Creativity is a highly valued component across most curriculum areas in all phases. Anna Craft (2000) suggests that creative thinking, ‘sensing what is possible’, is stimulated by all subjects; the DfE (2012) recommends that the curriculum, should ‘provide opportunities for pupils to work creatively and collaboratively’. Recent work on digital literacies highlights considerable creative potential in the use of new technologies. It is therefore important to consider what we mean by ‘creativity’ in order to see the ways in which it can be applied.  This section addresses:

• How does creativity intersect with digital practices in school settings? (see 3.2.1)
• How can creativity be assessed in order to support learners in developing their creative potential? (see 3.2.2)

Creativity is a rather nebulous concept, but has been variously defined as involving ‘imaginative processes with outcomes that are original and of value’ (Robinson 2001:118). As Csikszentmihalyi (1996) points out, however, what is to be considered original and of value has to be socially determined in the first place. A further tension in defining this concept is that creativity has been viewed both as an act of genius and as everyday original and imaginative production, which Csikszentmihalyi (1999) has characterised as ‘Big C’ and ‘little c’.  In an attempt to capture something of the complex and nebulous nature of the concept and move beyond this binary account, Banaji and Burn (2010), in a review of the concept of creativity, outline eight rhetorics of creativity that underpin research, policy and practice in the field. These include the rhetorics of: creative genius; democratic and political creativity; ubiquitous creativity; creativity as a social good; play and creativity; creativity and cognition; creative affordances of technology and the creative classroom.

References: see 3.2.3 References / Links to Further Resources