Context:
This Year 8 class at Joseph Banks was a bubbly, fun-loving group of students, generally not very academically focused, and there were a number of students with erratic attendance. Their teacher Tom was already including some creative ideas in his teaching but was keen to learn more.
Project overview
In Term 2, we focused on FIFO (Fly In, Fly Out) work on minesites, which was part of the science curriculum, and a viable future career option for many of these students. Using their research and brainstorming, we approached current FIFO workers to answer video-recorded questions the students had about what FIFO working life is really like and we found TikTok FIFO influencers who sent back video replies.
In Term 3, our focus was natural disasters, and had two main projects. We learnt more about plate tectonics and continental drift by having students create new worlds in which the continents have continued to move, and consider the impact of these moves. Our final project involved building physical volcanoes, writing creative but scientifically based tales about their creation, and creating eruptions as our finale.
How did we make the curriculum come alive?
Using the enthusiasm of FIFO workers on TikTok, the curriculum came literally to life when they recorded answers to our students’ questions about life on a minesite. For our natural disasters projects we referred back to real-life examples frequently and the hands-on nature of constructing new worlds and volcanoes helped make the science concepts really come to life in front of them.
How did we make the 5 Habits of Learning come alive?
These students were initially reluctant to collaborate, but with our group-based projects that would be too much for an individual, we gradually engaged them more in working together and this improved dramatically over the projects. They were also unaccustomed to using their imagination in science class but through numerous warm ups we made being imaginative normal, which really showed in their final project ideas.
How did we activate student voice and learner agency?
Our FIFO project was very much focused on student voice. We predicted, correctly, that they would be very keen to ask real questions of real FIFO employees, and they were thrilled to see that they could actually get answers to their questions from real people – this gave them such a great opportunity to use their voice. We also gave them increasing levels of choice in how they completed the natural disasters projects.
How did you develop creative and critical thinking skills in the students?
These students were initially fairly accepting of whatever information was in front of them, or to just go with their first thought, but when we started learning from “real” people in the FIFO project, they were able to respond with better questions and deeper thinking. Their creative and critical thinking also came up with the histories they invented for their volcanoes, with many able to make links between real science facts and their creative fantasies.
How did you link your project to the UN Sustainability goals?
We discussed issues of Goals 9 and 15 in our FIFO project when covering the sustainable rehabilitation of minesites when projects were finished. It was also of note that our FIFO mining workers were all women (a surprise to the students) which helped promote Goal 5, gender equality.
WHAT WAS THE IMPACT?
Students: Students shifted from expecting to simply consume curriculum information to being eager to engage with hands-on projects incorporating the knowledge and concepts they need to know.
Teacher: Tom, already willing to be creative in his approach, shifted significantly across the two terms in his ability to come up with new ideas of his own and apply them in the classroom – if the ultimate goal of Creative Schools is in a way, to make the Creative Practitioner redundant, Tom did this! I’ve never been more confident that a teacher will continue to teach in a new way than after my terms with Tom.
Creative: I was thrilled to see the impact of using real world learning in these projects. In particular, the excitement from the students when our FIFO influencers sent their video replies was wonderful, and their answers also provoked such excellent and thoughtful conversation amongst the students.
School: School leadership was already supportive of the Creative Schools philosophy but I think our projects helped them have even more concrete evidence of the positive impacts.
Quotes and Photos
“Creative Schools has been amazing because I can really see the growing interest from the students—not just in engaging with the tasks, but also in their growing rapport with Amanda. The Creative Schools sessions have become the ones they most look forward to, which shows that their engagement is increasing. They’re getting the learning done while enjoying it in their own creative way, which is so great to see … In terms of creativity and critical thinking, I’ve noticed that the students are becoming more collaborative and open to working together. That’s probably a shift from my usual teaching style, which leans more towards independent tasks. Now, I can see them growing in confidence, branching out, and becoming more willing to take creative risks together.” (Tom Koh, Teacher)
“These projects felt really effective in taking the students on a journey to enjoy learning more. Their ability to work in groups together improved dramatically throughout, as did their willingness to take on tasks that were not as clearly defined as “right or wrong” book work. I was really impressed in the final few weeks that they were getting much better at linking the creative projects with the language, facts and concepts of their science curriculum, too. Working with Tom was so easy – he is a creative thinker who embraces a challenge and our collaboration was very much fifty-fifty, and I’m confident he will continue to approach his future teaching with a more creative approach.” (Amanda Kendle, Creative Practitioner)
“Every lesson is creative, and we link it to our science work. It’s less stressful than normal science lessons—we get to have fun while learning. Creative Schools is more creative, with more group work. It’s helped me get to know people better. [My classmates] have become more collaborative and confident working with others.
Getting better at: Working with different people and being more creative with my ideas.
What’s hard is: It relies more on us. We have to think more for ourselves.” (Student)
“I can already see a difference — in terms of student outcomes, both teachers said students are engaging a lot more in class. So yes, I’m really happy — very happy — with the outcomes for both staff and students.” (Vanessa Scott, Deputy Principal)
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