Julia Reeve Weaving creative learning into UK Higher Education
1. Weaving creative learning into UK Higher Education
LEGO® Serious Play® International Conference 2019
Julia Reeve, Teacher Fellow jreeve@dmu.ac.uk @juliacreeve
http://writingpad.our.dmu.ac.uk/
De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
2. About me
• Art & Design background: Fashion & Costume
• Current role: cross-institution staff & students
• Teacher Fellow
• Visual and kinesthetic pedagogy to
foster confidence, self-reflection and
creative thinking
3. Early Inspiration
‘…going through the thoughtful, physical process of making
something……an individual is given the opportunity to reflect,
and to make their thoughts, feelings or experiences manifest
and tangible.” (Gauntlett 2011, p. 4)
‘Lego Serious Play posits that learning is deeper and more
personal when we make something and that the mind learns
best and retains more when people are actively engaged.”
(James & Brookfield 2014 p117)
4. Re-contextualising my practice-LSP training & conference 2017
• “Radical and heartfelt”
• “It’s not about the bricks”
• “…whether mind maps or
collages, the stories that
these mediating objects
allow us to tell are the
most important aspect of
LSP workshops.”
http://writingpad.our.dmu.ac.uk/2017/11/09/adventures-in-legoland/
5. Staff workshops 2017-present
• Introduction to LSP – 2 hrs.
• Impacted on over 300 members
of staff across the university
• Has been adopted into the
curriculum, e.g. for Teacher
Training: “Allowing staff to
explore the challenges of
dealing with modern HE
students by designing the
perfect metaphorical Lecturer in
Lego and sharing the rationale
for their designs.”
https://writingpad.our.dmu.ac.uk/2018/06/28/reflections-on-
visual-and-kinaesthetic-staff-development-sessions-at-dmu-
introduction-to-lego-serious-play/
6. Researcher workshops 2017-present
• Inspired by Alison James
• Now embedded into Researcher
Development Programme
• Enhances reflective ability,
creative thinking and
commitment to learning:
“Playing with Legos reminded
me that my PhD is, at its very
core, a thing of joy.”
7. Undergraduate workshops 2017-present
• Weaving LSP into academic
skills development
• Introduction to Critical Reflection
• “Helped tap into my creative
side and develop a sense of
originality. It also helped me to
focus and really get into a
reflective mood.”
8. 2018 #Mindbuilder competition
• “I was able to look at my research and its
development from a whole new
dimension.”
• Identical small Lego kits
• Lego Serious Play training
• 2 minutes to tell research stories
• ‘Speed dating’ format
• Judging criteria: creative thinking,
storytelling & reflection skills
• External judges/speakers
• Prizes for winners
http://writingpad.our.dmu.ac.uk/2018/12/07/mindbuilder-lego-
serious-play-competition-for-research-students-dmu-doctoral-college-
28-11-18/
https://panopto.dmu.ac.uk/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=34d66776-
3147-41d5-8c5e-296027ef12dd
9. Beyond LSP: Mindful Lego for wellbeing
• Staff
• Researchers
• Autistic Spectrum students
• Inspired by Contemplative
Pedagogies
• “The workshop helped me to
express out my fears,
frustrations and difficulties I’m
facing in writing.”
• “I built a palace of light where
you can go and wander around
and find peace.”
10. Creative techniques that sit alongside LSP
• Reframing Research
• Hand-drawn Infographics
• Swollage
https://t.co/rpUStujFyv
https://writingpad.our.dmu.ac.uk/2019/07/19/playful-learning-
conference-2019-through-the-rabbit-hole/
11. Creative learning: coming up
• Research Project: embedding
Creative & Contemplative
pedagogy into the curriculum
• University-wide Playful Learning
Network
14. Further Reading
Ashton, S. & Stone, R. (2018) An A-Z of Creative Teaching in Higher Education. London: Sage.
Brown, N. & Collins, J. (2018) Using LEGO® To Understand Emotion Work In Doctoral Education. International
Journal of Management and Applied Research, 5 (4).
Burvall, A. & Ryder, D. (2017) Intention: Critical Creativity in the Classroom. Irvine: EdTechTeam Press.
Francis, P. (2009) Inspiring writing in art and design: taking a line for a write. Bristol: Intellect Books.
Gauntlett, D. (2011). Making is Connecting: The Social Meaning of Creativity, from DIY and Knitting to YouTube
and Web 2.0. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Groppel-Wegener, A. (2018) Tactile Academia. [Online] Available from: http://tactileacademia,wordpress.com
[Accessed 20/6/2019]
Hart, T. (2004) Opening the Contemplative Mind in the Classroom. Journal of Transformative Education, 2 (1).
James, A. & Brookfield, S. D. (2014). Engaging Imagination: Helping Students become Creative and Reflective
Thinkers. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.
Reeve, J. (2014) How can adopting the materials and environment of the studio engage Art & Design students
more deeply with research and writing? An investigation into the Reframing Research technique, Journal of Writing
in Creative Practice, 7 (2) p. 267-281.
Reeve, J. & Morris, M. (2016) Visualising your research with Infographics. Vitae Occasional Papers. [Online] 4
(p27-35) Available from: https://www.vitae.ac.uk/vitae-publications/guides-briefings-and-information/vitae-
occasional-papers-2016.pdf/view
Reeve, J. (2017) Embodied Creativity: Messiness, Emotion and Academic Writing. Creative Academic Magazine.
[Online] Available from: http://www.creativeacademic.uk/uploads/1/3/5/4/13542890/cam8.pdf [Accessed 1/3/2019]
Reeve, J. & Towlson, K. (2019) Playful Writing with Writing PAD. In: James, A. & Nerantzi, C. (eds.) The Power of
Play in Higher Education. London: Palgrave MacMillan, p.207-209.
Writing PAD East Midlands. [Online] Available from: http://writingpad.our.dmu.ac.uk/
