About the website

This website showcases examples of trainees' work from our BA(Hons) Primary Teacher Education course. The purpose of the website is to share the various ways in which our teacher training students at Oxford Brookes University explore pedagogies that help develop pupils' cultural awareness and creative agency. 

Throughout BA(Hons) Primary Teacher Education course trainees deepen their knowledge and understanding of how to nurture creativity. This involves reflecting on their own  creative development; considering creativity as an essential skill that is relevant across all curriculum subject areas; and examining reasons why creative skills are so vital in an increasingly automated world.  Additionally, the trainees examine current educational debates on the effectiveness of teacher-led/pupil-led pedagogies (the course promotes the practice of guided learning); differences between teaching creatively and teaching for creativity; and the value of cultural capital (a term employed by Ofsted, understood as defined in the overall aims of National Curriculum for England.

This website was first launched in 2020 with an online exhibition of students' work celebrating 17 years of  'cultural placements' at Oxford Brookes University.  These special short placements take place in the many cultural venues in and around Oxfordshire. The placements offer our student teachers immerse experiences in alternative learning environments, thus encouraging the experiential practice of integrating learning experiences that take place in and beyond the classroom. 

Usually an exhibition of student work resulting from these cultural placements was held on the University campus. However, due to the pandemic the 2020 exhibition was moved online. This proved to be a popular way of sharing creative approaches to teaching and learning. Therefore, more examples of trainees' work are added to this website each year.  And because exploring creativity pedagogies is a dynamic research area, the content of this website shows how the programme continuously evolves.  However, three key 'creative conditions' (Hosack Janes, 2022) are always present in the teaching. These are: 

• Valuing the arts in everyday life

• Allowing time for experimentation and play

• Providing opportunities to collaborate with others

To find out more about how the cultural placements at Oxford Brookes University have evolved since starting in 2003 click here. 

A list of our cultural partners can be found on the side navigation bar, together with accompanying trainees' work inspired by their collections.