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INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY
OF EDUCATION
INTERNATIONAL BUREAU
OF EDUCATION
Nurturing
creative
thinking
by Panagiotis Kampylis
and Eleni Berki
EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES SERIES–25
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The International Academy
of Education
The International Academy of Education (IAE) is a not-for-profit
scientific association that promotes educational research, and its
dissemination and implementation. Founded in 1986, the Academy is
dedicated to strengthening the contributions of research, solving critical
educational problems throughout the world, and providing better
communication among policy-makers, researchers and practitioners. The
seat of the Academy is at the Royal Academy of Science, Literature and
Arts in Brussels, Belgium, and its co-ordinating centre is at Curtin
University of Technology in Perth, Australia.
The general aim of the IAE is to foster scholarly excellence in all fields
of education. Towards this end, the Academy provides timely syntheses of
research-based evidence of international importance. The Academy also
provides critiques of research and of its evidentiary basis and its application
to policy.
The current members of the Board of Directors of the Academy are:
• Maria de Ibarrola, National Polytechnical Institute, Mexico
(President)
• Barry Fraser, Curtin University of Technology, Australia (Executive
Director)
• Adrienne Alton-Lee, Ministry of Education, New Zealand
• Stella Vosniadou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,
Greece
• Douglas Willms, University of New Brunswick, Canada
• Yong Zhao, Michigan State University, United States of America
The current members of the Editorial Board of the Educational
Practices Series are:
• Stella Vosniadou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,
Greece (Chair)
• Erno Lehtinen, University of Turku, Finland
• Lauren Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, United States of America
• Gavriel Salomon, University of Haifa, Israel
• Herb Walberg, United States of America
• Erik De Corte, University of Leuven, Belgium (Liaison with IBE)
• Patrick Griffin, University of Melbourne, Australia (Liaison with the
Academy’s Educational Policy Series)
For more information, see the IAE’s websi te at:
http://www.iaoed.org
IBE/2014/ST/EP25
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Series Preface
The present booklet entitled ‘Nurturing creative thinking’ has been
prepared for inclusion in the Educational Practices Series, a
publication developed by the International Academy of Education
(IAE). As part of its mission, the International Academy of Education
provides timely syntheses of research on educational topics of
international importance. The booklets are published and distributed
by UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education (IBE). This is the
twenty-fifth in a series of booklets on educational practices that have
been shown to be positively related to learning.
The International Academy of Education is grateful to Panagiotis
Kampylis and Eleni Berki for writing the present booklet. Dr
Kampylis is a lifelong learner, primary teacher, teacher trainer and
creativity researcher. He has authored and co-authored several
scientific publications in the fields of creativity and innovation in
education and training (E&T), arts education and information and
communication technologies-enhanced (ICTs) learning. He is a
research fellow at the European Commission, Joint Research Centre,
Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (Information Society
Unit). He contributes mainly to projects on ICTs for Creativity and
Innovation in E&T, such as the study ‘Up-scaling creative classrooms
in Europe’. Dr Berki is a Senior University Researcher at the
University of Tampere, School of Information Sciences, in Finland.
She has been a lifelong learner, researcher and teacher in further and
higher education, and a quality management consultant in the
European industry and in worldwide e-learning projects. She has
studied and worked in China, Finland, Greece and the United
Kingdom. She is multi-lingual and supports multiculturalism, equal
opportunities and social inclusion policies.
The officers of the International Academy of Education are aware
that this booklet is based on research carried out primarily in
economically advanced countries and that the recommendations of
this booklet need to be assessed with reference to local conditions and
adapted accordingly. In any educational setting, guidelines for
practice require sensitive and sensible applications and continuing
evaluation of their effectiveness.
STELLA VOSNIADOU
Editor, Educational Practices Series
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
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Previous titles in the ‘Educational practices’ series:
1. Teaching by Jere Brophy. 36 p.
2. Parents and learning by Sam Redding. 36 p.
3. Effective educational practices by Herbert J. Walberg and Susan J. Paik. 24 p.
4. Improving student achievement in mathematics by Douglas A. Grouws and
Kristin J. Cebulla. 48 p.
5. Tutoring by Keith Topping. 36 p.
6. Teaching additional languages by Elliot L. Judd, Lihua Tan and Herbert
J. Walberg. 24 p.
7. How children learn by Stella Vosniadou. 32 p.
8. Preventing behaviour problems: What works by Sharon L. Foster, Patricia
Brennan, Anthony Biglan, Linna Wang and Suad al-Ghaith. 30 p.
9. Preventing HIV/AIDS in schools by Inon I. Schenker and Jenny M. Nyirenda.
32 p.
10. Motivation to learn by Monique Boekaerts. 28 p.
11. Academic and social emotional learning by Maurice J. Elias. 31 p.
12. Teaching reading by Elizabeth S. Pang, Angaluki Muaka, Elizabeth
B. Bernhardt and Michael L. Kamil. 23 p.
13. Promoting pre-school language by John Lybolt and Catherine Gottfred. 27 p.
14. Teaching speaking, listening and writing by Trudy Wallace, Winifred E. Stariha
and Herbert J. Walberg. 19 p.
15. Using new media by Clara Chung-wai Shih and David E. Weekly. 23 p.
16. Creating a safe and welcoming school by John E. Mayer. 27 p.
17. Teaching science by John R. Staver. 26 p.
18. Teacher professional learning and development by Helen Timperley. 31 p.
19. Effective pedagogy in mathematics by Glenda Anthony and Margaret Walshaw.
30 p.
20. Teaching other languages by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt. 29 p.
21. Principles of instruction by Barak Rosenshine. 31 p.
22. Teaching fractions by Lisa Fazio and Robert Siegler. 25 p.
23. Effective pedagogy in social sciences by Claire Sinnema and Graeme Aitken
32 p.
24. Emotions and learning by Reinhard Pekrun. 30 p.
25. Nurturing creative thinking by Panagiotis Kampylis and Eleni Berki. 30 p.
These titles can be downloaded from the websites of the IEA
(http://www.iaoed.org) or of the IBE (http://www.ibe.unesco.org/
publications.htm) or paper copies can be requested from: IBE,
Publications Unit, P.O. Box 199, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.
Please note that several titles are now out of print, but can be
downloaded from the IEA and IBE websites.
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Table of Contents
The International Academy of Education, page 2
Series preface, page 3
Introduction, page 6
1. Creativity can be promoted through all school subjects, page 8
2. Influence creative thinking through well-designed learning spaces,
page 10
3. Increase the use of open-ended questions, page 12
4. Engage learners in meaningful and authentic activities, page 14
5. Collaboration enhances creativity, page 16
6. Make efficient use of educational technologies, page 18
7. Allow for mistakes and sensible risk-taking, page 20
8. Learn how to assess and reward creativity, page 22
Conclusion, page 24
References, page 25
Printed in 2014 by Gonnet Imprimeur, 01300 Belley, France
.
This publication was produced in 2014 by the International
Academy of Education (IAE), Palais des Académies, 1, rue
Ducale, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, and the International Bureau of
Education (IBE), P.O. Box 199, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. It
is available free of charge and may be freely reproduced and
translated into other languages. Please send a copy of any
publication that reproduces this text in whole or in part to the
IAE and the IBE. This publication is also available on the
Internet. See the ‘Publications’ section, ‘Educational Practices
Series’ page at:
http://www.ibe.unesco.org
The authors are responsible for the choice and presentation of the
facts contained in this publication and for the opinions expressed
therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO/IBE and do
not commit the organization. The designations employed and the
presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the
expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of
UNESCO/IBE concerning the legal status of any country,
territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the
delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
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Introduction
An agricultural example1shows that helping people flourish is an
organic and unpredictable process. Like a farmer sowing seeds,
someone creates conditions for children to grow as creative and
critical thinkers. Creativity cannot be taught ‘directly’, but
educational practice can provide the means, opportunities and a fertile
environment for the creative mind to flourish.
We use the term ‘creative thinking’ in this booklet (rather than
‘creativity’) because creative thinking: (a) is the prerequisite for any
creative process, output and outcome; (b) presupposes the active and
intentional involvement of the person(s) who create(s); (c) can be
fostered by appropriate education. Creative thinking is defined as the
thinking that enables students to apply their imagination to
generating ideas, questions and hypotheses, experimenting with
alternatives, and to evaluating their own and their peers’ ideas, final
products and processes.
Everyone has creative thinking skills and ideas, but children have
more because they are not yet fully aware of rigid logic and convergent
views. They are divergent, open, inventive and playful, which are
features of creativity. Adults can also demonstrate their creativity,
though it is suppressed through work and education. In principle,
everyone can be(come) creative! Three factors contribute to
be(com)ing creative: skills, environment (including means) and
motivation.
In the following chapters, we consider all these factors in a
(creative) learning space and in a school curriculum that enhances
creativity. We analyse and emphasize the following three main points:
• all school subjects are creative and can be taught and learnt
creatively;
• all environments can create and offer multiple, albeit very
different, opportunities for students and teachers to reflect
creatively; and
• all teachers, like all people, can be creative in their teaching
practices.
The fostering of creative thinking is not always easy, and some advice
from research, experience or guidelines from successful practice may
be necessary. This booklet presents eight points taken mainly from
three sources: (a) research on creativity recommendations; (b) research
on classroom practices; (c) the authors’ own experiences. We offer
simple guidance on school activities that enhance creativity and
1. www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html
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creative thinking in different school and learning spaces world-wide,
as we firmly believe that practice drives research and theory. That is,
focusing on improving practice uncovers the best specific ideas. What
you learn along the way can be tested in the light of broader research;
but practice – not research – should be the driver. With this in mind,
the eight chapters of the booklet try to:
• provide evidence on human creativity through good/suitable
examples;
• emphasize practical implications; and,
• highlight good practice(s) and recommend activities to nurture
creative thinking.
The booklet contains eight key principles of creative thinking in no
particular order of priority and with no hierarchical structure in mind.
They are interlinked and interrelated and equally important for
nurturing creativity in the educational context.
In order to nurture creative thinking in students effectively, we
must re-think schooling and reflect on how new educational futures
could be outlined by re-examining the following:
• what students learn (e.g. a diverse range of skills and subject
content following their own learning pathways);
• how they learn (e.g. learning approaches and methods such as
problem-based learning, constructivism, self-organized learning,
instructional design, game-based learning);
• where they learn (e.g. in any location within school
buildings–foyers, lounges, common spaces and corridors–home, a
youth club, or indeed in the street);
• when they learn (e.g. after formal school hours and at any age);
• who they learn with (e.g. not only with teachers and classmates,
but also with a range of other people, such as peers, experts, and
people near to or far from them, and by themselves with self-
organized learning methods, etc.); and
• for whom and why they learn (e.g. not just for themselves or for
future employers, but also for their fellow citizens, society and
industry, and for the world as a whole).
Author’s Note and Acknowledgements: The authors would like to
thank Stella Vosniadou, Maria Theodorakopoulou, Juri Valtanen and
Antonis Bessios for their valuable feedback on early versions of this
booklet and Patricia Farrer for the proofreading. The views expressed
in this article are purely those of the authors and they should not be
regarded as the official position of the European Commission.
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1. Creativity can be promoted
through all school subjects
Research findings
Creativity is not only a privilege of the arts or people associated with
the arts. Creative thinking can also be fostered and demonstrated in
all school subjects and curriculum areas. Even trivial subject-specific
content can nurture creativity in students, provided that the
pedagogical approach allows for the expression of creative thinking
and imagination.
One of the main barriers to creativity in schools is the heavily
charged curriculum. We need to rethink the traditional division of
school subjects and skills, and design a more flexible, balanced and
less-extensive curriculum with a provision for diverse and cross-
curricular activities, such as projects, school blogs or magazines.
Cross-curricular activities could nurture creative thinking and
learning, but they require close collaboration between students and
teachers with different backgrounds, knowledge, competencies and
expertise.
Application in practice
Even the most detailed and traditional curricula do not tell teachers
exactly how to teach, and they do not prevent students from
participating in cross-curricular or other types of learning. Therefore,
from the creativity perspective, there is still considerable freedom for
teachers to decide for themselves what and how they teach creatively.
Often original explanations of facts and challenging comments on
traditional knowledge by themselves can be creative ways of viewing
otherwise non-creative subjects. These and other forms of student
participation should be encouraged because they can be eye-openers
and could lead to non-conventional ways of thinking.
The following are some ideas for teachers who want to teach
creatively in all school subjects:
•Mathematics: you can help your students to develop their
problem-finding and problem-solving skills, and mathematical
competence through creative and authentic activities. For
Students’ creative thinking can be nurtured
in all school subjects and curriculum areas,
and especially in cross-curricular activities.
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example, students could carry out a survey on the use of personal
devices such as mobile telephones, computers or games among
the members of the school community and create a report with
tables and charts that could be published in the school newspaper
or blog. Playing with cards, configuration games such as tangrams
and other toys and observing other everyday practices can also be
used for creative learning, if these activities are used to engage the
students and are integrated into the mathematical exercises.
•Science: you can encourage students to experience science not as a
set of facts but as a creative endeavour for understanding nature.
For example, you can ask students to experiment with paper
airplanes and report on the effects that their size, shape and
material have on how they fly. Or, you can investigate basic
science concepts such as forces by using playground equipment
(e.g. seesaws and spring riders) or buoyancy through plastic toys.
•History: History can be studied as an exciting adventure that
triggers students’ imagination and connects the past with the
present. For instance, starting from school history (e.g. searching
the school archives for information about its foundation, ex-
students and teachers, and the development of school premises,
etc.), students can study local history and how it reflects specific
historical periods. You should use open-ended questions and tasks
as far as possible, e.g. ‘what information could our school building
provide for future historians?’
•Geography: Geography can contribute to the development of a
range of creative thinking skills through open-ended and
meaningful activities. This type of question can elicit creative
thinking, raise awareness of global issues and create
environmental consciousness: for example ‘How can we show
what our locality is like to people from another city or country?’,
‘What can we do to help protect our local environment?’, ‘What
do maps tell us about life in X place?’
Suggested readings: Fisher & Williams, 2004; Kampylis, Berki, &
Saariluoma, 2009; Starko, 2010.
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2. Influence creative thinking
through well-designed learning
spaces
Research findings
The way in which space – physical or virtual – is designed can deliver
unspoken messages about the dominant teaching and learning
practices, and also shape and influence the learning that happens in it.
It can, furthermore, influence creative thinking.
Sometimes even trivial details – such as furniture arrangements, the
materials used and the technologies available – are instrumental in
achieving positive learning experiences that can determine students’
learning outcomes, while ensuring the well-being of students and teachers.
Inspired by evidence-based research on the impact of lighting,
noise, furnishing, ventilation and indoor air quality, as well as by the
principles of socio-constructivism, we can (re)design and (re)arrange
space to take advantage of colour, light, sound, shapes and materials.
Thus, collaboration and co-construction of knowledge is allowed, the
possibility of thinking differently is opened up and innovative
teaching is facilitated.
Application in practice
Even in a typical school with ‘standard classrooms’, teachers can work
out creative arrangements for a variety of working spaces that
encourage the active involvement of students. The following
suggestions could help you achieve this:
• Design with your students two or three basic classroom
arrangements, e.g. for whole class lessons, for teamwork or
project-based activities, and for independent work. These
arrangements should demand little time and the minimal moving
of furniture. Students themselves can be empowered to make the
changes and the transitions. Although these changes can cause
momentary chaos, they also allow for creative teaching and
learning practices.
The way space is designed has a significant
impact on creative thinking and learning.
Learning spaces can bring people together
and encourage their interaction and
creative collaboration.
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• Use ‘pigeon hole’ units, individual pocket folders, or other
communication means that allow you to provide your students
with individual assignments, reading materials, comments, etc.,
without wasting a lot of time passing out papers.
• Experiment with everyday materials in order to transform the
classroom into a creative learning place. For instance, try re-using
cardboard boxes on a table to re-create carrel desks (small
individual high-sided desks), as an alternative way to encourage
independent study, when needed.
• Utilize new technologies in an innovative and cost-effective way
to transform even the most conventional school buildings into
stimulating learning spaces. For instance: (a) use video projectors
to create inspiring and easily adaptable physical spaces by
projecting powerful images and/or texts onto school walls;
(b) ‘take the class on a trip’ to any location in the world through
the Internet; or (c) run experiments through online laboratories2
without leaving the room. In the absence of new technology, try
to use older learning technologies, e.g. geographical wall maps,
drawings and images produced by the students, etc. Or you can
hold the lesson in several different ways, and afterwards compare
and contrast the effectiveness and pleasure in teaching and
learning.
• Discover alternative learning spaces to the classroom, either inside
(e.g. a corridor, the school garden, etc.) or outside the school
premises (e.g. a youth club, a park, etc.). Then, with one or more
colleagues, co-organize a creative, project-based activity, involving
mixed-age groups of students. Observe and monitor any
differences you see in students’ involvement and interaction
related to the new learning arrangements.
Suggested readings: Burke, 2007; Oblinger, 2006; Rudd et al., 2006;
UNESCO, 2012.
2. Online laboratories are experimental facilities that can be accessed through the Internet,
allowing students and teachers to carry out experiments from anywhere at any time. See,
for instance, http://ilabcentral.org/
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3. Increase the use of open-ended
questions
Research findings
Teachers spend a great deal of their time asking students questions.
Many different types of questions are used, but the main distinction
is between closed questions and open-ended questions. Closed
questions can be used to test comprehension and to aid retention of
information (e.g. what is the capital city of India?). Open-ended
questions have many possible answers that are not pre-determined
(e.g. what if we had gills?). Open-ended questions can promote
creative thinking and learning because they require students to find,
combine and criticize information instead of simply recalling facts.
Research shows that on average, approximately 60% of the questions
asked in classrooms are closed-ended, 20% are procedural, and only
20% are open-ended.
One of the most ancient and effective questioning frameworks is
Socrates’ maieutic method, which highlights the importance of
questioning in deep and active lifelong learning. Socratic questioning
differs from random open-ended questioning in the sense that it is
planned, disciplined and deep; the questions are selected to probe
reasons and assumptions in order to engage in higher levels of thinking
progressively – including analytical, critical and creative thinking.
Application in practice
It is a real challenge for teachers to develop a well-planned questioning
method that encourages the active involvement of students and
facilitates creative thinking. The following are some suggestions on
how you could do this:
• Try novel ways of involving all students in asking and answering
questions. For example, ask students to raise one green card when
they agree and a red card when they disagree with the answer that
someone else has given. Start first with closed-ended questions
and go progressively to open-ended, higher-order questions.
• Focus on the actual experiences and thoughts of the students,
rather than on what they have read or experienced second hand,
by asking:
Open-ended questions help students develop
creative thinking by applying, analysing,
evaluating and synthesizing information
and knowledge.
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– Questions that seek clarification: e.g., ‘Could you explain
further?’, ‘Can you give an example/counter example of ...?’
– Questions that challenge assumptions: e.g. ‘What do you
think is behind this assumption here?’, and ‘Is this always the
case?’
– Questions that probe reasons and evidence: e.g. ‘Why do you
say that?’, ‘How do we know that ...?’, ‘Is/are there any
reason(s) to doubt this evidence?’
– Questions that explore alternative viewpoints: e.g. ‘What is
the counter argument for X?’, or ‘Can/did anyone see X in
another way?’
– Questions that look for implications and consequences: e.g.
‘But if X happened, what else would could result?’, ‘How does
X affect Z?’
– Questions about the question: e.g. ‘Why do you think that I
asked that question?’, or ‘Why was that question/problem
important?’
• Simply asking more open-ended questions does not necessarily
lead students to produce higher-order responses; so, increase the
wait-time for answers as much as possible and create a positive
climate by tolerating ambiguity and encouraging original
responses.
• Ask students, whenever you can, to explain how their answer
emerged (e.g. based on their prior knowledge or experience;
inspired by a similar situation (analogy), etc.).
• Always encourage and treat students’ questions with respect and
interest; in other words, try to reward and assess not only their
answers to your questions but also the questions they
formulate/pose themselves.
• Scrutinize your questioning technique(s) by audio or video-
recording a number of your classes or by asking a colleague to
observe you. Keep track of the percentage of closed- and open-
ended questions you use, the students you question each time and
the type of questions you use for each of them, etc. Reflect on the
patterns of questioning you are using and check if they promote
creative and critical thinking.
• Try to find a better balance between oracy (e.g. dialogues and
arguments) and literacy (e.g. written texts and online sources),
and use both written and oral examinations for assessing students.
Suggested readings: Cotton, 1989; Fries-Gaither, 2008.
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4. Engage learners in meaningful
and authentic activities
Research findings
Learning and creativity are the outcomes of hard work, determination
and persistence. Even when students have the potential to learn
and/or create something, they still need the incentives to do so.
Individuals who are intrinsically motivated tend to be more willing to
spend the required time and energy to be creative than the individuals
who are driven by external rewards, pressures and inducements.
Students are more likely to express their creative potential when they
are involved in meaningful and authentic activities that fit their
personal interests and abilities, and are also intellectually challenging.
Application in practice
• Find out through conversation, questioning, etc., what arouses
the interest and motivates your students, as well as what they
already know.
• Use the above-mentioned information for designing meaningful
activities and authentic tasks of different types (visual, auditory,
kinaesthetic) that motivate all students and increase their
engagement. Always take into account gender and individual
differences, learning styles, and cultural and socio-economic
background.
• Allow students to have personal choices and contribute to
decisions that relate to their own learning. Take their suggestions
and feedback on the selected activities and tasks seriously.
• Consider students’ close friends’ interests and hobbies, too!
Friends at that age influence each other’s learning a lot through
their personal preferences and occupations.
• Offer, whenever possible, authentic learning opportunities to
students and try also to involve others, e.g. experts, subject
specialists, artists, parents, other teachers, etc., in order to
stimulate interest and ensure engagement.
• Take advantage of the available open educational resources (such
as lesson plans, simulations, quizzes and e-books that can be
modified, reused, repurposed and shared) and align them
Learners are most creative when they are
involved in meaningful, challenging and
authentic activities; these are more likely
to generate interest and engagement.
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according to the needs, interests and prior knowledge of your
students.
• Remember that, in order to advance effective creative thinking in
students, the teaching approach is far more important than the
content of the activity itself. Even trivial content can activate
creative thinking, provided that the pedagogical pursuit allows for
idea generation, recreation, experimentation and sensible risk-
taking.
• Ask your students to follow a local newspaper or the municipality
portal for one or two weeks, until they find real world problems,
news and situations that capture their personal interest. Ask them
to formulate a problem, connecting it with specific curricular
areas. The formulation of a problem is very often a more creative
process than its solution; raising new questions and new
possibilities, while looking at old questions from a new angle
requires pure creative thinking.
• Ask students to investigate these and other problems while
working in small groups that they have formed themselves
according to their preferences, in order to propose creative
solutions, such as a written report, a blog post, a presentation for
all, etc. Help them to understand that real-life problems can have
multiple and diverse solutions. This can reveal the students’ own
creative potential!
Suggested readings: Amabile, 1996; Kampylis, 2010; Starko, 2010;
Vosniadou, 2001.
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5. Collaboration enhances
creativity
Research findings
Collaboration develops the students’ ability to think both
independently and with others, enabling them to consider a wide
range of perspectives and, thus, increasing their creativity potential. In
this sense, creative thinking is not only a characteristic of individuals
but also the property of groups of individuals. Original products are
created not only by individuals, but also by groups, organizations,
communities and even by entire societies.
Several terms, such as group/team creativity and
collaborative/collective creativity, are used to describe the common
efforts of two or more individuals to achieve an innovative outcome
that cannot be achieved by a single individual alone. Researchers agree
that there are significant differences, but also interrelations between
individual and collective creativity. Therefore, in order to explain
collective creativity it is not enough to study individual creativity. We
must also consider the role of each individual in a group, the group
dynamics, and the socio-cultural and environmental factors, which
are nowadays considered far more important than before in creativity
pursuits.
Application in practice
Creative teachers can encourage collaboration and facilitate students’
collective creativity by:
• Emphasizing the roles of the individual and of the collective
(group effort) in creativity. For example, you can ask students to
list a number of inventions (in the history of science) and/or
discoveries (in history or geography), and ask them to analyse
them and determine if they were the outcomes of individual or
collective efforts.
• Engaging students in reflections about the role of others, such as
peers, teachers and parents, in their own creative achievements.
• Acknowledging that cultural diversity is an opportunity for
learning in general and for creativity in particular. Formulating
mixed groups of students with diverse backgrounds, interests,
Motivation, insights and novel ideas arise
mainly during our interaction with others.
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prior knowledge, abilities and learning styles ensures the plurality
of thinking within the group and the possibilities for collaborative
creativity.
• Providing students with as many opportunities as possible to
collaborate with peers (virtually and face-to-face) and those
beyond the classroom – such as experts and artists – in order to
bring creative projects to a successful conclusion.
• Helping students to set up and run their own clubs, such as
science clubs, school magazine editorial teams, school blog teams,
school bands, theatre groups and dance ensembles in order to give
them numerous opportunities to collaborate creatively. Other
groups can also be planned and formed to accommodate other
interests and activities, focusing on nature, mathematics,
computers, literature/poetry reading, writing, broadcasting, etc.
• Understanding that collective creativity raises a range of issues,
including peer-to-peer equality. The creative-thinking process
must be productive for all students and allow them to express
their multiple intelligences and interests. Everyone has the right
to creative learning and self-expression, and also the duty to
respect the same rights for others.
• Helping students to understand that not all collaboration leads to
creativity. Effective collaboration for creativity expression needs to
have some element of structure and continuous encouragement
and facilitation by suitably trained teachers.
Suggested readings: Miell & Littleton, 2004; Sawyer, 2012; see also
Bertolt Brecht’s poem Questions from a Worker Who Reads
(http://bit.ly/12V8QPB)
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6. Make efficient use
of educational technologies
Research findings
Information, communication and collaboration are at the core of the
educational process, and the rapidly evolving related technologies and
applications (information and communication technologies – ICTs)
have influenced, and often transformed, the ways we think, learn,
communicate and create knowledge. ICTs encourage creative processes
as they allow information to be represented in a variety of modes, which
other media and tools cannot offer. They therefore support a diversity
of learning styles. Thus, they enable learners to retrieve, evaluate and
synthesize information, try out creative ideas, explore alternatives and
solve problems in a personalized and active way.
ICTs have great potential for dissolving the boundaries between
learning in and outside schools, for re-engaging marginalized learners
and for motivating students and teachers. ICTs are used more effectively
and creatively in schools when: (a) the students are in ‘control’ of
learning (personalized learning); (b) peer learning and collaboration are
facilitated; (c) feedback and assessment are optimized; (d) there is a
diversity of teaching and learning strategies; and (e) teachers are pre-
trained in their use as teaching and learning tools.
Nowadays, there is a consensus among researchers and educational
stakeholders that the process of using technology to facilitate creativity
in thinking and practice is not merely a technical matter. It is, mainly, a
matter of adopting innovative pedagogical practices that utilize the
existing and emerging technologies in a student-centred context for
developing both creative thinking, and twenty-first century skills and
competences, such as self- and peer-assessment, problem-finding and
problem-solving, inquiry, communication and collaboration.
Application in practice
What can teachers do to take full advantage of the potential of ICTs to
encourage creative thinking and twenty-first century skills?
Educational technologies enable
communication and collaboration,
and open up a range of profoundly new
ways of using and creating information and
knowledge inside and outside the school.
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• You can use available ICT tools (e.g. online social networks) for
opening up new ways for learners to collaborate, communicate and
connect with creative ideas, and people beyond time and school
borders.
• You can help students to understand that creative use of ICTs offers
opportunities for supporting the democratic decision-making
processes and strengthens representative democracy. For instance,
you can provide concrete examples that illustrate the power of
individual contributions to bring about large-scale changes at the
local, regional, national and/or international levels.
• You can use available technologies for ‘flipping’ teaching3and
learning routines so that you can spend more time interacting with
students instead of lecturing. For example, you can use videos and
online resources with the lecture and/or learning materials that
students can access and study outside of class time. This flipping
allows time during the class to be used more effectively for
additional learning-based activities, differentiated instruction and
collaborative learning.
• You can take advantage of the educational activities (e.g. virtual
tours), programmes (e.g. open online courses), resources (e.g.
online videos), and applications (e.g. games) that are offered
– usually free of charge – by institutions such as libraries, science
centres, museums, zoos, non-governmental organizations,
foundations, universities, corporations and so on, for developing
engaging, amusing, meaningful and authentic learning activities
inside and outside school.
• You can improve students’ ability to transfer the creative and active
ways (e.g. trial-and-error and learning-by-doing) they use when
interacting with ICT devices and applications (such as games) to
other situations inside and outside the school.
• You can use a great variety of digital resources, such as e-books,
maps, illustrations, audios, videos, infographics, animations,
simulations, games and 3D applications to trigger students’ interest
and increase their participation.
Suggested readings: Bocconi, Kampylis & Punie, 2012; Cachia et al.,
2010; Craft, 2012; Loveless, 2008.
3. See, for instance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_teaching
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7. Allow for mistakes and sensible
risk-taking
Research findings
Failure is an ‘integral’ part of the creative process and creative people
often have many failed ideas or products before finding their
successful ones. The creative process is inherently risky, and risk-
taking is among the key characteristics of a creative personality.
Unfortunately, teachers tend to minimize failure of all types. A
recent study on creativity and innovation in education in European
Union Member States revealed that schools prefer discipline to playful
and risk-taking behaviour. The emphasis on the ‘correct response’
reinforces students’ fears of making mistakes and this is one of the
most widespread educational practices that inhibit creativity. As a
result, students are not willing to take risks within school. They prefer
to ‘play it safe’ and provide teachers with one ‘correct response’,
instead of trying to explore more ideas and alternatives.
Teachers’ willingness to allow their students to take risks, to
explore and experiment is related positively to students’ creative
learning. In order to foster creativity, schools could try reinforcing a
‘culture of tolerance’ that encourages ‘sensible risk-taking’ by teachers
and students.
Application in practice
You could try to create a secure and supportive learning environment
where students feel safe enough to try new things and are not afraid
to make mistakes or fail. The ownership of the activities (and
outcomes) should lie with the students, allowing them to make high
(strategic) level choices related to non-predetermined options leading
to creative and unpredictable rather than predictable outcomes.
When planning in order to encourage creativity, you can consider
the following:
• Act as role models for creativity by taking sensible risks, trying
new things and adopting innovative teaching practices.
Create a caring and encouraging learning
environment where students feel free
and safe to experiment with new ideas
and take sensible risks.
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• Allow students the freedom to play with ideas and take sensible
risks, while engaging in challenging and controversial issues from
real life.
• Allow space and time for students to try new things and learn
despite the pressures of assessment.
• Encourage initiatives linked to risk-taking and creative thinking,
and take them into account in students’ final assessments.
• Give students the opportunity to carry out peer reviews of
materials where errors were made in order to help them recognize
mistakes and reflect upon them.
• Engage students in problem-based and meaningful activities that
allow experimentation, sensible risk-taking and learning through
trial and error, discussion, argumentation and debate.
• Recognize, accredit and reward any prior experiential and/or
informal learning that happens outside classroom through
learning-by-doing and through trial-and-error.
• Provide students with role models of successful risk-taking,
tolerance of ambiguity and continuous creative efforts in order to
avoid linking a single failure with total failure.
• Ask the students to create a bulletin board, a presentation or an
essay of ‘Great Failures(?)’ in order to understand that failure is an
‘integral’ part of any creative process and that creative efforts are
not always accepted at the time they are initiated.4
• Ask students to reflect on their own past failures and current
mistakes while trying new and creative endeavours, and observe
the way they reflect and comment on them. Reward this
reflection in the final assessment procedure.
Suggested readings: Blair & Mumford, 2007; Cachia et al., 2010;
Craft, Cremin & Burnard, 2008; Sternberg & Williams, 1996.
4. For example, Edison’s creative products, such as the ever-lasting light bulb, were not the
outcome of single-try endeavours, but rather the result of multiple failures that Edison
and his team analysed in a constructive way before achieving success.
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8. Learn how to assess
and reward creativity
Research findings
Some assessment methods tend to foster creativity while others
tend to inhibit it. Traditional assessment methods that focus on
remembering facts do not usually take into account students’
creative thinking. Instead, they encourage the avoidance of mistakes
and risk-taking, knowing how to achieve the highest grades, and
demonstrating one’s abilities and skills in relation to others. On
the other hand, formative assessment practices provide students
with information and feedback on how they are progressing,
considering their own prior achievements according to their own
learning goals, and are better at fostering creativity than the
summative ones. This is because they allow students to understand
which skills they need to develop further and which content areas they
need to improve. Formative assessment practices include self-
assessment, peer feedback, learning diaries, portfolios, e-portfolios
and presentations. In addition, these types of assessment can cover
both individual and collaborative efforts, and creative group work,
such as projects.
When students feel pressured by evaluative surveillance,
monitoring and other major features of assessment, their willingness
to take risks and explore creativity becomes limited. But when
assessment is constructive and focuses on self-improvement, the
students are more likely to take risks, seek out challenges, and develop
and contribute ideas that are both novel and useful.
Application in practice
• Explain to your students why it is important to build their
assessment on strengths and self-improvement and not on
weaknesses and competition. Help them to focus on things they
feel proud of; something they can do for the first time; something
they feel they have improved at; something that was a challenge
for them.
Creative thinking can be evaluated
by student-centred and reflective means
of assessment which take into account both
the learning processes and outcomes.
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• Co-create with students a checklist or a matrix that will allow
them to evaluate their own work (self-assessment) in a creative
assignment that examines both the process and the outcome of
learning according to several criteria, such as originality, novelty,
appropriateness, completeness, elegance and consistency.
• Ask students to test each other (and you!) and give each other
constructive feedback (peer-assessment) according to some pre-
determined, well-accepted and comprehensible criteria, such as
the ones mentioned above.
• Inform parents and other interested groups about the importance
of also assessing creative thinking in order to avoid
misunderstandings and resistance on their part about changing
the traditional assessment practices.
• Encourage students through formative assessment feedback to
take sensible risks, express creative thinking and share their ideas
or adapt them to a different context (transferability).
• Motivate the students not by suggesting that their creative efforts
will be credited and graded, but by pointing out the features of
the task that are interesting to them. Help them to set challenging
but realistic goals, both as individuals and as a team, and to find
personal meaning in the task by providing a greater level of choice
about how to complete it.
• Try to ensure that even summative assessment results are
informative and useful. For instance, rather than congratulate the
students who got ‘A’ on a test, as though the ‘A’ itself was the goal,
comment on the high level of competence this grade signifies.
Accordingly, help students to understand that low grades are not a
kind of punishment, but an indicator that the student needs to
exert more effort or needs more time or some assistance.
• Reduce the stress and anxiety that very often accompany
assessment, particularly during the divergent phases of the
creative process when students need freedom and comfort to
generate and explore novel ideas. Try to provide constructive
feedback – not criticism – at the early stage of idea generation.
Suggested readings: Beghetto, 2005; Cropley, 2001; Lucas, Claxton
& Spencer, 2013; Villalba, 2009. See also a short video related to
children’s creativity and its ‘assessment’ at http://bit.ly/16NqRVS.
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Conclusion
This booklet emphasizes activities and learning tasks that enhance
creativity. Opportunities for engaging learners in meaningful, authentic
and creative subject activities can be found in all school subjects, in new
and old learning spaces, and through collaboration and efficient use of
educational technologies. Important principles for creative and critical
thinking are the use of open-ended questions, the allowance for mistakes
and sensible risk-taking. Assessing and rewarding creativity is an
important component for appreciating and encouraging creativity.
Creativity is an attitude to change. A flexible and practical mind,
willing to play with forms and ideas and turn them upside down in order
to achieve a better future, is a creative mind. Creating and enjoying a
good life, while looking for ways to improve it through problem-solving,
is a habit of the human mind. The eight principles in this booklet offer
a comprehensive guide for creative education. Democratic (all forms)
creativity is a remarkable pedagogical innovation, but it is not always
possible or desirable. Often, creative thinking for finding and solving
problems and the adoption of creative learning paradigms are
deliberately avoided. Teachers and students can and should, alone and/or
with collaborators, find innovative methods and ideas and carry them
out, even within the constraints of their learning spaces.
With or without advanced ICTs, multidisciplinary curricula and
imaginative approaches, education at all levels should aim to nurture
manifold (creative, critical, caring and reflective) thinking. This booklet
targets teachers who, as role models of creative thinking, can use
pedagogic techniques and cross-curricular activities to trigger the
manifold thinking process. It will benefit the human mind and society
to get as many wide-ranging thinkers as possible involved in a wide
variety of ideas, knowledge and citizenship responsibilities. The main
function of school is educating and preparing young people for the
future. This future should be personally pleasant and fulfilling, and
enable young people to make a meaningful and positive contribution to
society. Manifold thinking for creating, communicating, integrating,
acting ethically on knowledge and critically evaluating its effects and
impact on other humans and the society can offer a holistic educational
practice.
One should question: (a) what is the meaning of learning in
the modern world? and (b) how can you achieve it creatively? – and why?
Learning should lead to wellness of being and ‘human flourishing’
, with teachers as mentors of learning and creativity.
Suggested readings: Valtanen et al., 2008.
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Notes
BIE Educational Practices Series 25.qxd:BIE Educational Practices Se
The International
Bureau of
Education–IBE
The IBE was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, as a
private, non-governmental organization in 1925. In
1929, under new statutes, it became the first
intergovernmental organization in the field of
education. Since 1969 the Institute has been an
integral part of UNESCO while retaining wide
intellectual and functional autonomy.
The mission of the IBE is to function as an
international centre for the development of
contents and methods of education. It builds
networks to share expertise on, and foster national
capacities for curriculum change and development
in all the regions of the world. It aims to introduce
modern approaches in curriculum design and
implementation, improve practical skills, and foster
international dialogue on educational policies.
The IBE contributes to the attainment of quality
Education for All (EFA) mainly through: (a)
developing and facilitating a worldwide network
and a Community of Practice of curriculum
specialists; (b) providing advisory services and
technical assistance in response to specific demands
for curriculum reform or development; (c)
collecting, producing and giving access to a wide
range of information resources and materials on
education systems, curricula and curriculum
development processes from around the world,
including online databases (such as World Data on
Education), thematic studies, publications (such as
Prospects, the quarterly review of education),
national reports, as well as curriculum materials and
approaches for HIV & AIDS education at primary
and secondary levels through the HIV & AIDS
Clearinghouse; and (d) facilitating and fostering
international dialogue on educational policies,
strategies and reforms among decision-makers and
other stakeholders, in particular through the
International Conference on Education—organized
by the IBE since 1934—, which can be considered
one of the main forums for developing world-level
policy dialogue between Ministers of Education.
The IBE is governed by a Council composed of
representatives of twenty-eight Member States
elected by the General Conference of UNESCO.
The IBE is proud to be associated with the work of
the International Academy of Education and
publishes this material in its capacity as a
Clearinghouse promoting the exchange of
information on educational practices.
Visit the IBE website at: http://www.ibe.unesco.org
EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES SERIES–25
BIE Educational Practices Series 25.qxd:BIE Educational Practices Se
