Creativity Collaboratives research project

Creativity Collaboratives

At Anglian Learning, we believe in making informed decisions based on evidence, values and experience, to be applied in context throughout our Trust. Frameworks developed with and for colleagues define expectations and provide guidance and models for our school to apply, drawing upon research from leading educational institutions and resources such as the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), Walkthrus, Nasen and the Great Teaching Toolkit, to be interpreted and applied by colleagues through subject-specific, phase specific and needs-appropriate lenses.

We also believe in contributing to the evidence base and professional dialogue of the wider teaching community. We participate in research projects, encourage and celebrate contributions to publications, and invite higher education and other third parties to support our rigorous evaluation of trials. Anglian Learning has participated in the ambitious three-year “Creativity Collaboratives” research project, exploring teaching for creativity, supported by Arts Council England and the Freelands Foundation.

We are pleased to continue our participation as the project moves into the next phase, building a deeper evidence base, drawing conclusions and making recommendations.

This project reflects the commitment of Anglian Learning to active engagement with research, as part of our culture of ongoing professional learning. We believe in the importance of informed decision-making, by leaders and in the classroom. Our approach to professional learning stresses the importance of “knowing about” above “knowing that”, a philosophy that recognises the complexity of teaching and the importance of context, whether that be school, age, phase or subject, and the crucial part that professional judgement needs to play in strategic leadership, when planning the curriculum, and in the micro decision making that happens in the moment during a lesson.

By engaging with research projects such as the Creativity Collaboratives project, we deepen our understanding of teaching and learning, develop new models for building teacher expertise, strengthen the expertise of our leaders, and contribute to the knowledge of the wider professional community.