World Poetry Day, growing creativity (1)

 It was World Poetry Day last Monday. I had floated several ideas around about how we might celebrate, how we might leverage off the day for the benefit of our learners. I'd suggested a poetry 'smack down' featuring the 'new to the scene' wannabe 'Sutdog' taking on the well established 'Mr A' in a verbal duel on the outdoor stage, or posting huge printed versions of poems all around the campus to .. well, a few ideas ran riot. 

We were less ambitious than that in the finish. We published some poetry on our digital notice boards, and our wonderful prefects created a 'poe-tree' in each kāhui, with students writing poems on 'leaves' that will be used to assemble the trees.  The response form our students has been awesome. What I didn't pick up on was the natural energy that also took over, with quite a few staff getting our learners to do some poetry writing.

I've seen some wonderful work as a result. THE most outstanding amongst a lot of very cool pieces was this written by Alazae in Year 10.

This is truly outstanding. I called him out of class to congratulate him, and called his caregiver while he was sitting next to me to tell her about this wonderful work. Alazae is, in the words of his wānanga advisor Whāea Chris (one of our English teaching team), a natural lyricist. I love the poem not only for what it is, but also because in writing this Alazae breaks (actually smashes) some awful systemic stereotypes in our schooling system.

And there was this, from Rheanne in Year 9:

Cherry Blossom,

Elegant, Graceful

Floating, Falling, Fluttering

Flourishing in Beauty

Fleeting Nature of Life

- Rheanne (Year 9)

This is a 'cinquin', a poetic form I've never heard of. Beautiful!!!

Apart from expressing my excitement at what I have seen this week, what's my point?

When you have a unifying vision of what we want to be, when you chose a 'big hairy audacious goal ' (as globally renowned educator Ewan McGregor says), when you are ambitious enough to dream big, it is amazing what you get. This is what it takes to capture the imagination, the energy, the drive, of a team of people.

Our Te Huruhuru Ao o Horomaka Hornby High School vision is: 

'he puna auaha a centre of creative excellence'

This is one hell of a 'big hairy audacious goal' (a BHAG). It is an aspiration, a desired future state that we may never achievement in its completeness. That's not the point. It is as I have said before our guiding star in the heavens. It is to us what those stars were to those brave brave Polynesian navigators who set off across a vast ocean not knowing what lay ahead, but firm in their faith that if they followed those stars there were new things to be discovered. Their courage, their perseverance, paid off for them, and this poetry writing is an example of our own courage and persistence paying off for us.

It is also the advantage of having a coherent and consistent pedagogy with creativity at its centre, in 'Learn Create Share', and The Manaiakalani Programme kaupapa. 

Professor Peter O'Connor and his team at Auckland University have long promoted the benefits of creativity in learning and wellbeing for all. The gains in confidence as learners, the gains in literacy, in inspiration, in self belief, may not be readily measured in tests, but I'm damned sure Alazae was 10cm taller as he walked back into class yesterday.