CHILDREN AND CREATIVITY

When I first met Peter, between how he presented and my naivety as a newly qualified social worker, I wasn’t sure why he would be in residential care. He came across as an intelligent, confident and charismatic 14 year old, and was generally very engaging with other young people and adults alike. However, he’d had a very challenging past and because of the circumstances at home and (if I remember correctly his offending) now found himself in residential care. I also remember that when life or maybe group living or both got too much for him, he’d sometimes run away just to be by himself and think (he was once found in the middle of a wheat field having apparently spent the night there).

 Peter wrote poetry – and a lot of it. As I recall, he found that poetry helped him explore his feelings about the past and also, to a lesser extent, his present and future. It was also an outlet and form of creative self-expression, and something that was his and could not be judged by others.

 While not to the same extent, some of the other young people in the unit also wrote poetry. At the time I put that down to Peter’s influence. However, while I’ve not thought particularly deeply about it, over the years I have noticed that it was something that many other young people in care were drawn to as well. You’ll also find that poetry from care experienced young people and adults features prominently in the publications of advocacy groups for children in care such as the likes of VOYCE Whakarongo Mai, the CREATE Foundation, Become, and Who Cares Scotland etc.

 So here’s a question for you. Have you heard the story about the care experienced concert pianist? No me neither. I have played the piano for most of half a century and at school I had even hoped (very unrealistically) to make a career of it. Music is one important part of who I am. However, I play for myself and while I have a small eclectic mix of pieces that includes both Beethoven and Adele that on a good day I might even be able to play to the end without too many mistakes, for me it’s not about performance or accomplishment. What I love is playing tunes ‘by ear’ (without music), or even fragments of tunes or chord progressions, that produce endorphins, remind be of people, places, times, ideas or feelings, or connect intergenerationally with others (looking forward to re-building my Disney repertoire with my grandchildren!).

 So why no care experienced concert pianists? I had a realisation about this while recently watching the Queens’ Gambit on Netflix. For those of you who have not seen it, the series is about a fictional character Beth Harman who grew up in an orphanage in 1950’s America and went on to become a Chess champion. As well as her immense talent, Beth had curiosity, discipline and determination in spades. But she also had someone who took the time to actually teach her how to play chess over a number of years (the orphanage janitor did so secretly), and later she also became a member of a chess club. As dire as the orphanage was (with most or all children being medicated daily), she was subsequently placed in a family where (the mother’s drinking and other issues aside) she felt genuinely cared for and cared about. As such, with only two ‘placements’ she actually experienced a high level of continuity. Chess was the main focus of her life, and (despite or in her view because of her later drug-taking) was something that she could control and excel at.

Her relationships with, and support from, others were also an important element of her later success in finally winning a major Russian competition. Those of you who know my doctoral research on care leavers who went to university might also be seeing some similarities here. Too few children in care get to experience the necessary conditions to creatively (or educationally) thrive. Oh, and also, a chess board is much more portable and less expensive than a piano (and for poetry you only need a scrap of paper and a pen).

 So what about the children and young people in your care or you have responsibilities towards? How do you and your organisation foster children’s creativity and ensure that your potential concert pianists, singers, songwriters, DJs, or sound engineers can develop their interests and talents? And/or your future artists, chess players, poets, dancers, readers, rugby players, rugby fans, walkers, swimmers, cooks, car mechanics, website designers or knitters? Or indeed how do you ensure that the interests and talents that have previously been carefully nurtured by family members and in previous placements are not squandered and lost altogether?

I’d love to hear your thoughts! You can email me at: iain@betteroutcomes.co.nz

Kia kaha (Stay Strong).

Iain