Shifting the boundaries of professionalism: empowering learners and teachers through assessing creativity during a collaborative CARA2 project.

Three schools from the Reading area- a girls secondary school, a special needs school and a primary school won a bid to conduct a collaborative project under the auspices of the ‘Creativity and Action Research Awards Two ’ projects managed by CapeUK. The project focus was the application of ‘De Bono’s Thinking Hats ’ to the use of dance as a medium for creative learning with pupils whose linguistic capabilities were very limited. The project enabled the schools to work with externally appointed ‘creative partners ’ and a university mentor. A formative assessment tool was developed resulting from collaborative working that used theory to inform practice and creative reflection upon practice. During the process the professional identities of the teachers evolved as they focused ever more closely on personalised approaches to learning and empowering learners through sharing the responsibility for learning with them. Effective collaboration by the project partners created motivation and promoted values of care, trust and ambition between the partners and the learners as the teachers became ever surprised by the increasingly high and sustainable levels of achievement by the learners