Creativity

• Suggested duration: 1 hour
• Technique used: Group discussion
• Materials required: Flipchart paper and pens
• Aim of activity: To encourage students to think about creative ways of teaching something
• Underpinning components: UC7.1
• Connection with other competences: Attentiveness

Short description

• Whole group: Decide on an issue to do with sustainability e.g. use of plastic, trophy hunting, over fishing, waste
• Small groups: Brainstorm at least 15 ways that this could be taught to a given age range
• Whole group: Share and discuss ideas and approaches

Note how creative we become after the first five ‘usual ideas’ have been suggested!

• Suggested duration: 30 mins
• Technique used: Lecture and discussion
• Materials required: Slides
• Aim of activity: To explore and discuss rationale behind need for creativity, use of real-world contexts and building on experience
• Underpinning components: UC 7.2
• Connection with other competences: 

Short description

Need for:

• Different form of education e.g. Chamberlin, Freire, Orr, Hicks
• Reflective learning e.g. Kolb, Gibbs
• Social learning e.g. Bruner, Vygotsky
• Experiential learning e.g. Piaget, Rogers
• Thoughts about sustainability e.g. Thiele

• Suggested duration: 45-120 mins
• Technique used: Transect walk; walk across the school site, better still across the local neighbourhood.
• Materials required: None
• Aim of activity: To introduce the concept of ‘new value’ and see how innovation can bring social, environmental and economic benefits.
• Underpinning components: UC 7.1; UC 7.3
• Connection with other competences: Action; Futures

Short description

Draw a line (a transect) across a map of the local area between two safe and accessible points – the length of line will depend on the amount of time available. This is the route of your walk. Now plan the walk taking care to avoid hazards and private property while staying as close to the straight line as possible.

Take the class on the walk along the route you have planned together and look for examples or evidence of situations where an improvement might be made. After the walk, ask the class to work in small groups and think of as many ideas as possible for adding new value to their locality.

A more random version would be to ask students to explore an area and take photographs using a smartphone to show their evidence. This puts them in charge but can also reduce the level of creativity required to come up with ideas.

• Identify opportunities within personal, or working life where it might be possible to create space to encourage sustainability