CREATIONS - D2.1 The features of inquiry learning: theory, research and practice

This deliverable, D2.1, The features of inquiry learning: theory, research and practice identifies the essential features firstly of European creativity in education and, secondly of inquiry learning in science education. It is made up of a review of relevant literature, reports and relevant outcomes of EU projects. It also reports on a series of workshops with key stakeholders who ‘exchanged experiences’ to contribute to identifying the essential features. The deliverable culminates in a summary of the necessary features of creativity in education and inquiry learning, drawn from all of these different sources. Sections 1 and 2 introduce the project and the initial definition of creativity in science education with which the project began. They also provide details of the literature review and workshop methodology Section 3 encompasses the main literature review of academic publications, reports and practice within creativity in education and inquiry learning. It provides the historical context of the nature of creativity, and wider understandings of creativity in education per se, emphasizing the important inter-relationship of creative teaching and teaching for creativity. It then focuses down on what is known about arts partnership and arts/science integration and their pedagogies, before honing in further on creative teaching, teaching for creativity and inquiry learning within science education. This last section considers pedagogies, with a focus on IBSE and the use of technologies. Section 4 focuses in on the learning outcomes relevant to CREATIONs, from the CREAT-IT project. This details the underpinning theoretical concepts for both projects of Possibility Thinking, the ‘4 Ps’, Wise Humanising Creativity and Living Dialogic Space, alongside the CREAT-IT pedagogical principles. Here these are newly applied to the CREATIONs aim of demonstrating innovative approaches involving Scientific Research through creative arts-based ways to spark young people’s interest in science and in following scientific careers. Section 5 details the findings from the pan-European workshops which aimed to discover: what creativity in science education means for the participants; what initiatives they were aware of that engage students via different means including the arts and culture; and what pedagogies the participants thought were key to using this approach. The workshops refined the creativity in science education definition to the following: “Purposive and imaginative activity generating outcomes that are original and valuable in relation to the learner. This occurs through critical reasoning using the available evidence to generate ideas, explanations and strategies as an individual or community, whilst acknowledging the role of risk and emotions in interdisciplinary contexts”. Across the 8 workshops details of nearly 60 initiatives in creative/inquiry-based science education were gleaned; and the CREAT-IT pedagogic principles were debated and reinforced. Section 6, finally, synthesizes all of the above. It emphasizes the importance of creative science teaching and teaching for creativity within inquiry science learning as fundamentally relational and grounded in professional wisdom. It offers the eight CREATIONs features as follows: Dialogue; Interdisciplinarity; Individual, Collaborative and Communal activities for change; Balance and Navigation; Empowerment and Agency; Risk, Immersion and Play; Possibilities; and Ethics and Trusteeship. This section culminates with an exemplification of the inter-relationship of the CREATIONs features and IBSE pedagogies.