"Do as we say, not as we do": Achieving the creatively impossible

This paper is based on the findings from the TQEF project ‗Creativity and Innovation in
Teaching in Higher Education‘ in the School of Education, the University of
Huddersfield. The focus being how initiatives have been developed to enhance creativity
in teaching in the Post-Compulsory Sector, and its importance in curriculum development
and design.
Research from the project has highlighted eagerness amongst University teaching staff to
share ideas and develop creativity to engage and motivate their learners. This has been
achieved through Creativity Cafes: a distinctive networking ‗space‘ for the sharing and
crafting of creative approaches to teaching and learning. A selection of these approaches,
together with those of a team of teacher trainers, forms a new text (Eastwood et al, 2009).
At the heart of this publication is a belief that creative teaching enhances learning, as well
as a question: ‗is this really creativity?‘ Such discussion is sorely needed given Ofsted‘s
intent to ―crackdown‖ on boring teaching (Curtis, 2009). Therefore, this paper critically
investigates the tension between creativity in curriculum design and the powerful targets
and achievement discourse. Are the risks too high just to make learning more fun and
engaging?