Finally, teachers can use academic subject matter in at least two different ways to support opportunities for creative learning in their classroom (Beghetto Kaufman, & Baer, 2015). The first and most common way is to position subject matter learning as a means to its own end (e.g., we are learning about this technique so that you understand it). Creativity learning can still operate in this formulation by providing students with opportunities to learn about a topic by meeting goals in unique and different ways, which are still in the service of ultimately understanding the academic subject area. However, the added value in doing so also allows opportunities for students to develop their creative confidence and competence in that particularly subject area. A stimulating classroom can have charts that visualize the goals with timelines that help students to have a look on the go. The educational sector is changing in the wake of Covid-19 and the weak points that the pandemic restrictions exposed in the current structures of pedagogy. Educational leaders want their schools to be more resilient and their staff and students to be actively learning and collaborating beyond the restraints of traditional learning methodologies. When it comes to the success of remote learning, there are more dynamic ways to share information than simply through webinars, and creativity has shown how limits can be overcome.

Kaufman, J. C., & Beghetto, R. A. (2009). Beyond Big and Little: The Four C Model of Creativity. Review of General Psychology, 13, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013688. Stone, M. K., & Barlow, Z. (2010). Social learning in the STRAW project. In A. E. J. Wals (Ed.), Social learning towards a sustainable world (pp. 405–418). The Netherlands: Wageningen Academic. Creativity can be thought of as the colour that brings Curriculum for Excellence to life. The four core creativity skills run throughout the four capacities and are integral to the meta skills which are increasingly important in today’s workplace.

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Creativity: The capacity to imagine, conceive, express, or make something that was not there before. Kennedy, M. (2005). Inside teaching: How classroom life undermines reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. In fact, creative persons have an upper hand in triggering future opportunities than those with a mere academic skill set. Open-ended questions and classroom discussions are two popular creative teaching strategies that help students to develop an innovative mindset.

Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context: Update to the social psychology of creativity. Boulder, CO: Westview. The World Economic Forum states that by 2025, the top five skills employers will be looking for include innovation, complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity and originality. Creativity is one of our most essential skills. Those passionate about creativity in education are hopeful that the authority of PISA will lend weight to the arguments for creativity in schools in England.In mathematics, for instance, there typically is one correct answer to solve a problem, whereas other subject areas, such as English Language Arts, offer much more flexibility in the kinds of “answers” or interpretations possible. Yet even with less flexibility in the kinds of originality that can be expressed in a particular subject area, there still remains a multitude of possibilities for creative expression in the kinds of tasks that teachers can offer students. As mentioned earlier, students in math can still demonstrate creative learning in the kinds of problems they design to solve, the various ways they solve them, and even how they demonstrate the outcomes and solutions to those problems.

Students are always fun loving and including creative activities along with curriculum gains their interest for learning. The same can be said for the school context. The kinds of explicit and tacit supports for creative learning in schools likely play an important role in whether and how teachers and students feel supported in their creative expression (Amabile, 1996; Beghetto & Kaufman, 2014; Renzulli, 2017; Schacter, Thum, & Zifkin, 2006). Theoretically speaking, if teachers feel supported by their colleagues and administrators and are actively encouraged to take creative risks, then it seems likely that they would have the confidence and willingness to try. Indeed, this type of social support and modelling can have a cascading influence in and across classrooms and schools (Bandura, 1997). Although creativity researchers have theorized and explored the role of context on creative expression (Amabile, 1996; Beghetto & Kaufman, 2014), research specifically exploring the collective, cascading, and reciprocal effects of school and classroom contexts on creative learning is a promising and needed area of research. Glăveanu, V. P. (Ed.). (2016). The Palgrave handbook of creativity and culture research. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Nesta’s research shows that creativity will become even more important to the growth of jobs between now and 2030. Based on analysis of 35 million job adverts, research from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre found that creative industries don’t have a monopoly on creativity. Play is free of constraints and encourages pupils to generate new ideas within a safe environment. This makes them more malleable to learning, helps them to experiment in their thinking and increases motivation and engagement. Teachers should encourage this quality in students from the lower classes itself and inspire them to believe in one’s own creativity. Beghetto, R. A. (2016). Creative learning: A fresh look. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 15, 6–23. Beghetto, R. (2019b). Creativity in Classrooms. In J. Kaufman & R. Sternberg (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, pp. 587–606). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316979839.029.

There’s no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would forever be repeating the same patterns.” -Edward de Bono 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. Classroom debates not only help them to think creatively but also understand and welcome others’ views. This kind of shared creative experience helps them to open up to one another and grow up as better communicators. In a rapidly evolving world with increasing automation, the ability to think creatively and come up with innovative solutions to problems is critical. This is particularly true in education, where fostering creativity can help students develop important critical thinking skills, as well as prepare them for the 21st-century workforce. With the Durham Commission launching their long-awaited report next month, we believe there is an opportunity to build a revitalised coalition and consensus on the importance of creativity - and move from talk to action. We will be developing new partnerships and programmes supporting high-potential approaches, building on our expertise in both the creative economy and education.Building students’ creativity isn’t just about the warm and fuzzy feelings, though. Going through a creative process is tough, and can build resilience, grit, and tenacity. It’s much easier to follow step-by-step instructions than it is to brainstorm, ideate, and iterate on your own idea. Creative projects can help kids learn to take risks and embrace failure, which is always an important part of the creative process. The ongoing impact of the global pandemic upon the learning environment and how educational institutions respond, means that the need for school leadership which takes a creative approach is greater than ever. In the introduction to the final report on the Creating Socially Distanced Campuses and Education Project launched by Advance HE, it is noted that there are five faces of transformational leadership that have come to the fore: 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.