Teacher Experiences with Inspiring Leaders, Creative Learners

Our Inspiring Leaders, Creative Learners programme has seen darts artists working closely with teachers over two years to build their confidence and develop their creative skills to enhance their teaching practice. Our artists focussed on storytelling and drama techniques to introduce creative skills, at first delivering sessions, before supporting teachers until they delivered entire creative sessions themselves. We spoke to our participating teachers to find out more about their experiences with the programme.

"This has got to be one of the best experiences and confidence building things that I have ever done!"

Speaking on how she felt about using creative techniques in her teaching before taking part in the programme, Jozie shared that she would have avoided it altogether, ‘I had no idea how to approach it, or any strategies or ways of implementing it into my daily teaching. I was so nervous about ‘getting it wrong’’. This initial worry of ‘getting it wrong’ was shared by many of our participating teachers, as well as concern about how they would evidence learning using creative techniques, ‘there’s such a focus on gathering evidence and I wasn’t sure that drama would be sufficient, if our Senior Leadership Team were to look at my class’s books, or we needed to evidence for Ofsted, how would I show that we’ve covered what they need to learn?’

However, all of the teachers we spoke to shared that during the course of the programme, these worries have disappeared. Millie told us, ‘it is a real, solid experience. The children do retain information on what they’ve done, it embeds the learning so much more easily’. Many of the team also shared that they feel much more confident when using creative techniques in their teaching, ‘I feel like it has really become part of my teaching style and I see the opportunities to use it across all subjects’.

The learning from the programme has also been shared across year groups in each school, with CPD sessions delivered by our artist team, and our participating teachers passing on what they’ve learned to their colleagues. Jessica told us, ‘the project has completely changed how we as teachers and as a school think about drama and the impact it has on the children. The engagement and enthusiasm we have seen from all children has been a wonderful experience’.

"Writing can be a real barrier for some children, and it works so much better for them to learn by doing than if they had a worksheet to fill in and a member of staff was scribing for them."

We asked the teachers what the main takeaways from Inspiring Leaders, Creative Learners were for them and overwhelmingly many teachers stated that an increase in their own confidence was their key takeaway, ‘it won’t always be perfect, but that’s okay. Chaos can be good!’ Alice also told us, ‘drama techniques can be used in all lessons, across all subjects, for all children. I love how it doesn’t put a limit on the children’s learning, they can take the lesson as far as they want and they can all access what we are doing’.

Our teachers also shared the techniques and exercises that they find themselves using most often. From using pieces of fabric to represent locations and landscapes in History lessons, to introducing a pledge at the start of a lesson to reinforce key vocabulary, there are many ways that teachers are building creative techniques into their practice. A key exercise that many schools are taking forward is a creative check in at the start of a lesson, where each child is asked to check in and tell the group how they feel today as a colour, a sound, a word or by selecting a prop to represent their feelings, ‘it just gives everyone to express themselves in different ways and allows children to regulate themselves which prepares them for learning’.

"We (the artists and teachers on the programme) have really created a community. I’m only in my second year of teaching and I feel very lucky to have had this experience so early in my career."

Over the course of the programme, our teachers have dealt with a range of challenges as they developed their new skills and ways of working. Many of our teachers told us that having self-belief and taking their first steps in the programme were the most challenging, ‘stepping into the unknown is always the hardest but after a training day and being transformed into fish we haven’t looked back!’ Gemma added that she struggled with ‘letting go of control and my expectations of what a ‘typical lesson’ looks like.  It is hard sometimes to embrace ‘chaos’ but the benefits I have seen from the children easily outweigh any doubts I had’.

However, the impacts and high points of the programme have far overshadowed the challenges. The teachers and artists have created a strong community, sharing ideas and supporting each other during the tricky spots, ‘being able to check in with people in similar positions and share the wins and parts where it didn’t go as planned (was one of my highlights of the programme)’.

"Through fun and engaging practice, the children retain more knowledge, it is memorable to them. Parents have commented on how much the children are going home and telling them about their learning."

Overall, all of the teachers we spoke to shared positive outcomes and encouraging words for other teachers who might be nervous about using creative techniques in their own practice. Alice said, ‘the creative techniques you use in the classroom really have an amazing impact on the pupils. They will see higher engagement, better retention of information and better outcomes. I would also say that the children in class have so much fun and it is fantastic to see the joy on their faces!’

As well as building teacher confidence and encouraging creative learning, teachers shared with us that the programme has impacted on pupils outside of the classroom, ‘it really has been so effective for the kids, not just in terms of the curriculum, but also for their social, emotional and personal development’.