Russell Foster
Creativity: Society, the Brain and Education
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Western society is increasingly dependent upon a creative workforce for economic survival. Governments recognise this and have established organisations like NESTA to promote creativity. What else should we do? Russell Foster will explore how we might respond to an increasingly 24/7 society in which the creative potential of individuals is under threat. He will look at the damaging division between the sciences and the arts, and the way it is promoted by education at all levels. Artists and scientists may use different languages but they share a common passion and creativity to understand and describe our world. A recent education project combined the teaching of evolution and music and explored the theme of ‘Identity’ to young children. The creative potential of this project will be described and the value of such approaches in education considered.