With the election around the corner, there are many issues that need to be aired, but right now I am going to focus on one that is critical to our society as well as close to my heart: putting Human intelligence and creativity at the heart of education. This is far from being a new argument, but it is one that still needs to be had. 

There is a lot right with education. There is innovation happening everywhere and I personally know many headteachers and CEOs of multi academy trusts doing incredible work. But there is still much wrong with how our education system works, particularly from secondary schools through to university, with the focus on attainment above all else.

We have a chance, particularly as we face the very likely prospect of a new government, to support a greater shift in how we see ‘learning’ and what we believe our young people should leave school with.

Human intelligence and creativity (in harmony with artificial intelligence), empathy, problem solving, agency, oracy, and wellbeing. These should be in balance with attainment. 

The Arts can be a critical element in achieving this balance. There are real signs of positive rhetoric from some parties, including respect for The Arts coming through loud and clear. And we do need that support…across the arts, design and cultural sectors. Because, despite official government statistics estimating that the creative industries are worth £125bn to our economy, and that one in 14 of us work in creative industries, the number of young people studying creative subjects at GCSE and N5 are the lowest they’ve ever been. As the Design Council has recently published, there has been a 68% decrease in the number of students taking design & technology at GCSE level. 

But creativity, of course, is far broader than arts and culture and the ‘creative’ sector. It is an essential skill, indeed an outlook, that if we embody as individuals, positive change becomes possible throughout our lives and in the communities around us.

In the education circles I am a part of, we have begun talking about joyful rigour. We need rigour, structures and frameworks, yes, but we also need freedom, joy and celebration of what it is to be human contributors to society.

So let’s push for joyful rigour. The celebration, support and protection of the Arts. Defence of D&T in our schools. And the placement of creativity and human intelligence at the heart of the curriculum. 

Let’s continue to move towards judging educational outcomes beyond attainment…and not deeming ‘relevant’ career titles and financial reward as the only possible measure of degree success.

Those of us with ideas on how to support the arts and curriculum policy, and an education more centred on human intelligence from primary school level and upwards should be unifying our voices to ensure we are joined up in our thinking – and that we are heard.