About our projects: Blind Voting, & Landforms and Snowstorms
For 30 Year 5 students, a pair of Creative Schools projects focusing on HASS enabled a thorough investigation of the Five Creative Habits of Learning. From setting up political parties and voting in a mock election to exploring the landforms of the Americas, these creative adventures offered ample opportunity for imagination, discipline, inquisitiveness, persistence and collaboration.
With Civics and Citizenship in mind, teacher Josette Ivester and visual artist Rebecca Hepworth invited our students to think about the democratic process, beginning by working in groups to create new political parties (based on their collective interests) and their various candidates. The students imagined the types of people who might make a good representative, with physical attributes like big ears (for good listening) and big heads to signify intelligence. Each group created a logo, slogan, poster and video advertisement for their political party. We then staged a mock election, including campaign strategies, voting, and counting ballots. Role-playing empowered our students to feel genuinely part of an electoral process.
It’s a game changer.
Out of this experience, each group created board games based on the principles of democracy. Students embraced the interactive experience, helping them internalise complex democratic concepts. This approach fostered a deeper understanding of the roles and responsibilities in a democracy while also cultivating critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. Every board game was played, and the groups both gave and received feedback.
I feel excited for the next lesson. You know you are going to do something interesting.
In Term 3 the focus moved to Geography. We created giant maps of the south and north American continents using different materials to represent the environmental characteristics and landforms. We then switched our attention to Australia, visiting John Forrest National Park to observe the impact of humans on the natural environment. We made collages to illustrate our discoveries.
How did we use the Five Creative Habits of Learning?
We encouraged our class to ask questions, explore their interests, and be inquisitive about the world around them. By nurturing their natural curiosity, we saw an increase in their motivation to learn. We encouraged collaboration through group activities and by teaching students to work through their differences. We modelled the importance of persevering through challenges. This resilience helped students become more self-directed in their learning, as they understood that it's okay to struggle and that growth comes from pushing through difficulties. Through regular reflection sessions, we encouraged the students to reflect on their learning experiences and provide feedback for continuous improvement and development of the Five Habits. We made them visible by colouring in Creative Habit wheels and painting the Habit colours on a large stick assigned to each student each week.
What did we discover?
We found that connecting theory (e.g. democratic principles) to practice (mock campaigns and elections) made education not just informative but genuinely engaging and memorable.
We established a supportive and collaborative classroom culture where students worked together and received constructive feedback. Our students became not just passive recipients of information but active participants in their own learning, and we observed this impact through various indicators. Firstly, students displayed increased enthusiasm and motivation when working on their group projects. Secondly, their retention of information and ability to apply knowledge improved.
By providing opportunities for creative expression, choice and autonomy students were able to showcase their personal interests as well as select how they demonstrated their understanding.
The impact on the Teacher/Creative team and the school:
The Creative Schools program allowed me to discover new teaching methods, fresh perspectives, and unique resources that I have been able to begin implementing into other areas of the curriculum making those lessons more engaging and effective. This partnership fostered professional growth and developed a more dynamic and stimulating classroom environment.
This collaboration has enriched my understanding of education, broadening my skill set and perspectives as I witnessed the positive influence on young minds. I enjoyed seeing the excitement and sense of pride from the students who were able to thrive much more within this particular style of learning. The mutually beneficial relationship between educators and creative professionals in the classroom is clear to me. I wish Creative Schools were around when I was a kid!
- Creative Practitioner
Jo Ivester has been able to share her newly acquired knowledge and innovative approaches with colleagues, fostering a culture of collaborative improvement. This spread of Creative Learning Habits has the potential to result in better student outcomes across various grade levels. In essence, the professional growth of a single teacher has the potential to catalyse positive changes that will enrich the educational experience for the entire school.
- School Leader
Main Curriculum Focus: Humanities and Social Sciences
Key skills involve Questioning & Researching, Analysing, Evaluating, Communicating & Reflecting.
Civics and Citizenship: roles and responsibilities of electors and representatives. Values that underpin Australia's democracy, including freedom, equality, fairness and justice. Key features of the electoral process in Australia, such as compulsory voting, secret ballot, preferential voting.
Geography: factors that shape the environmental characteristics of places. The main environmental characteristics of the continents in South America & North America. The way people alter the characteristics of Australian places. Features of environments influence human activities and the built features of places.