Tags

The project “Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back” is a response to the brief given
by Rick Raakt on how to promote creativity in education. To achieve this we formulated the
research question: “How can creating space for curiosity enable students to develop a deeper
sense of self?”. We believe that by enabling curiosity, the students will get to know their passions,
their desires, and ultimately themselves better, and therefore be active participants in their learning,
seeking out their own interests.
Through a series of workshops, we tried to evoke curiosity within the children by allowing them to
participate in activities that would surprise and engage them, the idea being that the outcome would
be unexpected. By working with a balance of activities rooted in reflection, intuition and active
decision-making, we saw the engagement and reception from the students that gave a deeper
understanding of the various methods of creative learning. This allowed us to see the potential that
active engagement holds.
By allowing the children to first reflect on their space, what they liked and what could be improved,
we synthesised a proposal on what could be changed within their own space. Allowing the children
to create with the purpose of improving their own space with their own ability, regardless of
background or interest, gave them a sense of agency and ownership of the outcome.
Ultimately, the outcome of our project was twofold: on one hand, we held workshops, the outcome
of which were pillows for the chairs in the classroom and a collection of furniture, the shape and
colour designed through a series of activities by the students. On the other hand, a guidebook for
teachers, meant to be used as a tool to integrate creativity into their lessons. These outcomes ran
parallel, one informing the other. While the workshops are an iteration of the guidebook, the
guidebook was also synthesised as a direct result of the understanding we gained by running the
workshops.