Earlier this spring the teacher-librarians of the WRDSB had the pleasure of having Carol Koechlin lead us through a day of professional learning on the topic, Creativity in the Learning Commons.
What a pleasure to be focusing on creating rather than consuming! Within the interactivity of today’s information environment the library learning commons is naturally positioned to provide learning experiences that take critical thinking to the next level through creativity. As R. David Lankes put it, “The mission of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in their communities.” (R. David Lankes, Expect More).
Michael Fullan’s call for leveraging his six C’s aligns with the Together for Learning vision.
The workshop was very timely, coming soon after the release of Michael Fullan’s report on education in Ontario, Great to Excellent. Dr. Fullan presents a model for leveraging technology for learning within the contexts of his six Cs: character education, citizenship, communication, critical thinking and problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity and imagination. There are strong parallels between this vision for next steps in Ontario and the guideline document, Together for Learning.
The day focused on big questions about creativity:
- Why is creativity important?
- Who needs to be creative?
- What gets in the way of creativity?
- What does mindset have to do with creativity?
- Is creativity a new literacy?
- What does play have to do with creativity?
- How can we encourage creativity to blossom and grow in the Learning Commons?
Visit the Creativity in the Learning Commons Knowledge-Building Centre to see how we explored these ideas.
