Across the world, schools increasingly want to develop the ability of their pupils to think creatively. But, with so many competing pressures this creates many challenges for school leaders. This practical and interactive playbook, underpinned by research and analysis of practice in hundreds of schools across the world, provides leaders with everything they need for the professional development and learning of their colleagues to be able to embed creativity in every aspect of their school’s life.
Written by an internationally renowned team of thought-leaders, researchers and facilitators, and taking inspiration from programmes including Arts Council of Wales’s Creative Learning Through the Arts – a programme that focuses on developing creativity and creative approaches to teaching and learning across the curriculum, Creative Thinking in Schools: A Leadership Playbook is a practical guide that draws together understanding about school leadership with a deep experience of cultivating creative thinking in all aspects of school life and promoting creative learning habits in the classroom.
Complemented by a dedicated website which contains additional downloadable materials and case studies, the playbook will allow leaders and teachers around the world to connect with each other and share their own experiences to develop, spread, extend and evaluate creative thinking within and across schools.
Creative Thinking in Schools will support a professional learning community of leaders and teachers who see creative thinking as a core purpose of education and are interested in making it a priority in their school. It will encourage pupils to develop their creativity in the classroom, allowing future generations to thrive in a world that is increasingly complex.
Creative Thinking in Schools: A Leadership Playbook has been supported by the Mercers Company, Creativity, Culture and Education and the Arts Council of Wales.
Click here for more information: www.leadingforcreativethinking.org
About the authors
Prof Bill Lucas is Professor of Learning and Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester. A prolific researcher, writer and educational thought-leader, Bill is co-founder of Rethinking Assessment and chair of the Global Institute of Creative Thinking’s advisory board. Bill co-chaired the PISA 2022 Test of Creative Thinking, co-authored the recent Durham Commission Report on Creativity and Education and curates the Creativity Exchange for Arts Council England. With Ellen Spencer and Louise Stoll, Bill is the co-author of many books and reports.
Dr Ellen Spencer is Senior Researcher at the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester, where she has spent over a decade researching creativity and creative leadership. Her work combines empirical research and conceptual development with a strongly practical focus aimed at advancing practice in the classroom. With Bill she is the author of many books and reports.
Prof Louise Stoll is Professor of Professional Learning at the UCL Centre for Educational Leadership, IOE, and an international consultant. Her R&D activity focuses on creating capacity for learning, including creative leadership projects. She is a regular OECD expert, including to its Schools as Learning Organisations, Innovative Learning Environments and Improving School Leadership initiatives. Among her many publications, Louise enjoys developing research-informed professional learning materials. She is an Associate of CRL and CCE, as academic collaborator, critical friend and learning facilitator.
Di Fisher-Naylor is the Director of Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE) the UK based international creative learning foundation. She is a specialist in programme design, implementation and quality assurance and in professional learning for school leaders, teachers and creative professionals. Di has supported creative learning programmes across the world. Di dropped out of school early and is passionate about bringing high quality creative learning experiences to children from disadvantaged communities.
Nia Richards has been supporting professional learning in creativity since 2015, firstly, as Regional Lead for a national programme in Wales and currently as Programme Manager for Creativity, Culture and Education. She was a classroom teacher for 13 years in secondary and further education and she has an MA in Practitioner Research.
Sian James manages a national Creative learning programme with the Arts Council of Wales and has supported over 700 schools and their teachers to explore innovative pedagogy and prepare for the introduction of a new expansive curriculum. Having gained her Master at Trinity College; Sian started out as a television researcher and went on to spend over a decade working within Communications for the Arts and Heritage sector in Wales. Sian is passionate about the arts, and the sector’s positive engagement with education.
Katy Milne was approached directly by TED prize winner Professor Sugata Mitra to create and develop one of the original seven “School in the Cloud” labs where she worked directly with over 14,000 educators internationally. Katy was previously Director of Arts and Creativity at Greenfield Arts for 16 years where she led an arts organisation and arts centre facility and co-created creative opportunities across educational and wider community settings across North-East England.