Resources

The majority of discussion concerning curriculum development focuses on the requirements which must be adhered to in order to achieve:

• constructive alignment within programmes;
• the learning experiences of students;
• appropriate reference to the various national requirements, benchmarks and quality assurance frameworks.

Curriculum design also includes consideration of how the learning will be demonstrated and achievement assesssed, (Imaginative Curriculum Project) and is essentially concerned with the following:

• What is to be learnt - content.
• Why it is to be learnt - rationale and underlying philosophy.
• How it is to be learnt - process.
• When it is to be learnt - structure of the learning process.

Curriculum design is also a creative process, requiring the skill, knowledge and imagination of the originator, the teacher, in order to effectively foster and promote student learning, and in turn to enhance the capacity of students to learn and think creatively.

In order to design a curriculum that nurtures creativity teaching teams need to jointly develop a shared understanding of creativity in the context of their provision.  They need to map the opportunities for creativity within the curriculum, and together work towards developing student skills to enable them to become truly independent learners.  This can be done through introducing novel tasks within modules; developing students' knowledge about creative learning processes; and being open to innovation and change.

It is also essential to use assessment methods which recognise the process of learning and which encourage students to demonstrate their creativity. This can be achieved by the use of synoptic or reflective portfolio assignments.

An idea of the areas that might be considered when reviewing the inclusion of creativity within programmes and how this might be done are summarised in this table:

Resources

For further information see the resources collection of the Imaginative Curriculum Project hosted by the Palatine Subject Centre. Suggestions on how space may be created within the curriculum for creativity and extensive resources which examine and provide examples of incorporating creativity are available. This project also includes an excellent publication which introduces the concept of creativity Designing for Creativity: A Curriculum Guide by Norman Jackson (2002).

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