'A *crisis* is a terrible thing to waste – seek out the opportunities.'
* translates as dangerous opportunity in Chinese
How do we develop and retain creative leadership and convince children that they are, or can be, creative?
Some laws for creativity:
- It’s important to help children become self-critical and to develop the capacity to amaze themselves and others.
- Traditional measures of accountability cannot be applied to creative effort – it’s more dependent on trust. A web of trust can be built through networks.
- 'Be true to the dreams of your youth'.
- Don’t waste time trying to micro manage creative output – it won’t work. Flexibility and speed of response are not helped by micro managing.
- Instil confidence through support and praise, not blame. Accept that reasonable risk taking can lead to failure, but the alternative is stifling.
- Avoid a culture of blame.
- Help people to seek out their talents, find them, develop them.
- Make full use of digital technology to transform learning and teaching away from a didactic approach.
- Engaged, informed and active learners are developed through helping them consider options and their consequences.
- Share your learning, your successes, your mistakes at every opportunity. It will develop confidence and learning.
- Confrontation is inevitable in creative leadership – it needs to be acknowledged and managed. Deal with it and move on.
The National College for School Leadership (NCSL) helps make a positive difference to children’s lives through the development of world-class leaders. NCSL's remit now includes leaders of schools, children's centres and children's services.
This was a fantastic talk, full of inspiration and release from that pressure we always feel from the government. Taken hand in hand with Mick Waters' mini plenary, it gave me a real grasp of how I can become a more effective leader in a school in which what I value takes precedence over what the government values. Thank you David for a re-stating of the deep desire for creativity in each one. It updates Picasso's famous phrase - "every child is an artist; the problem is to remain an artist as he grows up" for a generation that has by and large had the expectation of being creative punched out of them.
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