How does CAME fit into our creative curriculum?

As the recent Creative Partnerships' publication Creative Learning (Ed Julian Sefton-Green, Arts Council England September 2008) states, understanding of what creative learning might mean varies. What is CA? was not designed as a 'creative' approach to learning, but it has many features which schools view as creative in terms of their approach. In order to work within the framework of national expectations around creativity, we will look at how What is CA? fits within QCA expectations of creative thinking and behaviours, as below.

Questioning and challenging conventions and assumptions AND Trying alternatives and fresh approaches, keeping options open

One of the principles of many CAME lessons is that there is not just one solution to a problem, but that many solutions can be correct, as long as they have an underpinning logic. Students in CAME lessons are actively encouraged to challenge what the teacher ad fellow students say. Students are also encouraged to provide their own strategies and solutions, which may not be the standard algorithms taught in their day-to-day maths lessons. The teacher often plays the role of devil's advocate to challenge students about their solutions, whether they are logically correct or incorrect. This encourages students to generate multiple solutions and to question their own and others' assumptions. Many of the lessons deliberately incorporate problems that challenge children's perceptions, and particularly the notion that 'the teacher is always right'. For example:

In Digit Detective (PCAME, Lesson 2), the children are presented with the following problem to solve: 2? + 4 = 1? There is an expectation that the children realise that there is no solution to this problem. Children who are not familiar with the CAME approach sometimes persist for some time in their attempt to find a solution;
In The Cat and Snail Story (Let's Think!, Activity 21) the children are presented with a series of five picture cards to sequence into a logical story. Again, children are expected to notice that the story will only make sense if one of the picture cards is removed. Younger children often assume that this is 'not allowed' because the teacher has not mentioned this as a possibility. The activity encourages them to think laterally about a solution.

Making inventive connections and associating things that are not usually related

Many of the CAME lesson are rooted in story contexts and the mathematics that children will need to use is not specified. The intention is that the children themselves develop a real understanding of the actual application of mathematics by connecting it to a need to solve a problem...This is one of the 'five pillars' of CA - bridging. For example:

In Seeing Numbers (Let's Think!, Activity 1) children are invited to connect their understanding of a number with the visual images that represent numbers in the world around them, for example images on a dice, egg boxes, fingers and toes. They then use these visual images to help them tackle simple addition and subtraction problems.
In Ladders and Slides (Thinking Maths, Activity 8) the students discuss and describe the multiplicative relationship between sets of numbers. They are then asked to calculate the heights of different slides, and begin to use their understanding from the first part of the lesson to introduce ratio as a means of solving the problem.

Envisaging what might be: imagining - seeing things in the mind's eye

CA lessons are often rooted in a real life or story context. This enables the children to imagine themselves actually having to find a solution to the problem presented. As the lessons progress and move beyond the need for concrete experience, there is a stronger focus on the need for children to visualise solutions and they are often encouraged to represent their understanding though drawing.

Some of the CA lessons specifically focus on the role of the mind to visualise or imagine:

In Seeing Numbers (Let's Think! 5 to 6, Activity 1) the teacher asks the children to imagine a number, for example seeing seven as an array of two by three with an extra one;
In Cooking (Let's Think!, Activity 42) the teacher asks the children to use a set of pictures to tell a story about a cook, cooking a meal. However, the pictures do not seem to tell a logical story of a meal in its entirety, so the children have to imagine the missing pieces of the story in order to give it a logical meaning. There are many possible solutions.

Reflecting critically on ideas, actions and outcomes

Another term for the above description could easily be metacognition, which is one of the fundamental principles of What is CA?.

cognitive acceleration

DEVELOPING CHILDREN'S THINKING