Linking Disparate Strands: A Critical Review of the Relationship Between Creativity and Education

Rawlings, Bruce S.; Cutting, Sarah J.

Abstract

Whether schools help or hinder creativity is a topic of vibrant, international debate. Some contend that the focus on structure, rote learning and standardised assessments associated with formal education stifles children’s creativity. Others argue that creativity, much like numeracy or literacy, is a skill that can be taught, and educational settings provide optimal contexts for children to learn creative skills. With creativity increasingly recognised as a critical skill of the twenty-first century and formal education reaching more children across the globe, understanding the impact of schools on its development is critical. We suggest that much of the discourse on this topic has a narrow focus, precluding a global perspective. Here, we take a step back to integrate important but disparately presented research strands on education and creativity, to inform this debate. We first synthesize what we know about creativity and education, before presenting work on different areas—either directly or indirectly assessing creativity in educational contexts—including the relationship between creativity and academic achievement, classroom infrastructure and experiences, developmental slumps, teachers’ perspectives on creative children and research on culturally and educationally diverse populations. Reviewing research from these approaches shows that the relationship is nuanced and requires careful interpretation—while some research showcases the positive impact schooling can have on children’s creative development, other work, including from culturally and educationally diverse populations, shows how school experiences could be detrimental in this regard. We finish by summarising and integrating these research strands before making suggestions for future research.

Citation

Rawlings, B. S., & Cutting, S. J. (2024). Linking Disparate Strands: A Critical Review of the Relationship Between Creativity and Education. Educational Psychology Review, 36(4), Article 135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09973-z

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 31, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Nov 15, 2024
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Nov 15, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 15, 2024
• Journal: Educational Psychology Review
• Print ISSN: 1040-726X
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-336X
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 135
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09973-z
• Keywords: Children, Divergent thinking, Cross-cultural, Convergent thinking, Creativity, Formal education
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3095701