If we stop to reflect in a not strictly disciplinary way on the contents or educational opportunities that the school context can or must favour, the development of creativity certainly emerges as indispensable. The consensus of educators and teachers is unanimous on the need to safeguard and promote creativity.
According to a study conducted by Marisa Giorgetti, Paola Pizzingrilli, Alessandro Antonietti (Catholic University of Milan) and published on “Competenze Docenti“, an online platform focused on teachers’ training. The main aim for facilitating and supporting creativity is creating autonomy of thought and the aptitude for discovery and learning. These attitudes and skills also become the tools that the current school has to provide children to prepare and help them to face the future and the current challenges. In this perspective, teaching must promote and lead the development of complex thinking and the real meaning of “learning”, which is not limited to school years, but which potentially accompanies them within their entire life.
The teacher’s task is not only to transmit disciplinary and notional contents but also to design and implement a training activity that is really aimed at students, enhancing and promoting the unique creative potential of each individual student in the best possible way.
This could be possible by promoting learning through problem-solving, involving planning activities that have as characteristics a common goal for the class group, the stimulation of the pupil’s thinking by giving them roles: this offers the opportunity to share the task carried out with peers, developing the particularities and interests of each individual student, stimulating curiosity and the desire to learn. Students truly become the main characters of the teaching and learning process, especially when they, and not just the teacher, take on a central role. This could be achieved by promoting educational activities that allow a creative approach. To encourage discovery and active learning it’s therefore necessary that the teaching practice is aimed at centralizing the pupil, dedicating ample space to individual and group research, thus favouring the discovery, knowledge, creation of new contents and the development of complex thinking.
This is precisely the main objective of the SCHOOL STARTERS’ HUB project!
The School Starters’ Hub Project aims to transform Secondary Schools into innovation and creativity hubs that will interconnect School, Research/ Science and Enterprises (Local and European) through the participatory approach of a European Platform.
The project seeks to tackle initially the European Challenges by adopting activities that will develop interdisciplinary, extrovert and interconnected schools, by motivating all students to engage in activities that enhance creativity, entrepreneurship skills and connection of education with social needs. Furthermore, it will support teachers and school leaders for excellent teaching and learning by applying an integrated school approach that improves learning outcomes, transversal skills, active participation and personal development. And last but not least, upgrade governance of school education systems by becoming more effective, equitable and efficient and by opening up to new forms of cooperation, between schools, research, enterprises, local and European communities.
To learn more about this European project you can follow the Facebook page @SchoolStartersHubEU