from the pilot year(including child observations, teacher interviews andfeedback, steering group and teacher group meetings),project findings clustered around the areas of assess-ment, children’s learning, teachers’ practice, teacherknowledge and curriculum. The evidence illustratedthe reach of this assessment system and its complexand multifaceted nature.

A marked and consistent finding among project teacherswas the quality and sustained nature of children’s talkarising during the project. More opportunities wereprovided for children to talk informally in workshopsessions and they were able to draw on the languagestructures and vocabulary that their teachers wereconsciously modelling, both in whole group and smallgroup contexts. An increasing precision in children’slanguage was a strong feature in the observations. Inaddition to the collaborative workshop contexts, therewere also planned opportunities for children to reflecton their learning throughout the creative process and anemphasis on making explicit their ideas and emotionalresponses through talk. Revised approaches to curricu-lum planning prompted by the CLA meant childrenwere given more time to work on projects whichextended beyond the normal timetabled sessions in aday, beyond the short span of a week or two and beyonddiscrete subject areas. This enabled children to makeconnections in their learning and to develop expertise inthe area. They had something to say and the time andopportunity to share it.

From our observations and conversations with tea-chers it was evident that the CLA had a distinct effecton pedagogy, which moved from a more didactic,delivered curriculum to one that was negotiated andcollaborative. One effect for children was that talkexpanded significantly. One effect for teachers was thatthey became more aware of children as learners. Withthe introduction of the National Curriculum andNational Primary Strategy, the focus for many teachershad been on curriculum delivery. Through the use ofthe CLA, teachers’ attention was directed at the learnerand the learner’s response to the teaching. Thisenabled teachers to be more reflective of their roleand pedagogy, and helped them to fine-tune theirpractice to support individual learners. Teachers foundthis to be a more professionally rewarding stance totake. By ‘‘really getting to know the children’’ and witha greater understanding of learning, they could bemore creative and effective in providing support.

The cross-curricular possibilities of the CLA werestrongly signalled by teachers in the project. Focusingon creative approaches to learning enabled teachers tosee the links with the rest of children’s learning: risk-taking, making choices, reflection and persistencetransfer across subjects. Teachers’ observations de-monstrated that children need time and a more

integrated curriculum to make the important connec-tions necessary for real learning progress.

The focus on creative learning also showed that creativecontexts empower children who are not shown as‘achieving’ in academic subjects or through currenttesting systems. By recognising children’s strengths increative contexts, teachers were able to build children’sconfidence and success in other curriculum areas.Writing was found to be a key area of improvementfor children, supported by the expansion of talk and thesymbolisation of meaning using different artistic forms.

A key strand for children and teachers was the focus onreflection and evaluation, including children’s self-assessment and peer assessment. ‘Reflective time’,often supported by portfolios, encouraged children toreview their own learning and to deepen it. Teacherssaw it as an important way for children to articulatetheir understandings of the learning process and tobecome more independent as learners. They wereconvinced that regular time for reflection needed to bebuilt into both the primary and secondary curriculum.

As an assessment tool, teachers found the CLA bothmanageable and informative. They could make sam-pling work. By focusing on a few children, it informedtheir observation of all children and fed directly intotheir planning. Teachers were able to quickly internalisethe criteria, the strands and the prompts, for observation.

Furthermore, the viability of the CLA as an assessmentmodel was confirmed by the moderation processwhere there was an extremely high level of agreementin teacher judgement. Although regarded as a difficultarea to define and pin down (Craft, 2005; Craft,et al.2005), the moderation process showed that teachersrecognised the elements of creativity in the CLA, andwere able to use these to observe, assess and developcreative learning.

Our experience of creating, trialling and piloting theCLA, in partnership with teachers, has enabled us tosee its applications as a practical tool for teacherassessment, for professional development and forpromoting achievement. In developing an assessmentframework of this kind, we have attempted to giverecognition to the complex, dynamic and creativenature of learning and teaching.

References

ALEXANDER, R.J. (2006) Towards Dialogic Thinking: RethinkingClassroom Talk, 3rd edn. York: Dialogos.

BARRETT, H. (2000) The REFLECT Initiative: Researching ElectronicPortfolios and Learner Engagement. Winter/Spring. http://electro-nicportfolios.org/reflect/index.html

BARRS, M., ELLIS, S., HESTER H., and THOMAS A., (1988) ThePrimary Language Record Handbook for Teachers. London: Centre forLanguage in Primary Education.

BARRS, M., ELLIS, S., HESTER H., and THOMAS A., (1990) Patternsof Learning. London: Centre for Language in Primary Education.

Literacy Volume 43 Number 1 April 2009 9

r UKLA 2009

BLACK, P., HARRISON, C., MARSHALL, B. and WILIAM, D. (2004)Assessment for Learning – Putting it into Practice. Maidenhead: OpenUniversity Press.

BRICE HEATH, S. and, WOLF, S. (2005) Dramatic Learning in thePrimary School. Durham: Creative Partnerships.

BROWNE, A. (2002) Zoo. London: Red Fox.CAUSLEY, C. (1996) Going to the Fair, Selected Poems for Children.

London: Puffin Books.CHAMBERS, A. (1995) Tell Me, Reading and Talk. Thimble Press.CRAFT, A. (2005) Creativity in Schools. Tensions and Dilemmas.

Abingdon: Routledge.Department for Culture, Media and Sport (2002) Creative Partnerships

Mission Statement. London: DCMS.DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION AND SCIENCE. (2003)

Excellence and Enjoyment: A Strategy for Primary Schools. London:DfES.

EISNER, E. (2000) The Arts and the Creation of Mind. New Haven, CT:Yale University Press.

S. ELLIS and K. SAFFORD (eds) (2005) Animating Literacy. London:Centre for Literacy in Primary Education.

LOVELESS, A. (2002) Literature Review in Creativity, Technology andLearning. Brighton University, Brighton, http://www.futurelab.org.uk/research/reviews/cr01.htm.

NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON CREATIVE AND CUL-TURAL EDUCATION (NACCE) (1999) All Our Futures: Creativity,Culture and Education. London: DfEE.

OFSTED (2003) Expecting the Unexpected: Developing Creativity inPrimary and Secondary Schools. London: Ofsted.

QUALIFICATIONS AND CURRICULUM AUTHORITY (2000) TheNational Curriculum for England. London: QCA.

SAFFORD, K. and, BARRS M. (2006) Many Routes to Meaning.London: Centre for Literacy in Primary Education.

SCHON, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San Francisco:Jossey–Bass Publishers.

WOLF, S. (2006) A Playwright’s Life for Me!. Durham/Sunderland.

CONTACT THE AUTHORSCentre for Literacy in Primary EducationWebber St., London SE1 8QW, UK.www.clpe.co.uke-mail: sue@clpe.co.ukb.lawrence@hillmead.lambeth.sch.uk

10 The influence of the Creative Learning Assessment

r UKLA 2009