Partnership

Theory to Practice: CCE’s role in pioneering the understanding and development of creativity in schools

CCE is a UK-based charity, supporting education systems to understand and apply creativity in learning since 2008.  Since then, CCE has worked with over 200,000 educators and school leaders and 2,000,000 children and young people in 23 countries. Currently, CCE is working with system, school and teacher leaders to embed creativity sustainably in the UK and beyond.   

Process

CCE commissioned relevant research with the intention of finding practical and meaningful ways of using it in primary and secondary schools to build the capacity of educators and school leaders, develop resources to embed creative thinking within schools, networks and across the educational system. 

Location

CCE is a UK-based charity, supporting education systems to understand and apply creativity in learning since 2008.  Since then, CCE has worked with over 200,000 educators and school leaders and 2,000,000 children and young people in 23 countries. Currently, CCE is working with system, school and teacher leaders to embed creativity sustainably in the UK and beyond.  

Partners

CCE commissioned research from:

5 habits of learning on whiteboard

Creative Partnerships: where our journey began.

CCE was responsible for delivering the UK Governments flagship creativity programme, Creative Partnerships. The programme was launched in 2002, and between 2008 and 2011 it worked in almost 4,000 schools (22% of all schools in England). 

The scale and impact of the programme, evidenced through extensive research and evaluation, has attracted considerable international attention.  CCE has generated an unparalleled library of research, commissioning most of the major university and research agencies in the UK to investigate the impact of different aspects of the Creative Partnerships programme.

This has given CCE a highly developed expertise in the commissioning and managing of research and considerable authority within educational research. 
 

red coloured paper on the floor with the word inquisition

‘CCE’s research has been instrumental in helping us to co-design the Creative Schools Programme across Western Australia. We are proud to have supported 10% of all primary and secondary schools across the state’ 

Theory to Practice

The aims of our commitment to research are:

  • To build an evidence base for the value and impact of creativity in the learning of young people
    •    To achieve this we commission targeted research from leading academics and consultants. Our studies over a range of themes, some process focused, others with a view to demonstrating outcomes
    •    We are interested in exploring the ways creative approaches within education can effect lasting change within the educational system.
  • To inform future policy and practice
    •    We want to ensure that the best of CCE’s practice is extended and can be sustained. For this reason our research outputs are tailored for a range of audiences and purposes – from summary reports to government through to professional learning resources for teachers.
  • To build networks of educators, school and system leaders, academics and thinkers with a focus on creativity in education
    •    We commission literature reviews that help synthesise diverse academic disciplines and host events and roundtables that provoke debate and build new networks. The literature reviews help to offer a means of navigating through complex academic fields and serve as ‘ways in’ to theorising practice for those delivering creative education programmes on the ground.

Global Context

Creativity is an established field of study. This diagram shows some of the key research paper, frameworks and policy documents developed between 1950 until today.

timeline

CCE’s Relevant Publications 


‘Creative Thinking in Schools, A Leadership Playbook’, by Bill Lucas, Ellen Spencer, Louise Stoll, Di Fisher-Naylor, Sian James, Nia Richards, Katy Milne. The book supports a professional learning community of leaders and teachers who see creative thinking as a core purpose of education and are interested in making it a priority in their school. The book is complemented by a dedicated website: Leading for Creative Thinking | Creative Thinking Leadership


‘Creative Partnerships in Practice: Developing Creative Learners’, by David Parker. The Creative Partnerships (CP) programme began in the UK in 2002 and helped almost 5,000 schools, 90,000 teachers & over 1 million young people to embrace creative learning. Those involved saw notable improvements in achievement & measurable aspects of personal development, such as attendance. The book explains how to embed the key principles of creative practice underpinning the programme. 


‘Inter-professionalism between teachers & creative practitioners: Risk, exploration and professional identity’, by Nia Richards & Sophie Hadaway. The paper seeks to learn from and capture the impact of a national creative learning initiative on the professional identities of five teachers in Wales. It aims to explore the changes, isolate the key drivers and examine how the teachers’ identities were transformed. https://www.creativitycultureeducation.org/research/ 


Artists in Creative Education, unlocking children’s creativity – a practical guide for artists. By CCE, Cultuur-Ondernemen, KulturKontact Austria and Drommannashus. The book is based on a project with 25 artists from England, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia & Turkey. It was tested & refined through artist exchange projects in 25 primary schools, in deprived areas of UK, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands. https://issuu.com/drommarnashus/docs/aice_eng