Neil: Hello. Welcome to 6 Minute English,
I'm Neil.
Rob: And hello, I'm Rob.
Neil: Now Rob, how creative are you?
Rob: Very creative, I think. Creativity is
in my bones! Look at this wonderful script
that I wrote and we're presenting right now.
Neil: You are what we could call
'a creative' - a noun which means
someone with a lot of
imagination and ideas. In our job we have to
create - or make - content that teaches
English creatively.
Rob: Creativity is becoming more
important for everyone. The World
Economic Forum forecasts
that by 2020, creativity will be in the top
three most important skills for future jobs.
This is particularly relevant for younger
people who will be entering the world of work
soon - and that's what we'll be discussing
today. But before we do, Neil, have you
created a question for us to answer?
Neil: Yes, and it's about the very creative
artist Banksy. He created a well-known
piece of artwork that has been in the
news recently, but do you know what it is
called? Is it... a) Girl with balloon, b) Girl
with red balloon or c) Balloon girl?
Rob: I can see the picture in my head - so
I think it's c) Balloon girl.
Neil: OK, and we'll find out the answer
later. But now back to our discussion
about creativity. Experts say that students
need to focus more on creativity to help
them get a job. That's perhaps surprising
in the UK, when some of our creative
industries - that's businesses that make
music, art and TV for example - are
world famous. We are creative people, Rob!
Rob: Of course, but there's not such a
focus on being creative in education now
and that might have an effect in the
future. It's something Bernadette Duffy, an
early years consultant, has been
discussing on BBC Radio 4's Bringing up
Britain programme. What does she say
we have been focusing
too much on in schools?
Bernadette Duffy: We focus on the things
that are legitimately important but we
teach them in a way that makes them
easier to measure. I think we need to
redress the balance that puts the focus
purely on gaining the skills and far far
more on actually using them in a creative
way because that's what's going
to make a difference for the future.
Neil: So Bernadette feels we teach skills
in a way that can be easily measured and tested.
She says we teach these skills
legitimately - which here means fairly and
reasonably. But she feels we don't teach
a creative approach to learning skills.
Rob: So we mean things like problem
solving. I guess, even tasks like data
inputting and preparing spreadsheets
can be approached creatively.
In any job, it's sometimes good to 'think
outside the box' or find new ways
of doing things.
Neil: Bernadette thinks we should move
away from just learning skills and start
using these skills creatively - she used the
expression 'redress the balance' which
means 'change things to make them
fairer and more equal'.
Rob: Well, here at the BBC we have to
creative. In fact, one of our values states
that 'creativity is the lifeblood of our
organisation'. Lifeblood here means 'the
most important thing to make
something a success'.
Neil: Rob, I can see creativity is in your
blood - but on an everyday level how can we
all improve our creativity - be more like you?!
Rob: Well, Neil, I'm no expert but
Innovation Manager, Nick Skillicorn is.
He's also been speaking to the BBC and
explaining what we can do to help
ourselves. What does he suggest?
Nick Skillicorn: On a daily basis, everyone
should take fifteen minutes of what I call
unfocused time - time that they're not
looking at any screen, time that they can
essentially get back into their own head,
slow down a bit, and start forming these
new connections between disparate ideas
that result in divergent new original ideas.
Neil: So we need free time to collect all
our different thoughts in our head - what
Nick calls disparate ideas to create new
and amazing ideas.
Rob: Disparate ideas are very different
ideas, all unrelated. And we need what we
might call headspace - that's when your
mind is in a good state and you can think
clearly. For me, I have headspace when
I'm lying in the bath or out riding my bike
- there are no interruptions.
Neil: Well, you certainly don't get your
ideas sitting at a desk, focusing on one
task - we all need some downtime to get
creative. But children going into school
now will grow up to do a job that doesn't
yet exist. And faced with the challenges
of AI, automation, green issues and an
ageing population, creativity
and imagination will be vital.
Rob: Right, well, let's get back to talking
about the creativity of Banksy now.
Neil: Ah yes, because earlier I asked you
which one of his well-known pieces of
artwork has been in the news recently?
Is it... a) Girl with balloon, b) Girl with red
balloon or c) Balloon girl?
Rob: And I said c) Balloon girl. I know it
was a girl and a balloon.
Neil: Not quite right, Rob. The artwork is
titled 'Girl with balloon.' This was recently
auctioned in London but amazingly
shredded in its frame as someone's
winning bid was accepted!
Rob: Wow, that's a very creative way to
destroy a picture! I will do the same with
this script soon but not before we have
recapped some of today's vocabulary.
Starting with 'a creative' - that's a person
whose job is to use a lot of imagination and
come up with new ideas, such as
someone who works in the media
or advertising.
Neil: Then we mentioned legitimately -
which describes doing something fairly
and reasonably.
Rob: Next we heard the expression
'redress the balance'. This means to make
things fairer and more equal.
Neil: We also talked about creativity being
the lifeblood of the BBC. Lifeblood here
means the most important thing to make
something a success. And I know
creativity is running
through your veins, Rob!
Rob: Thanks, Neil. We also heard the word
disparate, meaning very different and
unrelated. And we talked about
headspace, which is when your mind is in
a good state and you can think clearly.
Neil: Before we head off to find some
headspace, don't forget to visit our
website at bbclearningenglish.com
for more great learning English content.
That's all we have time for now.
Do join us again though.
Goodbye.
Rob: Bye bye!