Celebrating Creativity in Geography

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Celebrating Creativity in Geography Keith
Grimwade Head of Cambridgeshire LA Advisory
Service, Senior Vice President, Geographical
Association
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Creative geography

• What does it look like?
• How can we teach it?
• How can pupils learn creatively?

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What do we mean by creativity?

• It is a pity that the notion of creativity in
  education has to be fought for... Thinking up
  fresh ideas is what teachers are paid for. Ted
  Wragg
• Teaching should be creative...

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What do we mean by creativity?

• ... ... but is it? We know from HMI reports that
  there is a lot of creative geography being taught
  but that theres a lot of humdrum, unimaginative
  geography being taught, as well.
• So a few ideas to help ensure creativity in
  geography cant do any harm.

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What do we mean by creativity?

• Imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce
  outcomes that are both original and of value.
• All Our Futures, 1999
• Lets apply this to geography.

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What does it look like?

• geographical enquiry is tackled in innovative
  ways
• connections are made within and beyond the
  subject
• pupils explore and present their own personal
  meanings
• pupils appreciate how language and media can
  change meanings and messages
• big ideas are applied or reconceptualised
• (source QCA, 2001)

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How can we make this happen?

• Two examples
• Creative activity
• geography, art and design
• Creative planning
• long, medium and short term

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How can we teach it?
imagination
outcome
activity
purpose
based on ideas first shown to me by Chris Durbin
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Activity

• Plan a lesson, or sequence of lessons, for one of
  these bog standard geographical topics
• your schools local area
• the physical features of rivers
• population change
• the effects on the environment of using a resource

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Your contact

• Keith Grimwade, Head of Cambridgeshire LA
  Advisory Service, Huntingdon PDC, Princes Street,
  Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE29 3PP. Tel 01480
  375879. Email keith.grimwade_at_cambridgeshire.gov.u
  k