“Emotional intelligence and creativity will set us apart from super-smart machines,” futurist Gerd Leonhard (CISCO, 2018).
We must develop that which makes us human. Throughout the EU creativity is at the core of this renewed engagement with valorising humanity’s uniqueness. Here, in a national context, Creative Ireland is valorising Irish creativity on a national stage but we must do more. The ability to “discover cutting edge research and contribute to a new ecosystem of learning” empowers us to overcome “unprecedented social, economic and environmental challenges” (OECD, 2018).
Do achieve this we need a paradigmatic shift in thinking to valorise creativity and RESEARCH-INFORMED creative practice. We need to embed HOW to be creative in our education system and to do that we need to research, and inform policy. Historically, a gap has existed, with low level funding of arts practitioners. We propose a renewed, targeted effort locally to support practice-based arts research. We need to connect artists and research and enable the catalysing open innovation effect of their creativity for Ireland.
In the OECD’s “The Future we want” document – “creating new value” is a crucial part of their learning compass – with knowledge (disciplinary, interdisciplinary, epistemic and procedural) as a foundation. The intrinsic disciplinary knowledge that is creativity – as a mode of engaging with the world – is vital for Ireland’s future.
Creativity is an national resource – we must liberate it / capture it / learn how to BE it… this is not just about “giving artists money to do their lovely stuff” but through research – about understanding how cognitively, the ways of thinking and being creative that creative arts practice delivers is crucial for the knowledge society, for Ireland’s success:
to research creative innovation;
to impart open creative innovation; and
to create new value
The Arts and Culture in Education Research Repository (ACERR) has been developed by an association of institutions committed to upholding the principles of the Arts in Education Charter and the Creative Ireland Programme, promoting Arts and Cultural Education and Arts in Education Research. Its creation fulfils one of the commitments made in the Arts in Education Charter (2012).
The ACERR has joined the Digital Repository of Ireland as a member in order to securely deposit materials relating to arts and culture in education in a trusted digital repository. Work on developing the ACERR has been overseen by a steering group with members representing over 10 national cultural and educational institutions. The ACERR intends to facilitate long-term preservation of arts and culture in education content from a broad range of backgrounds.
The ACERR will facilitate data in a range of mediums, including video and images, which will help researchers convey and demonstrate the findings of their research to the general public, who will have free access to the repository. The ACERR has been developed as part of the Creative Ireland Programme with support from the Dormant Accounts Funds.
The ACERR is available to access HERE.
The Creative Ireland Programme is a culture-based programme, all of Government initiative which places creativity at the centre of public policy, and is designed to promote individual, community and national wellbeing. You can find out more HERE.
