In his excellent book Out Of Our Minds: Learning To Be Creative, author, speaker, and creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson shares his thought on creating a culture of creativity.
Sir Ken says about culture, “At the heart of the social definitions of culture as a concept of values: the ideas, beliefs and attitudes that a group considers important and which hold it together as a group.”
Sir Ken offers this definition of culture, “…the shared values and patterns of behavior that characterise different social groups and communities.”
The values of Education Innovation and Professional Networked Learning Collaborative is called ICE3
Imagination Innovation Inquiry
Collaboration Creativity Curiosity
Exploration Experimentation Entrepreneurship
I believe that creativity is an essential value for PNLC, PLC, and educational organizations.
Sir Ken says there are 5 themes in a culture of creativity
Creativity is not purely a personal process
Nobody can know everything. The power of Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives, PLCs, grade level or subject level teams is that more knowledge can be brought to the table. Each of us knows a relatively small amount compared to how much all of us know. The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative interlocks the individual networks of individual members to create a larger network of knowledge.
If the school or district is to have a culture that values creativity, these networks need to be easily developed and easily accessed. The creativity of the culture relies on open networks.
Creativity is a dynamic process and can involve many different areas of expertise
So much educational research is continually emerging; it is nearly impossible for the individual educator to stay on top of it all, unless that is all they do. Education technology is changing so rapidly, that it takes specialists to stay up to date with it all.
Specialization is the inevitable result. We can only know so many things, so it is natural that we tend to focus in on a few. That may not be ideal or it may be, but Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives can use the specialized knowledge of each member to be creative in increasing student achievement.
Creativity is incremental
Teams should not expect to have a “eureka” moments each time they meet. But what they can do is build on ideas each and every time. Ideas can be re-mixed, re-purposed, substituted, combined, adapted, eliminated, or rearranged. Let creativity build.
Cultural change is not linear and smooth
One thing that teams, individual educators, and educational managers should realize is that cultures of creativity are developed along some research based predetermined path. Creative cultures are developed over time through small successes and a repeated emphasis on the belief that all can be creative and that all should value creativity.
Cultural change is not strictly logical
You never know when the situation will be right or the conditions will exist for creativity to exist. But, I reject that idea. I believe we must constantly be aware of the potential to be creative and create conditions, create a culture that seeks creativity in all we do. The work we do, the people we work with, and the ideas we work with are constant sources of creativity. A culture of creativity recognizes this fact and is constantly on the look out for creative ideas. A culture of creativity seeks to create the conditions the will make teams creative.
Culture = Values at work. Make creativity a value and change the culture of your schools.
See also:
Cultures of Change: The Power of Values and Time
The "Killer App"- Professional Networked Learning Collaboratives
Leveraging The “Networked” Teacher: The Professional Networked Learning Collaborative
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