Creative Learning in Schools: What it is and why it matters

Published by: The Dusseldorp Forum. November 2015, Australia. 12 pages.

Authors: Bill Lucas and Michelle Anderson

The importance and impact of developing creativity in schools: the evidence at a glance.

This review of the evidence suggests that:

The eld of creativity is internationally well-developed and, over the last fifty years, there has been a growing understanding of creative learning in schools.
Creativity and hence creative learning are very broad concepts. Nevertheless creative learning can be de ned in ways which teachers and practitioners and helpful. In this review the author offers a model published by OECD and developed by an Australian school as a template.
There is general agreement that, like many capabilities, creativity can be learned.
There is a strong global consensus that creativity is an important capability in the 21st Century and, consequently, is a valued outcome of schooling.
Creative teachers and other practitioners report the many positive outcomes that young people gain from creative learning. But systematic evidence for the wider benefits of creative learning is less strong. Nevertheless there is the beginning of an encouraging evidence base.