News The Science of Creativity with Dr Jonathan Firth 02.02.2023

This week, we were delighted to welcome back to school Dr Jonathan Firth from the University of Strathclyde. An expert on the psychology of education, Jonathan has recently developed an interest in how the science of creativity can be applied to school learning and ran a workshop on this topic for our Lower Sixth Student Learning Community. This is all part of our G&L Futures programme which aims to arm our students with the skills identified by the World Economic Forum that they will need to succeed in our rapidly changing world, many linked to creativity, innovation and ideation.

Over the course of two hours, students were introduced to the idea that creativity applies across all subjects, not just the traditionally ‘creative’ subjects, the difference between ‘small c’ and ‘big C’ creativity, the links between creativity, problem solving and critical thinking and put their creative skills to the test by planning how they would survive a zombie apocalypse. The latter task certainly gave me some interest insights into their thought processes! The session concluded with some practical strategies on how to improve your creative thinking and it was great to see the girls discussing how they might apply the ideas in their various studies from approaching maths problems, their IB internal assessments, their EPQ and the LSE mentorpreneurship In-house Internship that many are undertaking.

The workshop was part of the overall theme of this year’s SLC on ‘skills for the future’ and the group are looking forward to sharing their key findings with fellow students in an assembly after half-term.