How do practising teachers understand creativity?

Abstract

This research sought to explore teachers’ views, in terms of the assertion that creative development is important within the National Curriculum. It aimed to identify the extent to which creative development is supported within the current curriculum and whether more should be done to encourage and promote its practice. Finally, it investigates the potential barriers that appear to restrict creative development in schools in the UK. Existing literature covering multiple facets of creativity, such as how academics define creativity, establishing whether it can be taught and identifying whether there is a current ‘teach to test’ culture, was explored and the literature review highlighted that previous research into the development of creativity in schools has often failed to consider the perspectives of teachers. Consequently, the current research sought to address this by gaining the views of teachers across the UK. The results showed that 88% of respondents viewed creative development as either ‘very important’ or ‘extremely important’ and 95% of teachers believed that the National Curriculum should do more to encourage creative practice. Finally, 71% of all participants asserted that the largest barriers to creative development were limited teaching time and excessive exam pressures.