I have to admit to committing a great sin this week; I watched England play India in a T20 cricket match on the tele. Worse than that, it was actually the highlights show (‘highlights of a T20’…is that tautological in some way?) Anyway.…. I find cricket a wonderful metaphor for so many aspect of life and if you speak to avid readers of my blog, both of them will tell you I like nothing more than a good metaphor. The immediacy of T20 cricket and the satisfying of the insatiable thirst for action and short term results, is not to my liking. Compare this to the time, the patience, the thoughtfulness, the grace of test cricket and I’d argue there is no comparison. This has often made me draw parallels with the FE and HE education system in which I work and study and similarly to my PhD topic of creativity as an employability skill – it shouldn’t be rushed; it requires careful thought; sustainable and meaningful outcomes can’t be contrived in a flash at will.
Whilst I still stand by this, the completion of my data collection and conversations with participants this week has made me reflect and perhaps soften my thoughts a little.
The data set is yet to be analysed fully and requires much further exploration, however the early findings, whilst still being tentative and naïve, are suggesting that my critical position has validity but is maybe a bit strong. There does appear to be some congruence between participants that creativity, in an employment context anyway, can benefit from some immediate intensity and focus to achieve short term gain (slogging across the line if we’re keeping the metaphor going) and sometimes this can lead to longer term benefits. So rather than it being a dichotomous choice between approaches, perhaps the key is knowing when to accelerate and when to aim for short term glory, whilst being mindful, appreciative and returning to the principles of established theory to critique the product.
A recent keynote address from Lou Mycroft (@LouMycroft) at Lincoln College’s Learning Assessment & Teaching conference, eloquently and passionately highlighted the importance of ‘constellations’ of practitioners to invigorate and drive developments in learning and teaching…..practitioners creatively working together. This notion aligns with a second element of the data from the students, academics and employers I interviewed. Collaboration between stakeholders to stimulate and fuel the creative process appears important and if you pick further below the surface it appears (at this early stage) the participants perceive collaboration to be at its most effective when it engages with a range of thoughts, personalities and approaches. Interestingly, participants also feel that these engagements need not necessarily be from subject specific stakeholders; perhaps valuing the element of objectivity. T20 or test cricket, it’s a team game whatever the format.
Further analysis and hypotheses will emerge from the data set I’m sure and I look forward to it, but to return to the original metaphor, my initial findings have not moved my thinking out of the test cricket arena but it is now beginning to appreciate, just a little, the benefits of the T20 stage too ….provided it’s not seen as a panacea.
To finish, I would like to pay tribute to Professor Jacqui Briggs (Head of the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Lincoln) who sadly passed away on the 3rd July. I can’t claim to have known Prof Briggs hugely well and I only worked with her a handful of times, but when I did it was an absolutely pleasure and her balance of humility, professionalism and intellect always struck me. I’m sure she will be greatly missed.
JW.
Ph.D, me and a bit of creativity 