Creative Writing Through the Arts: Teacher Action Research in Primary Schools

This chapter reports a three year action research project involving teachers from 45 Primary Schools in Essex, England. The ‘Creative Writing through the Arts' programme aimed to enhance children's creative writing skills by engagement with art, dance, drama, film, and music activities. Funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Royal Opera House Bridge, the project enabled teacher collaboration with professional creative practitioners to implement arts-based learning in their classrooms. They evaluated the project with co-researchers from Anglia Ruskin University. The project inspired children to write with increased enthusiasm producing work of greater quality. Children worked collaboratively with peers and exchanged feedback on their work. Teachers shared ideas with one another and gained confidence in using the creative arts to broaden the curriculum within their classrooms and the wider schools. Despite challenges including resource constraints and initial self-doubt, the project demonstrates many benefits of arts integration to foster creativity in schools.