Category Archives: Creativity

An Attitude of Mind

Posted on November 2, 2017 by suecowley

I mostly let debates about creativity wash over me, because these days this is one bit of learning where I’d rather be doing the thing, than discussing how it works. I mainly want to know how it happens for me. … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity | 7 Comments

No Country for Young Creatives

Posted on May 12, 2016 by suecowley

   There are various ways to try and get your children to achieve the best possible results in their SATs tests, so that your school does well in league tables and avoids a data-related-forced-academisation-takeover disaster. You could trust that your … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Creativity, Testing | 2 Comments

Don’t Forget to Have Fun!

Posted on May 5, 2016 by suecowley

I’ve spent the last two days at the stunning St George’s Park, doing some sessions on creativity for the FA. It feels a bit weird to be saying that, but hey, go me! (#10%Braver @WomenEd) I was there to do some … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Creativity, Learning, Play | 2 Comments

Stardust

Posted on February 21, 2016 by suecowley

Creativity gets a weird press. Everyone mostly likes it, but I see people get upset with the idea of ‘being creative’ (especially the way Ken Robinson presents it), and people saying that creativity must be about gluing knowledge together with sticky … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Writing | 2 Comments

If you build it, they will come

Posted on February 20, 2016 by suecowley

Today I had the very great pleasure of presenting at the first NetworkEd conference. Thank you to Nancy Gedge for asking me. She built a conference, and lots of people came. It was lovely to be able to say ‘yes’ to something … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Confidence, Creativity, Early Years, Forest Club, Learning | 4 Comments

*The Magic Creative Cake*

Posted on November 24, 2015 by suecowley

It is an intuitive truth of teaching, that as a teacher you must model the behaviour you hope to receive. If you want your children to behave politely, you must speak to them in a polite manner yourself. If you … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Creativity | 2 Comments

Riding a Bike

Posted on November 23, 2015 by suecowley

Although knowledge is helpful in being creative, more knowledge does not necessarily lead to more creativity. You can probably think of some people who are very knowledgeable indeed, but who do not do creative things with the knowledge that they … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Creativity | 10 Comments

The Xylophone Technique

Posted on September 23, 2015 by suecowley

A few years ago, I met a teacher who told me he managed his classroom ‘By Xylophone’. When he said this, my first thought was “say what?”, my second thought was “that sounds cool”, and my third thought was “how on … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Creativity, Evidence | 3 Comments

Fuzzy Thinking

Posted on September 17, 2015 by suecowley

“Learning happens when people have to think hard.” Robert Coe Today I am sat in my study, writing (or, to more accurate, ‘writing’). I have banned myself from Twitter, the urgent emails are all answered, the preschool accounts are pretty … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Road School, Thinking, Writing | 1 Comment

… And Do It Anyway

Posted on April 7, 2015 by suecowley

1. Don’t wait for creativity to come to you. It’s not out there somewhere; it’s somewhere inside you. 2. Don’t spend forever talking about it, debating it, discussing it, pondering it. If you want to be creative, just get on with … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity | 2 Comments