Pilot project underlines the importance of play and creative thinking in developing digital creativity skills
The Glasgow School of Art has been collaborating with primary schools in Glasgow, Moray and the Scottish Borders on a pilot programme aimed at unlocking pupils’ digital creativity it has been revealed.
Two different projects – Covid and Me and My cultural heritage were co-designed by the experts from the GSA’s School of Simulation & Visualisation in partnership with teachers and children in Elgin, Forres, Glasgow and Sanqhuar. In Covid and Me the aim was for children to develop a digital output describing what it has been like for them during covid. In My cultural heritage: the aim was for children to develop a digital output describing a local heritage or cultural place of interest.
Due to ongoing Covid restrictions this pilot project was delivered entirely online, but the programme was designed to be delivered face-to-face going forward.
“We need to value and nurture our young people’s creativity,” says Professor Steve Love of The Glasgow School of Art. “There is increasing evidence that by developing creativity and creative thinking young people can not only show improvement in all academic disciplines, but can also become more confident and have the skills to thrive both in the world of work and in broader society.”
“This project was conceived to demonstrate the importance of play and creative thinking in developing digital creativity skills and to offer a Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL) qualification in creative thinking that will equip teachers with the skills, knowledge and confidence to deliver their teaching through a creative practice approach.”
“I wanted to get involved in this exciting project as listening to pupil voice our class overwhelmingly opted to be involved,” says Jen Dawson, P6 teacher at Anderson’s Primary, Forres. “They had the autonomy to shape the project, set goals and learn new skills on this exciting journey.
“Digital creativity and the processes involved, equip the children with transferable skills ready for an uncertain future in the workplace.”
“This exciting, dynamic project also meets the context for inter disciplinary learning and provides the children with opportunities for growth and to be an integral part of the curriculum design for the future of digital creativity in primary schools.”
“We are delighted to be part of this innovative digital art programme,” says St Marnock’s teacher, Miss Walker. “Our children will benefit enormously from the specialist input from GSA and we have enjoyed working in animation, new digital technology and look forward to sharing our excellent work with others”.
“Working with Glasgow School of Art was a great opportunity for the children to learn more about creativity along with their cultural heritage,” say Sanqhuar Primary teacher, Miss Clark. “The children hope to get fun and enjoyment out of this while learning about the heritage which surrounds them. They also hope that it changes the way some people view the village of Sanquhar while they discover their own creativity”.
Most of the pupils chose to make work in response to the My cultural heritage brief with outputs ranging from an App mock-up that tells the ghost story of the grey lady of Sanquhar Castle to using photography and textiles to explore their locality; making a short film about witches and their significance and history in Forres and creating designs for a castle and a crest that blends a range of cultures. Pupils from Logie Primary School, which selected to focus on Covid and Me, filmed videos to highlight what lockdown was like and using iMovie/Windows Movie Maker to edit a film about walks and playing with siblings during lockdown among other outputs. For further details see Notes for Editors.
Following the successful pilot project the initiative will be further developed through the creation of an outline programme specification to allow primary school teachers to obtain a Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL) qualification in creative thinking that will equip them with the skills, knowledge and confidence to deliver their teaching through a creative practice approach. The plan is also to develop this work to include nursery schools and secondary schools.
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For further information contact
Lesley Booth,
0779 941 4474
@GSofAMedia
Notes for Editors
Digital Outputs from the collaborative project
Sanquhar Primary School – My
Cultural Heritage
- Designing a Sanquhar themed
pattern that represents their local heritage. - An App mock-up that tells the
ghost story of the grey lady of Sanquhar Castle. - A short film that’s themed as a
TV quiz show, where contestants are quizzed on the history of Sanquhar’s
Tolbooth. - An animation that tells the
story of Sanquhar’s ‘Riding of the Marches’ event. - A digital flag for their school
that tells the story of their local heritage.
Linkwood Primary School – My
Cultural Heritage
- Learning about whisky distilling
and designing a Whisky bottle - Digital Poster exploring the
research of their local area
Logie Primary School – COVID
& Me
- Filming videos to highlight what
lockdown was like. - PowerPoint about lockdown which
includes drawings and watercolours of camping trips during last Summer. - Making models to animate playing
in the bedroom. - Clay animation of a
rollercoaster carriage to highlight the ‘up and down’ of emotions experienced
over the past year – a metaphor for life during lockdown - Using Scratch to animate snakes
going to the Moon during quarantine. - Using iMovie/Windows Movie Maker
to edit a film about walks and playing with siblings during lockdown.
Alves Primary School – My
Cultural Heritage
- Castles & Crest – Designing
a castle and a crest that blends a range of cultures. This is inspired from the
class’s mix of heritage and traditions. The class plans to film the process and
outcomes.
Saint Marnock’s Primary
School – My Cultural Heritage
- Investigating Historic trees
around the area of Pollok Park, Glasgow. - Using Photography and Textiles
to explore their locality. - Photographing & Filming
contents of a Cabinet of Curiosity
Anderson’s Primary School – My
Cultural Heritage
- Short film about witches and
their significance and history in Forres - Stop Motion animation exploring
the areas of heritage, mythology, and legend - Comic books
- Story telling about dragon
weathervane coming to life - Building a cabinet of curiosity
- PowerPoint quiz game