The 'point of curiosity'

One of the many privileges I have in my life is the opportunity to work with amazing people on radical ideas. I have great thinkers and practitioners that I get to work with daily in our kura. Another great group is the trustees for Ako Ōtautahi - Learning City Christchurch. I am not a trustee, but I was invited to bring a secondary school perspective and voice to their mahi. Recently I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon working alongside them as they stepped back to consider their longer term strategy and goals. Leading the work was facilitator Sean, and the question (in my head, anyway) was what is a learning city, what does it look, sound, feel like, and how do we get there? What are the Trust's next steps?

During the course of discussion of one trustee's ideas, Sean used a phrase that has stuck in my head. He talked about the 'point of curiosity'. He did not mean point as in 'purpose', but rather point as in time. The phrase and the idea have sat in my head since then. Just sat. Lurking! Loitering! The word came up as something as a possible synonym for learning, or at least a metaphor, or possible a precondition for learning, something that might support the journey of Ōtautahi towards being that learning city.

https://pix4free.org/photo/14138/curiosity.html

Then yesterday I had the opportunity to unpack the data for our kura and our kāhui ako from the Creative Schools Index. The index uses 11 dimensions that the development team have established can contribute to a creative environment in schools. One of the 11 dimensions is ..... CURIOSITY!!!

Our own data shows that, as a secondary school, we possibly maintain levels of curiosity better than the average secondary school. A big question (THE BIG question?) is why. I've recorded some thinking around that here. Maybe we have found ways to identify that 'point of curiosity', much as good teachers can identify what we call 'teachable moments? 

An even bigger question is, what happens if you nurture, support, and sustain curiosity across an entire city? An even bigger question in my head is, what happens if we are deliberate and intentional about nurturing the 11 dimensions of the Creative Schools Index across a city?

The CAST team research indicates that nurturing and growing creativity in schools supports wellbeing and academic outcomes. Could it do the equivalent across a city?

• How do you identify 'points of curiosity' in a city context?
• Is a better focus for that the idea that we deliberately and intentionally create 'points of curiosity' across a city?
• Is this a way of addressing inequity in the ways in which we create those points of curiosity in different parts of a city that target those most likely to suffer from. those inequities?
• What could that look like?
• Who does it?
• How do they do that?

Who needs to step up and provide leadership in this mahi?  I think I may have just tried to 'boil the ocean'.

Celebrating increasing levels of creativity: the evidence

 It's not that I am obsessed with creativity in schools, you understand. Well, not much. Well I wasn't 20 years ago. Okay so maybe I am just a bit, now. That explains our Hornby High School vision is 'a centre of creative excellence, he puna auaha' .. sort of.

Why? I've written about this before, but my belief system leads me to the conclusion that with advancing technology it is more important than ever that, in schools,  we focus on what makes us human, and I believe that one attribute that makes us human is our inherent creativity. There is also good evidence that engaging in creative activity and thinking at school supports student wellbeing and improved academic outcomes ('Replanting creativity during post normal times', Professor Peter O’Connor, Director, Centre for Arts and Social Transformation, Professor Michael Anderson, Associate Professors Kelly Freebody and Paul Ginns, The University of Sydney, October 2020). 

We've been at this 'creativity thing' since 2017, when our vision was adopted by our Board in a move that in my opinion was visionary, and one that showed great faith. Those Board members were prepared to adopt what Euan McIntosh calls a 'BHAG', a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. It aligned perfectly with our work in adopting the Manaiakalani kaupapa, and the 'learn create share' pedagogy. I've written a lot about what creativity might look like, and what it does look like, in our setting. That all begs the question 'how are we doing'?

When I was made aware of the Creative Schools Index tool, I couldn't help myself, and convinced four other schools in our Uru Mānuka kāhui ako to join us in getting students to complete the survey tool. We saw the results some months ago, but only today managed to meet online with Professor O'Connor unpack the results.

Here is something of a summary. As a group of schools our data showed the conditions required for creativity, as assessed by our students, to be well ahead of schools generally in the overall sample (something like 100 schools, so not an insignificant sample size).

In secondary schools generally the levels of 'creativity' drop off dramatically. This drop-off begins in Year 7, and becomes pronounced from Year 9 onwards. I have no problem sharing our own overall data. Bearing in mind that at this stage the comparison is with all schools in the sample, mostly primary schools, our scores are just slightly below the 'average' (technically not the correct word, but you see what I mean). 

Year 9-13 students

Year 7 &b 8 students

Why is this exciting?

For Hornby High School, here is the 'kicker', as they say. Hornby High School did not follow that trend. There is NO profound drop that mirrors the data from secondary schools generally. The data does show students as rating their learning experience at Hornby High School as slightly lower than the sample overall against the 11 dimensions. This might be attributable to the ways in which we still, to some degree at least, separate out subjects, and the way we tend to focus more and more on 'the right answers' rather than thinking creatively as students head into their NCEA years. 

Here are the conclusions from the 2020 paper on creativity in schools:

In summary the data reveals:

• •New Zealand schools do not actively foster or encourage creative environments to support student learning.
• •Student perceptions of their school’s creative environment meaningfully declines across time.

• The frequency of opportunities to be curious declines throughout schooling.
• Children are less likely to take risks with their learning as they get older.
• By the end of secondary schooling the physical environments of schools become less creative.
• Children in schools have little time to be playful with ideas or to engage in
• imaginative processes.
• Learning increasingly becomes discipline siloed with decreasing opportunities tothink and work across knowledge boundaries.

• A correlation exists between student perceptions of creativity, enjoyment and learning.

• There are some meaningful differences between school’s creative environments.

• There appears to be some meaningful differences between teachers in schools using

  creative pedagogies impacting on enjoyment and participation levels.

As a Principal, I'm hardwired to speculate on why we see this result. Bearing in mind the likelihood of confirmation bias on my part, my speculation includes these thoughts:

• We have clarity of vision
• The vision is articulated often
• The vision is clearly encompassed in our pedagogy which itself is clearly articulated
• We spend time and money building our staff capability in understanding and enacting the pedagogy
• \We value and support risk taking
• Staff often model risk taking (and the concomitant vulnerability) in their work, and their actions
• As a kura we showcase and celebrate achievement and creativity, often
• We work hard to build human relationships with students
• Student culture is embraced and celebrated

 I could go on, but you get the idea.

This is something to be celebrated. I interpret this to mean that our collective work at Te Huruhuru Ao o Horomaka is indeed taking us in the right direction, we are indeed steering a course towards 'a centre of creative excellence'. Our staff team is 'on board', they are committed, they understand the coherence and consistency in what we are doing. 

In a word, they are 'awesome'. I am proud to be a part of the team!!!!!