Creativity for the future

By Lindy Braithwaite – Assistant Principal, Curriculum

My children’s favourite picture book was Henry and Amy. As with another favourite, Giraffes Can’t Dance, we loved the pure joy of being free to express yourself in imaginative ways and reinforcing that everyone has the ability to be creative.

Taking the time to switch off, daydream and grow our creativity is something that experts are arguing we need to do more of to have a better world. Along with the wakeup call on wellbeing and balance, we are beginning to realise the importance of creativity as a skill.

Studies have shown creativity is the single-most important skill for leaders, and the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs report rates it in the top ten skills for 2025. In an era of skills shortages, (creativity) ‘was the number-one skillset demanded two years in a row by the 20 million job ads on LinkedIn, which labelled it “the most important skill in the world”.’(Anatolitis, E., 2022) Also now in the mix with the omnipresent ‘agile’ are new terms like ‘cognitive flexibility’, with both closely linked to creativity.

So, there is an urgency and an obligation to provide the time and opportunity in our education of a young person to foster creativity. At Radford we are doing this by offering a wide range of courses across Design and Technology, Creative and Performing Arts and supplementing them with a series of bespoke programs that immerse students in a variety of contexts, to stimulate and develop creativity. Year 8 students are currently studying Cre8 and Innov8, and later this semester we will see a variety of other programs for students across Years 7 to 10 with similar learning goals, such as:

Year 7 Challenge week
The Year 7 Challenge week explores three key ideas:

• Our impact on the environment
• Our impact on others
• Our impact on ourselves.

During the week, students will complete a number of activities that combine learning with collaboration and critical thinking. The students will spend a day with their writer-in-residence, exploring the different ways writing can impact others. They will also learn and reinforce self-regulation strategies, whilst monitoring their waste and impact on the environment. Finally, students will visit the Deep Space Centre, and work collaboratively on a challenge linked to space.

Rel8 Learning
The Rel8 Learning week allows Year 8 students to create projects and tasks that combine skills and knowledge from multiple subjects. The students will spend two days working on their Innov8 and Cre8 projects linked to Design and Technology, Creative Arts and Performing Arts. The intensive days will support the students to learn about how to be in flow, whilst creating larger projects. The students will also compare world religions, with an excursion connected to the RaVE program. We are also excited to introduce the students to learning about learning, focusing on memory and strategies to improve learning.

Say 'yes' to creative subjects
We appreciate and ask for your support to value and foster creativity in our students, particularly when it comes to their subject selection. We are saddened to hear students describe that they have chosen not to study a subject they enjoy because they have heard it doesn’t ‘scale well’. While this is fundamentally untrue in both the ACT Senior Secondary Certificate and IBDP programs, it also denies them the more explicit opportunities to improve their capacities in at least five skills of those listed in the World Economic Top 10, below.

What is more, research indicates that involvement in creative fields reaps academic success in all subjects. Not only do the Arts – with a broad interpretation (Design, Music, Art, Theatre, Literature and so on) – improve the quality of life for many, for example after events like last weekend’s superb Evening of Fine Music, the skills they nurture in innovation, flexibility and collaboration are game-changers for us all.

Approaches to Learning (Interim Reports) – Secondary
Students have been asked to self-reflect, and set goals regarding their self-regulation skills and attitudes, and they have followed this up with conversations with each of their teachers and mentors. You can now view these in Nexus. Please be aware that the audience for any comments in this space is the student, giving them agency to develop their capacity.

View instructions on how to access these.

Parent Student Teacher Conversations – Secondary
These will be held online through Microsoft Teams. See more information here.

A reminder that students are expected to attend these, and their Approaches to Learning should be a focus.

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References:
Anatolitis, E., 2022. Creative skills will be crucial to the future of work. They should take centre stage at the jobs summit. [online] The Conversation.
Available at: <https://theconversation.com/creative-skills-will-be-crucial-to-the-future-of-work-they-should-take-centre-stage-at-the-jobs-summit-189680> [Accessed 2 September 2022].

Masterson, V., 2022. Want to boost your creativity? Switch off your smartphone and let your mind wander, say scientists. [online] World Economic Forum.
Available at: <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/08/free-thinking-boosts-creativity/> ; [Accessed 2 September 2022].

Sahakian, B., Langley, C. and Leong, V., 2022. Why is cognitive flexibility important and how can you improve it?. [online] World Economic Forum.
Available at: <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/cognitive-flexibility-thinking-iq-intelligence/>; [Accessed 5 September 2022].

Zahidi, S., 2022. The Jobs of Tomorrow. [Blog] IMF Blog - Insights and Analysis on Economics and Finance,
Available at: <https://blogs.imf.org/2021/01/07/the-jobs-of-tomorrow/>; [Accessed 2 September 2022].