Challenging primary trainees’ views of creativity in the curriculum through a school-based directed task

This article draws upon preliminary findings from research undertaken as part of the ‘Creative Teachers for Creative Learners’ project, funded by a Research and Development Award from the Teacher Training Agency. The project, run jointly by Bath Spa University College, Goldsmiths’ University of London and Manchester Metropolitan University, aims to support the development of primary trainees teachers’ understanding of – and teaching for - children’s creativity in science and other curriculum areas by producing an interactive bank of teaching and learning materials set within a virtual learning environment (VLE). As an initial stage in the development of these materials, the school-based directed task at Bath Spa aimed to explore primary trainees’ preconceptions of creativity within the subjects of the primary curriculum, and to challenge these notions through observations in school of actual lessons. The theoretical framework for this was adapted from Harrington’s ‘creative ecosystem’ (1990).