Celebrating Creativity in Geography

Keith GrimwadeHead of Cambridgeshire LA Advisory Service,

Senior Vice President, Geographical Association

Creative geography

• What does it look like?

• How can we teach it?

• How can pupils learn creatively?

What do we mean by ‘creativity’?

‘It is a pity that the notion of ‘creativity’ in education has to be fought for... Thinking up fresh ideas is what teachers are paid for.’ Ted Wragg

Teaching should be creative...

What do we mean by creativity?

... ... but is it? We know from HMI reports that there is a lot of creative geography being taught but that there’s a lot of humdrum, unimaginative geography being taught, as well.

So a few ideas to help ensure creativity in geography can’t do any harm.

What do we mean by creativity?

‘Imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are both original and of value.’

All Our Futures, 1999

Let’s apply this to geography.

What does it look like?

• geographical enquiry is tackled in innovative ways

• connections are made within and beyond the subject

• pupils explore and present their own personal meanings

• pupils appreciate how language and media can change meanings and messages

• big ideas are applied or reconceptualised

(source: QCA, 2001)

How can we make this happen?

• Two examples:– Creative activity

• geography, art and design

– Creative planning• long, medium and short term

How can we teach it?

STIMULUS

RESPONSE

ACTIVITY

AUDIENCE

DEBRIEF

imagination

activity

purpose

outcome

based on ideas first shown to me by Chris Durbin

Activity

• Plan a lesson, or sequence of lessons, for one of these ‘bog standard’ geographical topics:– your school’s local area– the physical features of rivers– population change– the effects on the environment of using a

resource

Your contact

Keith Grimwade, Head of Cambridgeshire LA Advisory Service, Huntingdon PDC, Princes Street, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE29 3PP. Tel: 01480 375879. Email: keith.grimwade@cambridgeshire.gov.uk