How do we facilitate learning that invites inquiry and makes learning purposeful? In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Dr. Penny Hay, an artist, educator, and researcher in the field of culture and creativity. Penny’s doctoral research focused on children’s learning identities as artists.
Tune in to learn Penny’s approach to engaging children in learning through the arts and across the curriculum, what she’s discovered in her research about children’s learning identities as artists, and how you can start teaching art creatively in your classroom.
“What art does is manifest and make visible creativity daily. So, it’s a lovely approach to inviting possibility and a really creative approach to teaching art and design in the primary curriculum.” – Dr. Penny Hay
Penny details the important role of the adult in children’s learning, how to reimagine education with an inquiry-based approach, and the power of learning as a shared experience where you are your children’s learning companion.
“Imagine a world where our children are engaged in serious creative play, where their environments are full of space and light, where adults are companions in the children’s inquiries about the world. Creative adults who show a deep respect for children’s ideas, theories, and fascinations.” – Dr. Penny Hay
Penny’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
- Invite possibility and openness to create an ethos that makes creativity visible.
- Go with the flow so that you genuinely follow children’s fascinations.
Recommended Resources:
House of Imagination
Forest of Imagination
Teaching Art Creatively by Dr. Penny Hay
Children are Artists: Supporting Children’s Learning Identity as Artists by Dr. Penny Hay
Schools Without Walls UK
Listen to S1 Episode 6 with Ron Beghetto
Listen to S2 Episode 7 with Ron Beghetto
Follow Bath Spa University on Instagram
About Dr. Penny Hay:
Dr. Penny Hay is an artist, educator and researcher, Reader in Creative Teaching and Learning, Senior Lecturer in Arts Education, School of Education; Research Fellow, Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries; Bath Spa University and Director of Research, House of Imagination. Signature projects include School Without Walls and Forest of Imagination. Penny’s doctoral research focused on children’s learning identity as artists.
Penny is the strand leader for Creative Pedagogy in the Policy, Pedagogy and Practice Research Centre, Associate Director of TRACE at Bath Spa University and co-chair of the eARTh research group focusing on education, arts and the environment. She is co-investigator on an Erasmus+ project ‘Interstice’ in Europe researching the space between art, children and educators.
Penny is also a visiting Lecturer at Plymouth College of Art, National Teaching Fellow and Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, with awards from Action for Children’s Arts and Creative Bath.
Visit Penny’s website
Follow her on Twitter
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at
questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
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