Blog
Our Seventh Core Value
This week is 'CREATE' week, in which we will be making an even bigger effort than normal to notice our Core Values of...
...and taking the time to be mindful of where they crop up in our daily lives, and how we can embed them yet further.
There's a seventh value, though, that's hidden in plain sight - that of Creativity... but that only matters to our students - and staff - who engage with the scholarship disciplines, right?
Only Art, Photography, Ceramics, Graphics, Dance Music, Drama and the Performing Arts?
Maybe with a little Creative Writing in English creeping in for good measure.
Even though that's an understandable assumption to make, it is very much untrue. Yes, even my mathematical mind, with its very limited musicality and non-existent dance capabilities can perform creatively! Actually, being mathematically-minded means I've had lots of practice at problem-solving, and that's one crucial element in being creative.
This got me thinking - where else in our daily lives is creativity lurking without being noticed for what it is?
Here are a few thoughts, but I feel sure there are more...
- Critical thinking.
- Having an openness to fresh ideas.
- Thinking ‘outside of the box.’
- Being flexible in the way we work.
- Visualising a range of different scenarios.
- Recognising which ideas are worth pursuing.
- Discovering other people's perspectives.
- Identifying what needs to be done.
- Finding common ground within a group of people.
- Driving improvements and change.
- Coming up with new ideas and concepts.
- Seeing challenges and problems in new ways.
- Not being held back by conventional ideas.
- Analysing situations to decide what is worth continuing.
- Being open to new ideas - and having the courage to suggest them in the first place.
- 'Digging deeper’ into a concept, to find out the answer to questions such as 'Why?' and 'How?'
- Creating and asking great, probing, questions.
- Being imaginative.
- Applying past knowledge and experiences to new situations.
- Communicating well.
- Taking sensible and proportionate risks.
- Making connections and new links between ideas.
Not bad for a hidden core value! That's without mentioning any of the enjoyable, expressive and well-being focused benefits of the visual and performing arts themselves.
Your challenge, now, is simply to think creatively yourself this week and, in doing so, identify as many different areas as you can where creativity plays a part. Don't forget to let us know what you come up with!
