Some Intro

According to the Oxford dictionary:“Creativity is the ability to use skill and imagination to produce something new or to produce art”. Circa 2017, the British National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education has stated that “The key elements of Creativity are: using imagination, pursuing purposes, being original and judging value”.

• Being creative often involves questioning tradition, breaking rules or challenging assumptions. By contrast, schools are concerned with order and structure and rules. It is understandable why they have to function in this way, but it establishes a mind-set that makes it hard to step outside the norms.
• The spaces in which learning takes place set limits to the extent to which creativity can occur. The normal sized classroom, with standard furniture, gives limited scope for creativity that may require more open, flexible spaces and call for different types of furniture and equipment.
• From the very beginning, teachers and education professionals are trying to give students the intellectual capabilities. At the same time the expectations of parents and classmates are unknown, but will determine the level of ability and talent to the child's creativity.

Boosting creativity at school means to support new ways of thinking and train students to generate as many ideas as possible. Nowadays teachers have access to a great variety of tools and practices to develop creativity and artwork is not the only way to showcase creativity.

Learners can be encouraged to be creative by using suitable techniques. However, while creative thinking can be easily incorporated in classrooms there are still barriers in the formal school context.

Who is this course for

This course is aimed at teachers and school staff from pre-school level to primary, secondary, vocational, adult and special needs education, staff of non-government organizations, government and policy makers and company staff as well as students and all those interested in innovative ways of using Art in education to stimulate engagement and critical thinking. Participants are expected to have at least B1 level of English proficiency

Description

During the course, participants will get their “hands dirty” by engaging in creative writing and storytelling. The goal of the various tools and techniques is for teachers and learners to understand that creative writing is not something intimidating or imposing.

Instead it is something that comes naturally and fulfills the need to share a story of your own means with others. Creative writing is a tool of encouraging and empowering self-expression. It is not formed, as a teaching methodology, to turn all participants into novelists, but to give them the knowledge to understand why students should be supported to write creative and personal texts.

Creative writing engages students’ critical thinking and enhances their creativity. It improves their communication and sense of narration, to themselves and others, applying active methods of creativity cultivation in the classroom environment.

The course includes theory but focuses on a hands-on approach that will act as a dialogue-starter and confidence building device for your students, and yourselves, engaging your creative “muscles”.

 Objectives

• Organize classes, projects and lessons using different learning means to enhance creativity in students
• Understand the basic concepts of creativity and creation
• Combine different techniques for developing creative lessons
• Enhance creativity skills in classroom
• Organize a creativity laboratory in school
• By the end of the course participants should be able to get familiar with the following:

1. Comic creation.
2. Creative Writing or Storytelling.
3. Digital media
4. Stop motion film
5. Animation and videos

 Methodology

This one-week course will focus on the techniques and theory through practice in the way we are using our creative thought to produce interesting stories and films.

Each teaching day consists of a theoretical talk and a practical workshop. Workshops are designed to put into practice the elements discussed and taught in the theoretical part.

During the course of this seminar the participants will learn hands-on how to create interesting stories and how to create a script. In the second part of the workshop the participants will begin to create their own projects (fiction, documentary or experimental).

Attendees will receive handouts and self-evaluation forms as well as feedback forms on the course itself.

 Agenda/Course schedule

5 days programme

Day 1

• Presentation of participants
• Expectations from the training course
• Introduction to the training course, syllabus, methodology, learning outcomes
• Creativity, what is it?
• Why do we need creativity?
• How can we be more creative at school?

Day 2

• Being creative with words
• The basics of creative writing
• Storytelling techniques
• Workshop: Storytelling

Day 3

• The basic elements: colors, forms, schemes, structures, panels and a storyboard
• Creating with words and pictures
• Illustrated storyboards
• Comics
• Workshop: creating a comic

Day 4

• Creating with digital media
• Stop motion animation
• Digital animation
• Video art
• Workshop: creating a stop motion film

Day 5

• How to organise a Creativity lab in school
• Creativity and critical thinking: The advantages of learning through Art
• Supporting aspects for promoting creativity in class
• Reflection – evaluation of the training course
• Certificates of Attendance

13-17.02.2023 Larissa

06-10.03.2023 Thessaloniki

12-16.06.2023 Skiathos Island

11-15.09.2023 Skiathos Island

09-13.10.2023 Athens

27.11-01.12.2023 Thessaloniki