Festivals of Invention and Creativity as a model for creative lifelong learning
In this Q&A, J-WEL Education Innovation grantee Ann Berger Valente explains how she is creating resources to deepen and broaden the reach of creative learning experiences.
By Maria Segala
Through its Education Innovation Grants, the Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL) at MIT Open Learning aspires to develop the building blocks, ideas, and connections that power global transformation in learning. J-WEL grants support educational innovations across a rich variety of fields including: linguistics, mechanical engineering, literature, architecture, physics, management, political science, and more. More than $5 million in funding has been awarded to MIT researchers since 2017.
As part of an ongoing series, we are taking a closer look at each 2023 grantee’s projects. In the spotlight today is Ann Berger Valente, educational research manager at the MIT Media Lab, working closely with her collaborator, Leo Burd, director of the Lemann Creative Learning Program at the Media Lab. Valente’s project “Promoting creative learning through Festivals of Invention and Creativity: building on a successful model from Brazil,” builds on the Media Lab’s Lifelong Kindergarten group’s Brazilian Creative Learning Network program.
Since 2015, the Brazilian Creative Learning Network (BCLN) has offered programs, resources, and events that promote and support the implementation of playful, creative, and inclusive learning practices in both schools and non-formal educational environments throughout the country. Working closely with the BCLN, Valente plans to develop a set of resources and guides to deepen and broaden the reach of creative learning experiences through Festivals of Invention and Creativity in countries around the world. Valente and Burd will gather input and feedback during the development process from educators in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, and other countries to iteratively refine the resources.
What problem or challenge is your project trying to solve?
There is global recognition that educational approaches need to undergo major changes in order to become more relevant and engaging for students and to better prepare them for a rapidly changing world. Yet teachers often lack feasible solutions that they can implement in their classrooms and end up missing out on opportunities to promote their students’ curiosity and creativity. The Festivals of Invention and Creativity (FICs) are local celebrations where children, families, educators, and decision makers can experience firsthand the joy of learning by exploring meaningful activities with high and low tech materials. FICs are one of the strategies the Lifelong Kindergarten has developed through its Brazilian Creative Learning Network to address these challenges.
In what ways do you anticipate your project will impact its intended audience or community?
The FIC Toolkit will provide the background and practical examples to enable educators around the world to organize their own Festivals of Invention and Creativity. Through the dissemination of locally-implemented creative learning activities, parents and teachers will see that their children and students can be constructively engaged in pursuing their own ideas when interacting with carefully designed open-ended materials. This transforms the dynamics of control in the traditional classroom from one where teachers disseminate content, to one where students are agents of their own learning and are encouraged to explore their curiosity, express their ideas, and collaborate with one another. In addition, the FICs provide recognition to those innovative educators who are often overlooked by their colleagues or the school administration, inspiring their colleagues to explore more creativity in their own classrooms.
What role does collaboration play in the development and implementation of your project?
The FIC model has been evolving throughout Brazil since 2017 as educators in the Brazilian Creative Learning Network promote their own regional events. In each community, educators collaborate in the organization and planning of their events as they share experiences, explore new ways to encourage innovation, test ideas, and question existing practices in respectful collaboration.
Collaboration has also been an important part of the development of the FIC Toolkit as we reflect with our partners about the evolution of the festivals over time. With each iteration, new elements have been added to the model according to the local context or community. At the same time, we have noticed that some of the essential, but nuanced aspects of the original design are sometimes overlooked. We have interviewed key organizers in the Brazilian Creative Learning community in order to investigate some of these misconceptions and are designing the materials in the Toolkit to address these issues. In addition, the feedback from our partners in Chile, Mexico, and South Africa have helped to shape the materials for an even broader international audience.
What do you hope is the biggest takeaway from your project?
We hope that through the dissemination of the FIC Toolkit, a growing number of educators will be inspired to provide engaging, creative learning experiences for children in communities worldwide. We have seen that decision makers from several secretaries of education in Brazil who participated in local FICs came away determined to offer these opportunities in their school systems and subsequently incorporated the festival into the official calendars. Increased buy-in at the public policy level would be a tremendous takeaway from our J-WEL project.
Originally published at https://www.jwel.mit.edu. Interested in learning more about grants from the Jameel World Education Lab at MIT Open Learning? Visit the lab’s grants website.
