How we kill creativity in New Zealand schools

<div class&equals;"text section">&NewLine;<p>The Centre for Arts and Social Transformation at the University’s Faculty of Education and Social Work has released its first report on the state of creativity in New Zealand schools&comma; <i>Replanting Creativity During Post-Normal Times&period;<&sol;i><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Based on four years of work&comma; the quantitative study is a world first&comma; measuring 11 dimensions of what makes a creative environment in primary and secondary schools&period; Across all school levels&comma; children have declining opportunities to play with ideas&comma; the report concludes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As children progress through school there are fewer chances for collaboration&comma; for working outside or across discipline boundaries and for taking risks and problem solving&period; The end result is that schooling fails to create the kind of citizens we so urgently need to succeed in the post-normal world we live in&comma; the report says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"pullquotecomponent section">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"pull-quote">&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>The arts and creativity have disappeared from schools as part of deliberate government policies for decades&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"quote-author"><span class&equals;"quote-author&lowbar;&lowbar;name">Professor Peter O&&num;8217&semi;Connor<&sol;span><span class&equals;"quote-author&lowbar;&lowbar;title">The Centre for Arts and Social Transformation&comma; University of Auckland<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"text section">&NewLine;<p>Professor Peter O’Connor&comma; who led the research&comma; believes the results confirm the suspicion that decades of neglect of the arts in New Zealand schools has stripped life and colour from our schools&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The arts and creativity have disappeared from schools as part of deliberate government policies for decades and this has serious implications for the future of work&comma; democratic citizenship and for student well-being&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He sees this as a systemic failing brought about by decades of focus on literacy and numeracy at the expense of everything else schools could and should do&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Teachers proved their hunger for the arts to return to New Zealand schools earlier this year when they engaged by the tens of thousands with the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;teritotoi&period;org&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">arts resources<&sol;a> developed to support children during Covid-19&comma;” he says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Centre for Arts and Social Transformation is presenting a public lecture arguing for the place of the arts in schools on Tuesday 4 November at Old Government House&comma; at the University of Auckland’s City Campus&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><i>The <&sol;i>Te Rito Toi&colon; The Twice Born Seed <i> lecture is supported by&colon; the NZ Principals’ Federation&comma; NZEI&comma; PPTA&comma; New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO&comma; Creative New Zealand&comma; Arts Access Aotearoa&comma; Taumata Toi a Iwi&comma; the Sir John Kirwan Foundation&comma; the Chartwell Trust&comma; Dance Subject Association of New Zealand&comma; Drama New Zealand&comma; Music Education New Zealand Aotearoa and The Big Idea&period;<&sol;i><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"calltoaction section"><a class&equals;"cta cta--dark-blue-round" title&equals;"Read the full report" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;teritotoi&period;org&sol;replanting-creativity-during-post-normal-times&sol;" name&equals;"CallToAction" data-cta-button-text&equals;"Read the full report" data-cta-button-link&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;teritotoi&period;org&sol;replanting-creativity-during-post-normal-times&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Read the full report<&sol;a><&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"calltoaction section"><a class&equals;"cta cta--dark-blue-round" title&equals;"Register for the lecture" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;eventbrite&period;co&period;nz&sol;e&sol;te-rito-toi-the-twice-born-seed-public-lecture-series-tickets-122328984285" name&equals;"CallToAction" data-cta-button-text&equals;"Register for the lecture" data-cta-button-link&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;eventbrite&period;co&period;nz&sol;e&sol;te-rito-toi-the-twice-born-seed-public-lecture-series-tickets-122328984285" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Register for the lecture<&sol;a><&sol;div>&NewLine;