This event is part of the Festival of Education series from 3 – 15 June 2015.
In this session we will gain a deeper understanding of creativity and explore what is important in early years development and how the ability to think creatively has a significant impact on learning throughout education. The workshop will explore the many aspects which contribute to making a rich creative learning environment. These will include: looking at the role of the teacher, co-learning and reflective teaching practices, our view and perceptions of children, the impact of the environment and access to intelligent resources, the importance of involving of parents and the wider community. There will be examples of open ended creative exploration and creative project work to provide ideas and inspiration for practitioners working in Early Years education.
The session will address issues around diversity and inclusion, looking at ways to ensure that all children from a variety of cultural backgrounds have equal access to creative and critical thinking. We will provide examples and case studies from our setting. Early Years education practice needs to support equality and we need to provide a range of provocations and resources that reflect different individual cultural identities.
Facilitators: Pete Moorhouse (Artist in residence) and Liz Jenkins, Sarwat Manzur, Elizabeth Male and Lucy Freeman from St. Werburgh’s Park Nursery School.
Chair: Dr Helen Manchester
Biography: Pete Moorhouse is a professional sculptor with a large portfolio of private and public commissions. He exhibits widely and has work in several collections both in the UK and abroad. He has been working in educational settings for over 20 years. He now specialises in encouraging creativity in Early Years Education undertaking numerous Artist Residencies and providing CPD training sessions for staff. Pete has had several articles published in Early Years publications and is the author of “Encouraging woodwork in Early Years Education”. Pete’s teaching practice is very much influenced by the philosophy underlying the Reggio Emilia approach to early education. Pete currently works at St. Werburgh’s Park Nursery School and Children’s Centre part of the National Teaching School consortium.