Containers, Creativity and Quilt-making: an exploration of teachers’ conceptualisations of creative spaces for teaching and learning

Abstract

This paper explores the symbolisations and conceptualisations of creative spaces of eleven teachers who participated in an experiential Masters module, Creativity in Practice for Educators. These conceptualisations were developed through the participants’ engagement in arts-based activities on the course and the creative pieces which they produced for the course assessment. The module design synthesises ideas about creativity and creative spaces, in particular Boden’s notion of creativity as a process of transforming conceptual spaces and Jankowska and Atlay’s development of purposely-designed spaces to enhance creativity in learning.  A matrix of creative spaces, incorporating physical, imaginal, digital and conceptual spaces, underpinned the course activities and participants’ explorations. The course assignments and interviews with participants revealed the impact of the course on teachers' practice and conceptualisations of creative spaces. The paper engages with the issues involved in presenting the diverse range of data which emerged from this inquiry, suggesting a quilting metaphor to represent the complexity. While the study focused on in-service teachers, its findings are applied to developing awareness about creativity in participants in initial teacher education programmes.

Key words: creativity; creative spaces: arts-based methods; experiential learning; initial teacher education; matrix of creative spaces