Creativity in Education and Learning: A Guide for Teachers and Educators

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Commissioned by Creativity, Culture and Education, the Centre for Real-World Learning (CRL) at the University of Winchester researched and trialled a model of creativity which is now widely used in England and, since its publication by the OECD, across the world. At the time schools had only the definition of creativity offered by the Robinson Report alongside the more general criteria outlined in the Personal Learning and Thinking Skills to guide them. The outcome: The outcome resulting from engagement with the activity (e.g., the solution to a problem, the products generated from completing a task, the result of resolving an issue or challenge, or any other demonstrated or experienced consequence of engaging in a learning activity). In the longer example there are opportunities to build pupil responsibility by creating scenarios in which pupils have to explain and justify their decision or solutions. Allowing pupils to undertake more complex challenges inevitably involves them taking risks thereby experiencing a culture that allows for mistakes and the learning that emerges from these.

Glăveanu, V. P., Hanchett Hanson, M., Baer, J., Barbot, B., Clapp, E. P., Corazza, G. E., … Sternberg, R. J. (2020). Advancing creativity theory and research: A Socio‐cultural manifesto. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 54, 741–745. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.395. Over the last 18 months I’ve seen the weight of evidence growing for the way that creativity drives change, gives people agency and helps us navigate our way in theworld. Beghetto, R. A., & Karwowski, M. (2017). Toward untangling creative self-beliefs. The creative self (pp. 3–22). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Typically, teachers attempt to remove uncertainty from learning activities by predefining all four aspects of a learning activity. This is understandable as teachers may feel that introducing or allowing for uncertainty to be included in the activity may result curricular chaos, resulting in their own (and their students) frustration and confusion (Kennedy, 2015). Consequently, most teachers learn to plan (or select pre-planned) lessons that provide students with a predetermined problem or task to solve, which has a predetermined process or procedure for solving it, an already established criteria for determining successful performance, and a clearly defined outcome. Elaborating upon creative leadership, Doug Parkin, Principal Adviser for Leadership and Management at Advance HE, says,Jeffrey, B., & Craft, A. (2004). Teaching creatively and teaching for creativity: Distinctions and relationships. Educational Studies, 30, 77–87. Robinson, K. (2006). Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.Ted.Com/Talks/Ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.

Beghetto, R. A., Karwowski, M., & Reiter-Palmon, R. (2020). Intellectual Risk taking: A moderating link between creative confidence and creative behavior? Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000323. The open-ended questions will open them a world of imaginative thinking and they can come up with creative responses.

For example, this could involve a blend of 5 minute exercises in which pupils have to generate answers/solutions and more complex challenges requiring pupils to collaborate to create an outcome over 20+ minutes. Unlike standardized tests, which (arguably) provide a clear measure of students' knowledge and understanding, creativity is more difficult to assess. This prompts some educators to dismiss its importance. However, there are ways to measure creativity, such as through creative projects and assessments focusing on problem-solving and critical thinking skills. If schools puts creativity at the heart of their curriculum intent with teaching for creativity as the mechanism for how that intent is implemented, the impact can be an outstanding learning environment where significant and sustained progress is evident in all aspects of school life. Beghetto, R. A. (2018b). What if?: Building students’ problem-solving skills through complex challenges. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

The brainstorming activities involving puzzles can stimulate the skills of problem-solving in children. Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2014). Classroom contexts for creativity. High Ability Studies, 25(1), 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/13598139.2014.905247. How might efforts that focus on understanding and supporting creative learning fit within the broader aims of positive education? How might researchers and educators work together to support such efforts?A person with a creative mindset always has that craving to learn new things every time and this helps them to have that amazing feeling of lifelong learning. Every three years the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) identifies an important fourth new area alongside literacy, maths and science in which to measure performance of 15-year-olds. Creative Thinking is the focus of its in 2021 (now 2022 owing to the pandemic) and is a powerful indicator of the growing status of creativity in schools. PISA defines creative thinking as: A good classroom environment should give space for students to follow their passions whether it is music, dance, poetry, drawing or other art forms. The World Economic Forum Future Jobs Report of 2020 has suggested fifteen skills that will be most needed between now and 2025. At least 10 of these are direct outputs of developing independent learners through creativity such as:

Kennedy, M. (2005). Inside teaching: How classroom life undermines reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Without uncertainty, there is no creative learning. This is because uncertainty establishes the conditions necessary for new thought and action (Beghetto, 2019a). If students (and teachers) already know what to do and how to do it, then they are rehearsing or reinforcing knowledge and skills. This assertion becomes clearer when we consider it in light of the structure of learning activities. Recall from the previous section, learning activities can be thought of as being comprised of four elements: the what, the how, the criteria for success, and the outcome. Beghetto, R. A., & Schuh, K. (2020). Exploring the link between imagination and creativity: A creative learning perspective. In D. D. Preiss, D. Cosmelli, & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), Mind wandering and creativity. Academic Press.Stokes, P. D. (2010). Using constraints to develop creativity in the classroom. In R. A. Beghetto & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), Nurturing creativity in the classroom (pp. 88–112). New York: Cambridge University Press. The Commission was convened to look at our education system and how learning can nurture the capacity for creativity inchildren. Students get opportunity to think more critically about the question or subject and come up with innovative ideas. At Prisma, learners engage in a workshop called Collaborative Problem-Solving twice per week. These workshops might involve a critical thinking simulation, like when learners had to choose which businesses to invest in, Shark Tank style; or a science simulation where they had to figure out how to power a city using a combination of resources. In real life, much of creative problem solving happens in teams, yet in many traditional schools, kids are asked to solve problems on their own.