Boosting creativity and innovation (often used as synonyms) is one of the main challenges of society (and implicitly education) on global level and on European level as well. One of the empirical evidence that creativity is of growing importance in schools context (not only on European, but also global level), is the recent introduction of creative problem solving tests into PISA, besides literacy, numeracy and science tests. Everyday school-based education practices should seek to enhance creativity not necessarily to score better on PISA tests, but rather to benefit from scientifically proved results of improved creativity, such as: wealth (creativity, knowledge and information are intangible assets that can be capitalized on in the age of globalization), technological advancement (being able to be creative and adopt to the fast changing world), emotional and social fulfillment (as psychology studies underline, creative habits of mind correlate with higher levels of wellbeing). Moreover, research shows that there is a correlation between creative learning and students’ attainment. The project aims to increase the creativity and innovation in everyday school practices in schools in four European countries (Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania) by provide support and training to teachers to focus upon the processes of creative skills development, actively involve teachers and their learners in showcasing and boosting creative practices in their schools, identifying and promoting uptake of creativity boosting methods and measure, with an emphasis upon everyday school/classroom creative environments, provide teachers and learners with opportunities to develop their own creativity and engage them in reflection upon their own pedagogy and learning strategies. To meet these objectives, the project proposes to produce four intellectual outputs. 1. Creativity and development needs assessment including an online, interactive self-assessment tool for teachers. 2. A blended training course for teachers on how to facilitate creativity within their schools and teaching practices, provided by the Department of Teacher Education, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Jyväskylä. 3. A platform for sharing creativity tools and methods among teachers and educational stakeholders using various media, including short, professional video films. 4. Guidelines for teachers as accelerators of creativity and innovation in their schools and communities, including a Teacher Portfolio Aid. 20 teachers will take part in the blended training and transnational mobility and 200 teachers will benefit from the national teacher training workshops. We expect that all these teachers will apply the creativity boosting methods and tools in their daily practices, the project having an impact upon more that 4000 learners aged 6-15. The application of the "Finnish model" in the participating schools and other applied creative practices will de documented and shared with more teachers and education stakeholders across Europe via the project platform. The project activities with a perspective of sustainability will be supported by associated partners in each country. The main associated partner, the School Inspectorate of Harghita County, Romania, is supporting the Romanian partners (beneficiary and partner no.2.) and will cooperate with them on the mainstreaming of teh project results on regional and national level.
In the 21st century education on global level faces multiple challenges related to embracing the fast transformation of the society. Children have changed a lot recently, their attention is attracted (and distracted) by various real and virtual environments that engage them and make them willing to join all sorts of experiences and communities outside schools. The AIM of the project was using “everyday creativity” to better sustain these experiences within schools, empower and engage children for meaningful learning. Increasing “creativity” in various aspects of education makes schools better places for real learning if “creativity” is not seen as an “add-on” to regular curricular activities and it is not limited to teaching arts, but it is regarded as a complex phenomenon, manifested in everyday school practices: in the variety of methods and strategies used by teachers, in the variety of tools, technologies and materials that facilitate learning and - above all - in the way learners are involved, engaged and empowered during lessons and other school activities. The sources of inspiration for our project were the Finnish Core Curriculum (2016) and Pamela Burnard’s theory of “multiple musical creativities”. The OBJECTIVES were: increasing creativity and innovation in everyday school practices in four European countries (Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania) by providing support and training to 20 teachers to focus upon the processes of creativity development in their everyday practices, motivating teachers, schools and children to showcase and boost creative practices in their schools, identify and promote uptake of creativity boosting methods and measure in one of the following areas of development: learning space and multi-sensory teaching; developing applicable skills through teaching; organization of interaction and technology in the school; connecting different subjects in learning and teaching (e.g. multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary education). The core PARTICIPANTS of the project were teachers, school managers and educational project managers: 25 persons took part in the blended in-service training course organized within the project, 447 teachers and educational managers attended the national workshops where the previously trained teachers “multiplied” the learning outcomes within their school communities and beyond, over 1000 teachers, parents and other educational stakeholders took part at the multiplier and other dissemination events and the project successfully used the social media to reach to over ten thousand interested people across Europe who can all have a role in building up the “new education”. The ACTIVITIES undertaken were: developing and promoting an online, interactive self-assessment tool (used by over 800 teachers); analyzing the results of the self-assessment and planning a blended training course; implementing the blended training through the Moodle platform of the University of Jyväskylä and incorporating in it a short-term joint staff training (including co-creating learning results, peer feedback and reflected school observation); making the training materials available as Open Education Resource through the project website; following up the training participants, supporting them in implementing local development projects and organising dissemination workshops; publishing a Teachers’ Handbook (Everyday Creativity: Boosting Creative Resources With Finnish Models Of Education); designing a brochure (Guidelines for Accelerators of Creativity) and educational posters for exploitation; disseminating the project results in large dissemination and multiplication events, as well as using multimedia tools (promotional films) and social media campaigns. As a result of our project, in all the participating countries “everyday creativity” has become a central topic in workshops, panel discussions, multiplier events involving altogether over 7000 teachers and educational stakeholders, while on schools’ and classrooms’ level, the 25 participants at the blended course reported the following types of changes: pedagogical thinking (student autonomy, role of student); pedagogical change (student-centered pedagogy); learning space, learning environments, educational spaces; pedagogical tools (apps, materials); pedagogical approach (collaboration, co-teaching, cooperation, interdisciplinarity, learning by doing). In addition to the types of changes, teachers reported different goal settings, as LONG-TERM BENEFITS of their local development project: focus on community building, cooperation between students, teachers and parents; focus on students’ autonomy, empowering students, improving students critical thinking, placing students at the centre; learning by doing, exploratory learning, experimental learning, students’ own curiosity and creativity; rethinking the use of learning spaces; self-reflection, self-knowledge; differentiation; teachers’ revised role as facilitator.