Back in 2006 I started to research the evidence available on the internet on the impact creativity had on us, on our mental, physical and emotional health. I discovered that for some time scientists had been running projects with artists and young people looking at how creative activity not only influences the brain but also our ability to learn and to be receptive to learning. As a long serving Arts practitioner I knew about the benefits to young people of involving them in Arts projects, the improvement in their confidence, their language skills, their motivation, their ability to work as a team and to think and view their environment and the obstacles they face from a new perspective. I also knew how hard it was to ‘evidence’ these small miracles given the tools that existed to measure them.
I had previously met Professor Matt Cuttle from Southampton University who had inspired me with tales of his work with Primary children and magnified images of brain cells; from drama to dance to visual art he had incorporated a range of art skills to help young people look at science with a creative eye. They had taken over an empty shop to hold an exhibition of art work about neurons and synapses, worked with a Dance agency to produce a choreographed piece on the brain – did you know for instance, the first concern of the brain is movement? So Professor Matt had cleverly introduced a swathe of young people to science in a fun, inventive and enjoyable way and opened the eyes of the professional artists involved at the same time, I’m sure.
If you ever have the time to visit the Arts Council England Library (and possibly the permission to do so) you could work your way through a raft of publications and reports on projects with NESTA (National Endowment for Science and the Arts) Government departments, Educational bodies, Creative Partnerships, University research foundations etc., etc., listing countless projects that investigated or explored and attempted to measure in a variety of ways, the potential of the Arts to enhance, improve, enable, inspire, re-juvenate; children, young people and adults, in a range of environments and settings and communities.
This was all encapsulated for me this Christmas when I met up with an old friend from my ‘youth theatre days’ who sensibly went into ‘business’ as opposed to ‘theatre’ but has put his theatre skills to good use, as he has built a reputation for being a successful ‘public speaker’. He mentioned that he regularly gets asked to mentor other staff who usually ask him for tips and how he struggled to define what made him so at ease with ‘Public Speaking’. He knew for instance, that there are plenty of books and teachers who can tell you how to shape a speech or show you how to speak confidently, but that technique isn’t enough to rise above the crowd. It was his four years as a young aspiring actor living, breathing and working in the professional theatre that nurtured the intensive, fertile and holistic ‘training ground’ of the youth theatre, that he credits with giving him the skills that make him a success today. He appeared in roughly fourty plays or events (poetry evenings, music halls etc.) during that time and thinks that no amount of purely technical speech and drama training can replace the value of that experience (observing, doing, debating, experimenting, failing, learning, doing). So, when asked for tips he tells his colleagues “Go and join an amateur theatre company, you won’t find what you’re looking for in the workplace”. I know what he meant, another friend is a high-flying business consultant and has read every ‘technique’ book going, his company thrive on putting ’systems’ into place for their clients but it’s the extra dimension, the slight element of chaos perhaps, that sets something apart, makes us sit up and listen.
So back to creative learning, what was my point? Well, I’ve posted my creative learning journey as a downloadable pdf on my website if you’re interested and want to know more http://www.artsmonkey.co.uk/14.html I’m no academic, it’s a personal and brief dip through some of the approaches to learning we’ve seen since the 60’s – with weblinks and references. I still get icy shivers down the spine when someone mentions ‘psychometric testing’ but if you haven’t investigated your learning style, your MI or given thought to how you might thrive better in your work environment it’s worth a read. It won’t instantly improve your ability to remember information or think more creatively, or to learn new tasks but it might set you off on a journey – and it’s the journey that provides us with the ‘magic moments’ the experiences that inform us as people, give us the passion and make us of interest to others, isn’t it?
Filed under: Literary, Sharing, Theatre, Youth Arts, creative moments , "creative learning", "magic moments" "youth theatre", "Prof. Mat Cuttle", "public speaking", ACE, creativity
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