An Educator in the Creative Realm

I have to admit, making the questions for the interview, carrying out the interview and later seeing the results of the interview were very different in terms of coherence amongst them. What I thought would be very straight forward questions that would produce very generic answers was, to much of my surprise, not the case at all. My interviewee, Helder (one of my bosses), surprised me in his answers and reasoning. 

In this blog, I’ll point out some of my interviewee’s points brought out during the interview and I’ll draw back on some of this semester’s readings in relation to the creative industries. 

Helder, who’s the director of Kids & Us an English academy, explained that for him the creative industry jobs need people of much qualities: ‘You have to be a hard worker. I think you have to communicate well, you have to be very patient... creative... a lot of enthusiasm, and confidence, dedication. As I always say, we need to keep studying, working.. We don’t know everything... life is like a constant learning cycle let’s say. And you need to be very organized.’ Similarly, Florida, a geographer, lists some of the same qualities as did the interviewee, “it’s more flexible, you’re scheduled... make creative decisions” (Hesmondhalgh and Baker, 2011, pp. 5 as cited in Florida, 2002, pp. 86). 

Now, Florida, Hesmondalgh and Baker talk about how in a creative job one needs to add their own flavour in order to see and get the results they need for their customers to be happy and look good (2011 as cited in 2002). Helder, alike, mentioned how adding one’s own creativity in order to see progress in his students and in his job is very motivating, as well as seeing the customers, the parents, happy with their children’s results. ‘What motivates me is... you know to see them growing up and learning... and maybe in the future speaking to me and saying Hey you did this or that for and that was really helpful, thank you.’ For him, the creative industry is all about making the best of the best for his customers and to make them look and feel good and happy with the service. 

When asked to describe and explain his job and how it entails creativity he said, 'I think that everyday there is something new happening and sometimes there’s some issues you’ve got to deal with. So, those things they help you be creative. It’s like things that are not predicted, so everyday there’s an unpredicted thing happening... going on.’ Helder was referring to being an innovative worker, a creative one and one that wants to continue learning as so to further grow. Accordingly, Hartley argues that “in this context, [one of creativity and innovation and yearning for learning], ... the idea of the creative industries makes the most sense... [because it] can have decisive social and economic effects” (2005, pp. 4). 

For a final food for thought, I wanted to bring in some of the things the interviewee mentioned about adding or taking away from the creative industry so to make an improvement. This is what he enclosed,

    ‘That is a tough question... I think now in this sector [the education sector] is that sometimes I just wish I could be a little bit with all of the students or all the parents to make sure they’re doing what they have to do in order to improve their skills... Or in terms of like English, but it’s impossible to be with all of them at the same time. I just wish I could be with them a little bit more so I can help them more than I already do. But, another thing is that the this industry demands a lot from its workers, us the educators, and I guess what I would change is the availability that we have for our students and their parents.’

References 

Hartley, J. (2009). Creative industries. Blackwell.

Hesmondhalgh, D., & Baker, S. (2011). Creative labor: Media work in three cultural industries. In Creative labor: Media work in three cultural industries (p. 1). London: Routledge.