Creativity in the community languages classroom

1. Creativity in the community languages classroom Community and Lesser Taught Languages (COLT) Conference (Manchester) Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 November2009 Jim Anderson and Yu-Chiao Chung j.anderson@gold.ac.uk / edp01yc@gold.ac.uk

2. Overview • Conceptual framework: definitions and research directions • Research design and emerging strands within the data 3. Implications and professional development resource for teachers 4. Your questions

3. 1. Conceptual framework: definitions and research directions In what ways is creativity understood and defined? • elitist  democratic • emphasis on individual  emphasis on social context (participation in ‘communities of practice’, co-construction of knowledge)

4. arts specific  universalised • a ‘culturally saturated’ concept (Eastern – Western perspectives) • an ability increasingly required within a competitively oriented global economy

5. NACCCE definition in ‘All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education’ (1999) : ‘Imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are original and of value’ (National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education, NACCCE) This definition informs interpretation of creativity in the current National Curriculum at KS1-2 and KS3-4 http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-1-and-2/index.aspx

6. Student comparing normal learning experience with learning in the project: “It is like you are on a motorway and there is no way down or out. It is the same all the time, not something different…This makes it more.. sort of up and then down and then left and then something else and then up and then right.” (Student, LMS)

7. Perspectives from theories of second language teaching and literacy which emphasise: • engaging and cognitively challenging content and tasks (Byram, 1997; Coyle, 2000; Ellis, 2003) • holistic approaches which recognise affective as well as cognitive approaches to learning including the importance of learner ‘agency’ (Stevick, 1996Arnold, 1999) • potential for drawing on ‘funds of knowledge’ in the home and community (Moll et al., 1992; Gregory et al., 2004) • need to re-evaluate pedagogies for community/ heritage language learners (Peyton, Ranard and McGinnis, 2001; Hornberger, 2005; Anderson, 2008; Brinton,Kagan and Bauckus, 2008).

8. 2. Research design and emerging strands within the data The study investigates: the value of integrating different creative works (stories, art works, dance, drama, multimedia) into community/heritage teaching programmes the potential for using such works as a stimulus for children’s own creativity.

9. Ethnographic approach (qualitative data, interpretive methods) • Fieldwork in 4 London schools where Arabic, Mandarin, Panjabi and Tamil are taught: 2 mainstream (one primary, one secondary) and 2 voluntary, community based ‘complementary’ schools • Data collected on series of 3 tasks involving creativity carried out in each setting

10. The schools and tasks

11. Data collection: Video recordings and photos Fieldnotes Semi-structured interviews Teaching plans and resources Outcomes of students’ work

12. Emerging Strands: Language and literacy Cognition Intercultural understanding Personal and social development

13. Language and Literacy Understanding of how cultural meanings are communicated through different media 2. Drawing on diverse student backgrounds and providing scope for different linguistic and cultural perspectives to be integrated, valued and understood 3. Enhancing communication skills and developing confidence

14. Year 7 Arabic class at Sarah Bonnell School Mainly non-background learners Very diverse backgrounds (including Bangladesh, Egypt, Jamaica, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Pakistan) High proportion of Muslim faith Linked to work on countries, colours, flags

15. The line at the right hand side means “you are my best city and each time I go there, I feel my soul very pleased. The line at the top left means “in Western Arabic countries, the mosques and the restaurants are the best.” The design of the gate is a very famous Islamic design. It is used commonly in buildings and mosques. The common colours are bluish green, red and orange. Our piece of art is about Morocco. We liked its fascinating designs which can be seen on its buildings, dishes and even clothes. Hajar is from there and she told me a lot about it. We tried to represent, in our piece of art, a beautiful gate in Marrakesh ( بوابة مراكش). It got a beautiful design. We also drew two women with the traditional Moroccan dress ( الزي المغربي ). Hajar also wrote few words to describe her love to Morocco (her country).By Elham and Hajar

16. The students mixed flags together in this piece of work. The word in the middle means Allah and the two small words next to it are Arabic (left) countries (right). At the top right corner, it is the flag of Egypt; the bottom right corner is the flag of Iraq; the top left corner is the flag of Pakistan. Our piece of art is about Arab countries. In our piece of art we used lots of colours. In the middle, we wrote the name of Allah (God) as it represents the religion of the majority of Arabs and ourselves. We liked to show a couple of countries instead of one as we thought that it will make the piece of art nice and that no one would think to use them like this. This would make our piece of art stand out and be different than the others!! The colours we used were white ( أبيض ), yellow ( أصفر ), red ( أحمر ) and lots of others!! By Anisa, Mariam

17. Cognition Generation of ideas through collaborative discussion and process of development Rich context and links made between different areas of the curriculum leading to greater engagement and depth of understanding 3. Bilingual approaches

18. Cross-curricular Tamil language and South Indian dance project The essence of creativity is in making new connections. These possibilities can be frustrated by rigid divisions in subject teaching which the current pressures tend to encourage. (NACCCE, 1999: 72)

19. Intercultural Understanding Provide a space for exploring and developing understanding of different cultural perspectives and reshaping these in personal ways. 2. Awareness of spiritual and moral dimensions and their relationship to language, culture and creativity It is through the arts in all their forms that young people experiment with and try to articulate their deepest feelings and their own sense of cultural identity and belonging. (NACCCE, 1999)

20. Personal and social development Confidence and empowerment, agency, ownership Drawing on funds of knowledge in the home and community The first task in teaching for creativity in any field is to encourage young people to believe in their creative potential, to engage their sense of possibility and to give them the confidence to try. (NACCCE, 1999: 90)

21. Drawing on ‘funds of knowledge’ in the home and community (RACP)

22. Drawing on ‘funds of knowledge’ in the home and community (LMS)

23. 3. Implications and professional development resource for teachers Openness of teachers to new approaches and to taking risks, also to allowing students greater freedom and control (official support, but conflict with ‘performativity’ culture) Collaboration (between teachers, between students and between teachers and students) Building creativity dimension into the scheme of work

24. Involvement of parents / community members • Evaluation (including self– and peer evaluation) • Building partnerships between mainstream and complementary schools.

25. Final thought ‘ … in the UK … the school curriculum does not fully reflect the creative achievements of all the cultural groups it serves. So many young people lack role models and learning materials with which they can readily identify. Disaffection can result. How creativity is currently defined and developed in UK education and training tends to reflect a mainly white, Western approach, rather than our diverse society. This not only puts people from minority ethnic groups at a disadvantage, it is everyone’s loss’ (Marilyn Fryer, The Creativity Centre Educational Trust)

26. Your questions … ?

27. References Anderson, J. (2008) Towards integrated second language teaching pedagogy for foreign and community/heritage languages in multilingual Britain. In Language Learning Journal, 36:1, 79-89. Anderson, J. (2009) Relevance of CLIL in developing pedagogies for minority language teaching. In Marsh, D., Meehisto, P., Wolff, D., Aliaga, R., Asiakinen, T., Frigols-Martin, M. J., Hughes, S., Lange, G. (eds) CLIL Practice: Perspectives from the Field, pp. 124-132, CCN: University of Jyväskylä (Finland). http://www.icpj.eu/ Arnold, J. (ed) (1999) Affect in Language Learning. Cambridge: CUP. (Chapter 1 gives a useful overview of the literature related to affect) Banaji, S., Burn, A. and Buckingham, D. (2006) The rhetorics of creativity: a review of the literature. (A report for Creative Partnerships). London: Arts Council England. http://www.creative-partnerships.com/data/files/rhetorics-of-creativity-12.pdf Brinton, D., Kagan, O. and Bauckus, S (eds) (2008) Heritage language education: A new field emerging. New York: Routledge. Byram, M. (1997) Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

28. Coyle, D. (2000) Meeting the Challenge: Developing the 3Cs Curriculum. In S. Green (ed.) New Perspectives on Teaching and Learning Modern Languages. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp.158-182. Craft, A. (2005) Creativity in Schools:  Tensions and Dilemmas. Oxford: Routledge. Cummins, J.: 2006, Identity Texts: The Imaginative Construction of Self through Multiliteracies Pedagogy. In O. Garcia, T. Skutnabb-Kangas, M. Torres-Guzmán (Eds) Imagined Multilingual Schools: Languages in Education and Glocalization. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp 51-68. Ellis, R. (2003) Task-based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford: OUP. Fryer, M. (2004) Creativity and cultural diversity. Leeds: The Creativity Centre Educational Trust. Gregory, E., Long, S. & Volk, D. (eds) (2004) Many Pathways to Literacy: Young Children Learning with Siblings, Grandparents, Peers and Communities. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Hornberger, N. (ed) (2005) Heritage/Community Language Education: US and Australian Perspectives. Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 8 (2&3).

29. Kenner, C. & Hickey, T.M. (eds) (2008) Multilingual Europe: Diversity and Learning. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books. (Chapter 2) Moll, L.C., Amanti, C., Neff, D. and Gonzalez, N. (1992) Funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice 31 (2),132-141. NACCCE(1999) All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education. http://www.cypni.org.uk/downloads/alloutfutures.pdf Peyton, J., Ranard, D. and McGinnis, S. (eds) (2001) Heritage Languages in America: Preserving a National Resource. McHenry, IL: Center for Applied Linguistics.